The island of Australia is awash with voices

Not every fair dinkum (genuine) Aussie bloke (man) carries a 9-inch Bowie knife strapped to his back. It’s the same with the sheilas (girls). They don’t all earn a quid (work) kick-starting jumbo Jets at the airport in Sinnie (Sydney).

Most understand the spoken language ‘strine’ (Australian) although toffs (snobs) from Melbourne say it’s only used by bogans (riff-raff) from Brissie (Brisbane).

The fact is, Australia rates as one of the world’s most culturally diverse nations. More than 300 languages are spoken in Australian homes. After English, the next most common languages are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Italian.

So when you open your search engine and enter the words Voice Talent Australia the results can be fascinating.

A long list of want-to-bes, also-rans and hangers-on.

The business of voice acting attracts a lot of very talented and serious people. There are also many opportunists and time wasters.

Let us imagine you are hunting for a voice over artist for you next radio/TV spot or corporate project. You know you want an English speaking male or female. He or she should appeal to a particular age group and have relevant and proven experience. Above everything you want a professional.

Separate the chaff from the grain

Having entered the phrase Voice Talent Australia, your search engine is going to page rank the results according to the algorithm driving the search. It’s here that human judgement has to intervene.

It’s an impossible task to go through all the individuals that might qualify in your search so you should begin with the best voice over talent agents.

You need to be dealing with the right people. The best company who can connect you with the perfect one or two voices who meet your criteria.

On line voice auditions help avoid disastrous side tracks

Media Group, the business audio specialists represent a huge variety of Australia’s professional male and female voice over talent. You can start auditioning samples of their work right now, online from the comfort of your office.

It couldn’t be any easier. Listen to the samples. Make a decision on your favourite(s) and ask for a free quote. Do it all on line…click click...Job’s done.

Time to get into action. Go to www.mediagroup.com.au

The art of keeping customers on hold

Have you ever noticed that your phones only really start ringing when all staff are busy with customers, already on a call or out the back in the store room?

Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time. However according to O’Brien’s Law, Murphy was an optimist!

Joking aside, the situation often arises especially when you are really busy that’s when the phones get active. So that’s when you need an effective program of On Hold Messages. One that has been professionally produced so it will keep your callers happy while waiting for you to attend to them.

Yes you are going to have to invest a few dollars in the program, but you’ll soon see the benefits. You’ll get fewer callers who will hang up and take their custom elsewhere. Possibly to a competitor. In the meantime they will have had a good whinge to everyone about how frustrated they were when left hanging on the line!

Exploit the features in your office telephone system

The latest VOIP telephones (Voice Over Internet Protocol) are ready made for you to pack in lots of extra goodies. They may not yet be able to make a decent cup of coffee, but I’m sure the manufacturers are working on that!

Even if you are still using a PABX system you can load it up with a full bundle of extras. Media Group, the business audio specialists will introduce you to the best package to help you maximise the efficiency of your business phones.

In addition to On Hold Messages you can select a package that starts with a unique Welcome Message. You might add an Auto Attendant feature to help direct callers straight to the person or department to whom they wish to speak. e.g. For Sales Press 1; For Service Press 2; For Accounts Press 3 etc…

The package you choose could have messages to use for lunch breaks or when a person is away from their desk. There could be special messages detailing trading hours over holiday breaks as well detailed After Hours Messages with the option to record a brief message and the callers contact details.

Never lose a call from an existing client or a new prospect

With the right package from Media Group your callers will be impressed with your professionalism and consideration by putting the customer first. Most importantly with quality On Hold Messages callers tend to stay on the line.

The trick is in creating messages that are interesting and entertaining to the caller. The expert writers at Media Group will work to your instructions creating involving messages about your company, your products and services.

Start with a free sample

Media Group will create a free sample on hold message for you. See the details on the website. Take-up the free offer and experience the quality of the writing, the voices, the background music and recording clarity.

After deciding on your onhold package the scripts will be drafted as per your instructions. When you have approved the scripts the On Hold Messages will be recorded by professional male and female voice over artists.

You will be given a choice of the male and/or female voices you would like to use. The voice will be mixed with music and sound effects in the Media Group studios on the Gold Coast. .

When everything is ready you will be sent a link to go online and download the full package of messages ready to be loaded onto your phone system.

Media Group take care of every step online. You’ll be impressed with the ease and speed of getting your phone messages working to perform to the max. Plus you can update any message anytime online. Too easy!

Find out all the details at www.mediagroup.com.au

Keep the music playing legally on your business phone

Way back in the 20^th century you might have been able to get away with using the local radio station to entertain your customers. Many business houses chose to use a cassette deck or CD player running music all day.

