The Technology Behind On Hold Messaging

We have explained over the years why on hold messaging is so important to your business, no matter what industry you are in. In our How to Get Started with On Hold Messaging Guide, we briefly mentioned some of the technology that is required to have a successful on hold marketing campaign.

Lets go into a little more details about the type of phones that can be used for on hold messaging.

Types of Phones Systems

PBX / Key System

PBX phone systems collect all of the wires from all the phones in your building into one central location. They can range from 100 lines to over 1,000 lines within the system. PBX systems are controlled by computer software and are pretty automated which make them easier to manage.

Key System phones are used by companies with fewer lines, about 50 at a maximum. These phone systems use a “key” pad system meaning that the telephone has multiple buttons that may light up in the color of red to alert you that the line is in use.

Both of these systems would need to use a music on hold player which connects to the PBX/Key phone system’s port. The on hold player creates a crystal-clear high quality sound solution for any business using these phone systems.

For more information about the music on hold player, please check out our MP3 On Hold System.

VOIP Phones

VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone systems, also known as “hosted PBX” are basically cloud-based or digital phones that are offsite. These type of phone systems would have a server, which is where your on hold audio files would be stored. Unlike the PBX systems discussed above, a music on hold player is not required since the audio files are stored on the server.

However, if you are using a VOIP service, such as Vonage, for a home-based business, then you will require the use of an on hold adaptor.

2-4 Line Telephones

If you are using a basic 2-4 line telephone system, then you are not ready for on hold messaging yet. You will need to use a music on hold adaptor as well.

Check out our video on using a music on hold adapter for your 2-4 line telephone system.