VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Diane Maggipinto

I just listened to a portion of NPR's Talk of the Nation. Host Neal Conan interviewed the author of an article called "On Hold and In Hell,"
(story here) about research on why people stay on the line or hang up when on hold. I heard nothing about whether the operator voice was considered so I fired off a question via email about whether voice talent matters--gender, delivery, cadence, etc.--but alas, time ran out.

I admit I was looking for a free mention!
_________________
sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

todd ellis · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:10 pm Post subject:

personally, the easy-listening version of "Rock and Roll All Nite" lowered my barrier to spending $30 on gimmicky boxers!
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

CarynClark · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:39 pm Post subject:

Todd Ellis... now you ARE cracking me up with that avatar!!!

-- sorry for the tj Diane --
_________________
Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice!

"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Todd--no gimmicky boxers in the avatar?

And you call yourself an ELLIS...... cool

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Please read further responses on this thread and Lance Blair will post soon with his personalized reply. Your continued reading and support of this thread is very important to Lance.
_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

Ed Gambill · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:00 pm Post subject:

Please Listen Closely as our Menu Has Changed. Horse hockey, this ubiquitous statement is an absolute bummer of a way to start an IRV. We all know it been the same menu for years. A better understanding about how to speed up the push button maze is needed

Just before I read this thread, I had just gotten off the phone with my wife asking when the music store where she works will add IOH. In bygone days I did the IOH for the previous owner. Their call retention went up considerably.

One thing I did was to select music that had a moderate meter and didn't cut in every 10 sec with an announcement.

As for NPR I am loosing respect for their reporting acumen. I really think they need coaching from BBC.
_________________
Esse quam videri "To be rather than to seem"
www.SaVoa.org

No. 07000 Member AES

Lee Gordon · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:18 pm Post subject:

"Your call is very important to us."

Then why the hell don't you have someone to answer it?

But back to the original point (sort of), when I was a radio Production Director I annually submitted some of the station's best locally produced commercials in the Ad Club award competition. The entry form always had spaces for "Copywriter," "Producer," "Art Director," "Graphic Artist," "Designer," "Creative Director," even "Account Supervisor," but not "Voice Talent." I always listed them under "Other," noting that they were the voice talent. (Admittedly self-serving because I almost always reserved a key role for myself in the best written spots.) But it just ticked me off that VO people were held in such seemingly little regarded by the rest of the creative community.
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

Moe Egan · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:02 am Post subject:

Deirdre · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:42 am Post subject:

I was thinking it would be a good idea to be honest with these message-on-hold scripts.

Hello! I'm an automated voice, but there is a great deal I can help you with. There are always many more calls coming in than live techs to answer them, and we're hoping that this automated system can get your question answered rather than making you get a busy signal.
We're looking to keep our costs down by having this system help as many people as possible, so that our live technicians can handle the really tough stuff.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

glittlefield · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:50 am Post subject:

A lot of tech support departments for the big companies have started doing something like that, Deebs. They try to guide you through the troubleshooting part automatically so they can route you to the appropriate department. They even tell you that you should check their website for more information (quite helpful if your problem is you can't get a network connection...).

More often than not, I end up mashing the zero key until I get transferred to an operator.
_________________
Greg Littlefield
VO-BB Member #59

Deirdre · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:54 am Post subject:

I say "agent" or "operator" most of the time, myself— I rarely call unless I need to speak to a person who can monkeywrench something for me.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

ChrisMezzolesta · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:20 pm Post subject: "Our Menu Has Recently Changed"

Had to figure this was going to happen....

Power Salad, "Our Menu Has Recently Changed" from the album "Cinnamony Sea Anemone" (2008)

Words: Craig Marks; Music, voice & instruments: Chris Mezzolesta

http://www.rhapsody.com/player?type=track&id=Tra.24084733&remote=false&page=&pageregion=&guid=&from=&__pcode=rs

You may not think of IVR the same way again....
_________________
Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
800.356.5519 www.voiceatile.com

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:05 am Post subject:

ronharpervoice · Club 300 Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 347 Location: Ohio

While you are holding you may hear several clicks and some silence

That will be our phone system routing you to Bangleabumflick where "Adam", "Bobby", and "Charley" are waiting to annoy the crap out of you.
_________________
"When I was your age, we had to dial to get online"
===============
www.ronharper.com
www.ronharper.com/blog
www.videosonyourwebsite.com

Lizden · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject: