While I was driving into work this morning, I heard an interesting story from the disc-jockey (DJ) on the radio. He said that there was a study conducted recently that found a person is more likely to become impatient, angry or irritable if they are placed on hold on the telephone for over six minutes. Your anger mostly likely comes from the fact that you could be accomplishing other tasks.  But in hindsight, six minutes is not a lot of time. In 6 minutes, you can send and receive a fax, prepare a service order or listen to that dreadful “Friday” song twice. Two things can be done to combat your hold time. First, if you have a wireless headset, you can wear that and complete one of the tasks previously listed. The second option pertains to your company specifically. If you purchase a product called Music on Hold, your customers will hear music (as the name suggests) while they are on hold. I know from personal experience, that having music while you wait is much more enjoyable than hearing nothing or the same advertisement over and over again. The only drawback is that sometimes, as with advertising, the music will be repetitive, often referred to as “elevator music.” However,  Apple Inc. plays songs from the iTunes Library while you wait. So not only is there music, but different songs as well.

Being placed on hold is unavoidable. You can still complete minute tasks while you wait and for your customers, you can provide a more pleasant “waiting room,” thanks to Music on Hold.

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