Virginia a Pioneer State for On Hold Marketing

If you live in Virginia, you’re part of an interesting heritage.  I’m not sure the founder knew it at the time, but when Lloyd Shockley founded On Hold Marketing in 1989,he was one of the very first On Hold companies anywhere.  Ask anybody. In 1989 very few telephone systems even had a way to connect an external audio source, and those that did were playing a radio to callers on hold. (a violation of copyright law)  So Lloyd had surely hit upon a need, a need that fell squarely in the lap of his talents as an ad agency entrepreneur.  (The Shockley Agency had been operating in Richmond since 1982.)

The first true association of On Hold companies, the On Hold Messaging Association, (OHMA) wasn’t even created until the year 2000.  By then, On Hold Marketing was a fully established company serving businesses and practices in over 20 states, Canada,and the U.K.   Lloyd Shockley was recognized as one of the foremost pioneers of our industry and was asked to serve on the OHMA board.

On Hold Marketing has been providing audio studio services, professional copy writing, and telephone equipment support for over 20 years now, but one doesn’t survive this long without going thru some transitions.  Keeping up with the changes in telephone systems is enough to run some on hold companies completely out of business.  The introduction of computer/internet based telephone systems is a perfect example of a new technology introduction that can obsolete a business model to the extent that it simply cannot serve the market. Changes in the audio production process have gone from analog mechanisms and enough outboard processors to fill a building…to a computer running special software, replacing tons of gear. Did I mention doing business over the internet?  This change has not only impacted how sound files are moved around, but also how customers can hear voice talent, music, and productions to make better informed decisions and become comfortable form relationships with us, even though we’re thousands of miles away.

Virginia, even though one of the oldest states, is also among the innovators of what we take for granted…music and messages onhold….which, by the way, is responsible for helping just about every business and practice every day.