Press 1, For More Business

When people say they want to “get into voice over” they are often thinking of the “glamorous” work of National TV commercials. You know the “voice” of Ford or Macy’s. But there’s a lot of voice over work that never makes it to the airwaves, yet keeps many of us working voice talent very busy.

I’m talking about “Telephony.” (Pronounced teh-LEH-fuh-NEE). You know…voicemail jail! Those infamous “For Sales, Press 1” recordings that people have complained about for years.

Well, I’m here to stand up and proudly proclaim: “Hi, I’m Liz, and I am a voicemail recorder.” Actually in our business we call them Interactive Voice Response or Message On Hold recordings (IVR and MOH for short).

Besides long form narrations, telephony is a mainstay of my business.

And I’m very happy with that!

Although it’s not looked upon by some as very prestigious, I see it as a very important part of my and my clients’ business.

Let’s face it, these days, the IVR/MOH system is usually your first contact with a company. It’s the first impression you get and usually that’s the impression you stay with when dealing with a company forevermore.

We’ve all heard horror stories of being trapped in a voice mail maze, or about the awful voice you had to listen to while on hold. That’s not the impression that a company wants project. Those awful recordings were probably recorded by – if I may be so bold as to to assume – the cute receptionist that was pressed into service to “just record this into the phone.”

Clients that hire me and my fellow IVR/MOH specialized voice talents know how important it is to give a good first impression. They know that by having an effective IVR or MOH system in place they are putting their best foot (or voice!) forward.

And lets be clear, I don’t want my recordings to illicit a “Wow, what a great voice” response. I want people to listen to that Message on Hold and say “Oh, I didn’t know this company offered that service, I’ll have to ask the rep about that when they get back on the line.”

An effective IVR or MOH recording will keep a company’s clients happy by routing them to the correct department quickly…which gets their questions answered quickly…. which keeps them coming back and doing business with the company. An effective Message on Hold recording educates customers about your business and your services

So the next time you are asked to “Press 1, for Sales” or to “Ask our representative about our 10% discount on bulk orders” say “Hi!” That pleasant sounding voice may just be mine!