Some took it a step further and plugged the radio into the telephone system to use as their Onhold Music. The problems were many, not the least being that laws were introduced requiring businesses playing recorded music to pay annual licence fees.

There were other drawbacks too. The business owner had absolutely no control over the music tracks being played. Callers waiting on the line got to hear everything that was playing including risqué song lyrics, bad language and often they would be listening to radio advertising for competitors.

The solution came in the form of Royalty Free Music

Each year the licence fees being charged by the collection agencies grew and grew. In Australia no business escaped the relentless pursuit of the agencies.

These days Media Group, the business audio specialists, provide a better way. Now you are able to stay on the right side of law. You’ll avoid paying those ever climbing fees and keep callers entertained with Onhold Music tracks from the extensive library of Royalty Free Music available from Media Group.

The choice is amazing so there’s music to suit all tastes

You know your clientele better than anyone. You can probably guess which genre of music they would prefer to hear while waiting for you to come back to their call. That makes the job of choosing the right music tracks a snap!

Working together with the team from Media Group you’ll get to choose the Onhold Music that best suits your customer profile. The choice of Royalty Free Music covers all tastes and all genres.

Have a listen to some of the samples online at the Media Group website. While you might not find the latest hip-hop or grunge you’ll be sure to find tracks that will suit the majority whether it be Pop, Rock, Country or Classical.

Find an onhold package deal that best suits you

Media Group will introduce you to the right combination of music and messages to entertain and inform your callers while they are on hold. You’ll no longer be liable to pay annual fees to APRA AMCOS and PPCA but you will reduce the number of callers who might hang-up and go elsewhere.

The choice of Onhold Music is a vital part of your decision. Make a wise move. Head straight to www.mediagroup.com.au

Keep the music playing legally on your business phone

Way back in the 20^th century you might have been able to get away with using the local radio station to entertain your customers. Many business houses chose to use a cassette deck or CD player running music all day.

Some took it a step further and plugged the radio into the telephone system to use as their Onhold Music. The problems were many, not the least being that laws were introduced requiring businesses playing recorded music to pay annual licence fees.

There were other drawbacks too. The business owner had absolutely no control over the music tracks being played. Callers waiting on the line got to hear everything that was playing including risqué song lyrics, bad language and often they would be listening to radio advertising for competitors.

The solution came in the form of Royalty Free Music

Each year the licence fees being charged by the collection agencies grew and grew. In Australia no business escaped the relentless pursuit of the agencies.

These days Media Group, the business audio specialists, provide a better way. Now you are able to stay on the right side of law. You’ll avoid paying those ever climbing fees and keep callers entertained with Onhold Music tracks from the extensive library of Royalty Free Music available from Media Group.

The choice is amazing so there’s music to suit all tastes

You know your clientele better than anyone. You can probably guess which genre of music they would prefer to hear while waiting for you to come back to their call. That makes the job of choosing the right music tracks a snap!

Working together with the team from Media Group you’ll get to choose the Onhold Music that best suits your customer profile. The choice of Royalty Free Music covers all tastes and all genres.

Have a listen to some of the samples online at the Media Group website. While you might not find the latest hip-hop or grunge you’ll be sure to find tracks that will suit the majority whether it be Pop, Rock, Country or Classical.

Find an onhold package deal that best suits you

Media Group will introduce you to the right combination of music and messages to entertain and inform your callers while they are on hold. You’ll no longer be liable to pay annual fees to APRA AMCOS and PPCA but you will reduce the number of callers who might hang-up and go elsewhere.

The choice of Onhold Music is a vital part of your decision. Make a wise move. Head straight to www.mediagroup.com.au

Sometimes a voice can send the wrong message

When perusing a book or reading a print advertisement you can sometimes “read between the lines”. It is an interesting turn of phrase to describe instances where you might find some meaning in the prose or copy the author has intentionally or subconsciously hidden in the text.

You might be surprised to learn that similar things happen when you are listening to a Voice Over. You might watching a TV commercial or listening to a podcast. The announcer will be adhering to the words on the script, but slight nuances in the voice can detract or add meaning to the message your brain receives.

A trained voice talent knows a lot about skinning cats

When a professional Voice Over artist is handed a script to read they will usually look at any directions indicated by the scriptwriter or turn to the studio producer and ask “How do you want this read”?

Just as there are many ways to remove the feline epidermis, there is an endless variety in the way a script can be interpreted.

In recording advertising audio tracks, most scripts will fall into broad categories with shorthand names like “soft sell”, “hard sell”, “corporate” “friendly” “authoritative”.

To the Voice Over artist these categories are the start point. Immediately they will adopt the tone they know will fit the bill. For the soft sell they may inject more air into their voice. They may work close-in to the microphone to add an intimacy to the read.

