Businesses often upgrade their phone systems because newer technologies tend to be more efficient or cost effective. But sometimes changing systems, such as replacing the onsite PBX analogue phone system to VoIP, isn’t always a win win for all involved. This is why you need to check if your “on hold” messages will work equally or better on the new platform. With VoIP, sometimes they don’t function correctly – and in some cases not at all believe it or not.
Here are the pitfalls of VOIP Systems’ on hold messages you need to take note of:
- Perhaps the most notorious problem with VoIP systems is that the sound quality can be much worse when compared to traditional analogue systems. To paint you an example often the VoIP system can accept a file loaded in for on hold, but it can only technically deal with one which is degraded to a very low crackly sound quality. In an ideal situation, you’d probably achieve a decent sound quality if you are using very good VoIP equipment (that supports high quality on hold files) and if you have sufficient bandwidth. But these are very big ifs, and in the real world you’ll often have problems.
- Because bandwidth is such an issue with VoIP, some systems have tried to compensate by using different compression algorithms. These algorithms can cause more problems such as being incompatible with other VoIP systems. Some algorithms are known to cause “echoes”. These echoes can be filtered out, but then you need even more processing power for that.
- You also need to make sure that your computer and your VoIP handset are activated and turned on all the time. And that means that your VoIP system won’t work when there’s a power outage. This is the one thing that makes traditional analogue phone systems more advantageous, because they can function even when the power is out. The phone company transmits power over the phone line for your phone.
- Then there is also the issue of constant repetition. With VoIP systems, often your “on hold” message will start at the very beginning instead of starting from a random point within the message each time a caller is placed on hold. So if you want to play different songs in rotation, or ensure callers hear a variety of messages you want to promote – that’s not going to happen. Instead, only the first few messages will be played each time, and it will begin right at the start. This can irk a lot of your customers, by the way is it becomes very repetitive when the same repeat callers are placed on hold. This can also be very problematic if you want to play different corporate messages when your customers are put on hold. Some studies reveal that people who are put on hold prefer to hear information rather than music. But when your “on hold” message always starts at the beginning, your customer will only hear the first part. The customer won’t get the chance to hear the other parts of your message.
- VoIP systems can get rather complicated. Administering and updating them can be tricky. NASA found that out the hard way when they were using VoIP services back in 2006. The guys at NASA just wanted to add a few contacts in their database, but what happened was, their entire VoIP database was erased. So if you want to be sure that you’re updating your VoIP system, you may have to rely on your phone company to do it for you, and the service fees can get very expensive in the long run.
These possible problems with “on hold” messages are just a few of what you need to worry about when if you switch your business to a VoIP phone system.
