Messages on Hold Services for Australian Businesses
Messages on hold transform unavoidable wait time into a productive brand touchpoint — communicating useful information, managing expectations and reinforcing your business's professionalism while callers wait. Find Australian suppliers of professional messages on hold services.
Browse messages on hold suppliers below, or use the filters to explore other audio solution types.
What are Messages on Hold?
Messages on hold are professionally produced audio recordings that play to callers while they're waiting in a queue or on hold — a blend of music and spoken messages that communicate information, manage expectations and reflect your brand. Unlike pure hold music, on-hold messages give callers something to engage with during the wait, reducing perceived wait time and delivering business value from time that would otherwise be completely wasted.
The 2025 Australian Call Centre Rankings found that Australian callers wait an average of 1 minute 49 seconds before reaching an agent — with banks averaging 3 minutes 38 seconds and ISPs the fastest at 45 seconds. And 80.6% of call centres use professional voice recordings throughout their phone system. That's a significant window of time during which every caller is forming an impression of your business — and professionally produced on-hold messaging is what fills it.
Periodic updates on estimated wait time — the single most impactful message you can give a waiting caller. Callers who know how long they'll wait report significantly higher patience and satisfaction.
Relevant information about your products, services or recent changes — turning hold time into an opportunity to educate and inform rather than frustrate.
Directing callers to online or self-service alternatives for their enquiry — potentially resolving their issue without an agent conversation and reducing queue length for everyone.
Time-relevant messages — peak period warnings, promotional offers, upcoming changes, holiday hours — that keep callers informed without requiring script changes across your entire IVR.
Required disclosures, terms and conditions summaries, or regulatory information delivered during hold time — meeting compliance obligations while callers wait rather than consuming agent time.
Reinforcing your brand story, community involvement, awards or customer commitments — building rapport and positive perception during the wait rather than leaving silence or generic music.
What Makes an Effective Messages on Hold Program
- Open with something useful: With average wait times of nearly two minutes — and over three minutes at banks — callers spend meaningful time on hold. Open your messaging rotation with content that immediately communicates value: a relevant product benefit, a self-service alternative, or a simple acknowledgement that their call matters.
- Use a professional voice artist: 80.6% of Australian call centres already use professional voice recordings. An amateur or text-to-speech on-hold voice alongside a professional IVR creates an jarring inconsistency that undermines your brand. Use the same voice artist across all your audio touchpoints.
- Keep messages concise and relevant: Callers on hold are not a captive marketing audience — they're frustrated customers. Messages should be brief, genuinely useful and limited in number. Cycle through three or four messages maximum before repeating.
- Update regularly: Nothing erodes credibility faster than a message on hold advertising a promotion that ended six months ago or referencing outdated contact information. Messages on hold programs require a maintenance schedule — not a set-and-forget approach.
- Balance music and messaging: Pure messaging without music feels relentless; pure music without messaging wastes the communication opportunity. Professional suppliers blend both in proportions that keep callers engaged without overwhelming them.
- Match the music to the message tone: A message about a service disruption or serious issue shouldn't be delivered over upbeat background music. Ensure the emotional tone of your music matches the content of the messages it accompanies.
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