For the hard sell they may step back a little from the microphone and adopt a full “parade ground voice”. Really hammering the price or any discount and using huge inflections to add excitement to key words.

If the script direction calls for a corporate read then the Voice Over will be delivered in fairly neutral tones with a slightly restrained feel.

There’s meaning in the length of the syllables

In each of the cases above, it’s the Voice Over artist who is injecting the desired impression or net take-away from the production.

He or she is more than capable of reading the same words yet have the listener react in a variety of ways. The intricacies of annunciation, timing, breathing, pausing, projection and tone are the unwritten devices available to the gifted reader.

Media Group, the business audio specialists, provide an enormous variety of professional male and female Voice Over talent. You can be sure whenever you need a particular style of voice, Media Group will heave the solution.

You can go online anytime to audition samples of the Voice Over talent at www.mediagroup.com.au

Project your desired business image on the telephone

In today’s world of business we all rely on the phone far more than in any other era. There are some things you can’t control. Much of what you can do on the phone is at the mercy of Telecoms and your phone service provider.

However there is one important feature on your business phone where you have complete control and that is your Telephone Messages.

It really is more than important, because a great deal of the success you achieve with your customers often comes down to how they interact with the messages they hear when they call.

People want to feel they are dealing with an organisation where the customer is king. They also want to know your company is thoroughly professional, organised and progressive.

The very sound and wording of your Telephone Messages can convince a caller that you possess a customer-caring attitude and the professionalism they expect.

A few dozen words will put customers in the picture

If as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, a few well-chosen sentences can effectively communicate the benefits of staying one of your valued clients.

Telephone Messages should not be long-winded spiels full of intricate details on the ins and outs of your operations. They need to be succinctly written parcels of useful information.

Customers don’t want to hear you gas-bagging on about irrelevant topics. They want to hear only what interests them in their dealings with your company.

It’s not just what you say it is also how it is said

As nice as your voice may be, you are probably not a professional voice over artist! So when you are creating any Telephone Messages its best to call on the services of a professional voice talent.

The “pro” has the training and experience to inject the sincerity needed in the read without it coming out sounding forced or OTT. If there is a little humour in the script he or she will interpret that without any ham overtones.

Sourcing the best script and the right voice

Because your company’s Telephone Messages play such a vital role in your communications with customers, it’s essential to have the scripts prepared by an experienced writer.

Media Group, the business audio specialists have a team of writers able to assist in creating interesting and informative scripts in accordance with your instructions.

When you have approved the wording in the Telephone Messages you can go online and select a male of female professional voice artist from the line up offered by Media Group.

You can also choose a music track to be used in the production and then leave the rest to the studio producers at Media Group. It is a simple online process and you control everything from your home or office.

Start today by going to www.mediagroup.com.au

Your onhold program needs to project the right image

When an incoming call is placed in the queue, are you sure the On Hold Message is conveying the correct image of your company? Does the voice sound professional? Is the content informative about your products and services? And is it up to date?

There’s no value in telling callers about your Christmas holiday hours when you are about to take a break for Easter! This sort of oversight merely gives clients and potential customers the impression that you don’t have your finger on the pulse.

Choose an experienced voice artist

Probably the biggest mistake made with any On Hold Message has to do with the choice of voice used. Of course you must use a professional voice over talent.

Never scrimp on the budget by getting an amateur to do the recording. There is a real art to reading a script. It’s a combination of natural ability, training and years of experience.

Think of it like hiring someone to build a brick wall. Much of the expertise of the trade professional will be invisible. You can’t see the depth and quality of the footing, but a good foundation is critical. While any bricks out of alignment might mar the overall appearance, they are not going to cause the wall to topple over.

Media Group, the business audio specialists provide a wide choice of professional male and female voice talent. You can hear samples of their previous work online. This will help you to select the voice artist you think has the tone and style that best projects the image you desire for your business.

Create an informative and entertaining onhold program

For those busy times when you put callers onhold, you need to be sure that any On Hold Message they hear will help to keep them on the line.

The whole purpose of the onhold program is to prevent callers from hanging up the phone and taking their business elsewhere.

Media Group know it is essential you keep each caller interested and entertained. Their team of copywriters will work with you and the information you provide to craft scripts that will amuse, entertain and educate callers about your company.

Each On Hold Message they create will inform callers about your current products and planned new releases. They will include your location, parking, public transport, hours of operation, seasonal breaks and special services.

In between and underscoring each individual On Hold Message callers will hear music. The music will feature tracks you have selected from the Media Group library of Royalty Free Music.

The net result is more happy customers and fewer callers hanging up. Find out how you can project the image you want for your business as a professional, progressive and client oriented operation. Enquire about an onhold program written, produced and professionally voiced by Media Group.

Go to www.mediagroup.com.au