Ever wonder how an auto attendant greeting is recorded? Here’s your backstage pass to one method of crafting and fine-tuning an auto attendant system and the on-hold music in between.
A small cabinet maker in Kansas recently sought out New Jersey voice and video production company Mark in the Dark Productions to give its auto attendant greeting some pizzazz. As demonstrated in a behind-the-scenes video, telephone and IVR prompts were used to add a professional and courteous tone to the greeting, with matching music thrown in between promotional material.
Going with a “rocker” feel, as requested by the company, the studio production master read off promotional statements into the recording equipment for it to be synced up with upbeat tunes.
“We’ll slate this over some upbeat rock music; that’s what they specifically requested,” said the production professional. “We actually played a few samples to them over the phone just what they wanted on there.”
In a bold, fitting voice typically heard on auto attendant systems, the studio master began the recording process with a simple greeting for when a caller is put on hold. Then he continued with the employee directory and on-hold statements promoting the company’s trustworthy service, specialties, and some rather impressive offerings.
The voice over process for auto attendants is a rather simple one, according to the production company’s website. Companies just need to send in a script with direction notes, and any music and sound-effect requirements. The rest is recording history.
Whether you use a recording studio, or Parlance’s trusty auto attendant solutions services, it’s important to keep in mind that the quality of your auto attendant script is the first thing that the caller experiences while trying to contact someone at your company. It should be designed to provide your callers with the pertinent information they need to know in order to reach their destination successfully.
Make sure your auto attendant greeting is not lengthy as it will lose the caller’s attention. But, on the other hand, the system should have enough information to empower the caller to make a successful transfer. The caller could be someone who has never called before or a repeat caller, who may just want to reach their party quickly without having to listen to the entire menu. Therefore, “barge-in” is imperative for these transfers.
These are all scenarios that you need to keep in mind as you create your auto attendant script and voicemail greeting.
Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet copy editor. She also writes articles for TMCnet on a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves