Advertel, Inc.

"How a business sounds over the phone is at least as important as the way it  looks in print," insists Paul Beran, President/CEO and founder of Advertel, Inc.  "The telephone isn’t just a voice communications tool, it is a direct link to virtually every member of a firm’s core customer base—as well as a marketing tool to those who may have an interest in doing business with them.  Firms with a better grasp of the media value of their telephone turn to Advertel to assist them in developing a competitive telephone image."

Advertel, featuring its exclusive “TeleBranding” process, and internationally acclaimed ADS-ON-HOLD, has been an established leader in the telephone production industry for over two decades. 

The company was originally founded as a "niche" media production service that many advertising/marketing agencies had overlooked.  Now, in conjunction with its CTI System Architecture Services and blended IVR Service Bureau, Advertel is responsible for the telephone brand image (TeleBranding), telephone delivery channel (automated hotlines), and in some cases, the entire central telecommunications network for its clients.  The company has been described as an ad agency with a specialization on “telephone” media. 

But Advertel has evolved to offer clients so much more!

This new directive has resulted in a full range of alternative media products and services, including:

ADS-ON-HOLD: Producing quality custom on-hold messages since 1983
Hold,Please’rs: Low cost semi-custom and non-customized stock recordings
FeedBax: Multimedia customer satisfaction monitoring surveys
AutoMatt Hotlines: Full-featured IVR service bureau for short or long term use
VoiceTrax: Professional voice prompts for auto-attendant, IVR, and ACD
TeleBranding: Professional reengineering services of existing telecom equipment

Additional new alternative media services are being planned and introduced over the next few years, including:

Virtual Talkshow: Expanding radio talkshows to “multimedia” and 24/7!
Advertel Visions: Private television advertising networks

Advertel has continually expanded despite the proliferation of new media alternatives, advertising agency consolidation, sweeping federal telecommunication deregulation, and downward stockmarket swings.  Advertel now boasts more than 600 clients throughout North America -- of virtually every size, locality and industry.

1. Q: "Does Voicemail replace ADS-ON-HOLD?"
   A: This is a common myth we hear. Usually erroneous or overzealous sales pitch for voicemail. Fact is, more than 75% of ADS-ON-HOLD subscribers throughout the country enjoy the benefits of both voicemail and ADS-ON-HOLD. THEY DO NOT replace each other. THEY DO, however, compliment each other.
   
   
2. Q: "Will Voicemail eliminate hold-times for my business?"
   A: Not at all! There are quite few instances where the caller will get placed on-hold even with voicemail. Can't think of any? Here are just a few examples:
   Auto-attendant:
   If your system is programmed to accept calls automatically (auto-attendant), whereby callers select their own destination by dialing the extension (direct inward dialing), calls in this case are typically transferred to their intended extension. While the extension is ringing, the caller is electronically placed "on-hold."
   "0" Operator option:
   Frequently, callers choose the "0" option to speak to an operator rather than blindly leaving a message on voicemail. In this scenario, the operator places the call "on-hold" until the party can be located.
   Caller preference:
   A caller may prefer to wait on-hold than to receive a call back or leave a message. (Think of the last time you played "phone tag"!) In this case, the operator might have no choice but to manually place the call on-hold for up to several minutes. If there is nothing playing on the phone system's hold queue, that caller's time will be absolutely waste - not to mention needlessly seem much longer to the caller.
   
   
3. Q: "Will callers enjoy listening to the pre-recorded voicemail messages as much as they did ADS-ON-HOLD?"
   A: Maybe. This is, if you allow a professional recording studio to scrip and record them.
   
   
4. Q: "Can voicemail answer questions, reducing call-backs?"
   A: Not practical, although ADS-ON-HOLD has been accomplishing this nicely for more than a decade. More and more companies are producing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) presentations of their company's products and services, providing simple answers to the most frequently asked questions, (VoiceTrax productions are used for this purpose, too!) It is simply not practical, though, to itemize all the options available from your company using a "push 1 for this, push 2 for that..." presentation. ADS-ON-HOLD, on the other hand, has been offering new product announcements, ordering suggestions, answers to frequent concerns, etc., for years!
   
   When you've got the receiver virtually attached to your caller's ear, the possibilities are endless as to what you can say. The best part is, with ADS-ON-HOLD, callers realize they are waiting while the phone is 'ringing' or is 'busy', and consequently don't mind listening to your message. With 'stacked' voicemail boxes, the caller must hear one before it moves through to the next. Intelligent or frequent callers often grow weary weaving their way through the voicemail maze.
   
   
5. Q: "Can ADS-ON-HOLD take messages?"
   A: No. We'll let voicemail do that. There are some things voicemail does that ADS-ON-HOLD doesn't. Taking messages is one of them. Costing a capital investment is another. Dollar for dollar, ADS-ON-HOLD is still the most efficient form of "point-of-purchase" advertising media and customer communications tool your company can buy!
   
   
6. Q: Is my telephone merely a "communications" devise-or is it more like media?
   A: Some think of their phone as just another paper weight on their desk. Others only regard their phone with the same credence as their calculator. Smart business people have come to realize the media value of their phone. Despite the tremendous growth of the Internet, it is still the most universally accepted means of communicating with your customers. While the Internet has certainly gained momentum over the last several years, it has a long way to go to catch up to the ease and convenience of the telephone!
   
   
7. Q: How much of an impression can be created if callers are parked only for 20-30 seconds at a time?
   A: One only needs to look as far as his or her radio or television set to see how much power 20-30 seconds has at communicating information. The entire broadcast industry was built on 20-30 second advertisements! Like placing a hand-carved frame over a picture, producing your telephone voice prompts set the tone and professionalism for each call-no matter what your caller is calling about! Even calls that don't go as well as you intended can deliver a positive impression on your firm when at least some portion of that call was professionally scripted and produced by Advertel.
   
   
8. Q: Does Advertel expect my organization to purchase expensive new equipment?
   A: Typically, businesses who employ Advertel don't purchase any new expensive telecommunications equipment. Advertel produces what ever portions of the phone call that your present equipment supports-even if it is only over the hold button. Most ADS-ON-HOLD subscribers purchase enough productions over the course of a year (or two) that any hold-queue playback equipment provided is done so at no additional charge.
   
   
9. Q: How much time do callers spend waiting on-hold throughout the year?
   A: Advertel is currently programming to a national "telephone" audience that is larger than the listening audiences of the two leading radio network programs combined! As incredible as this may seem, the individual caller on-hold only 20-30 seconds, multiplied by the collective number of phone lines over the span over clients throughout the United States by the number of hours throughout the day, 365 days a year, adds up to the world's largest listening audience!
   
   If you likewise multiple the number of calls placed on-hold throughout the day-by the hours and days your phones are answered, times the average amount of hold-time your callers experience on-hold, you, too, will find your telephone audience is much larger than you ever imagined! Now ask yourself, what are you doing with all that caller time?
   
   
10. Q: Why should my organization professionally produce its telephone recordings?
    A: If you're concerned about how callers perceive your company over the phone (and we're sure you are!), then that's the only reason you need. Sure, you can allow your "telephone guy" or former receptionist write and record the greetings-but then, why would you? You wouldn't expect the local concert hall technicians who set up the sound system, stage lighting, and musical instruments to get up and sing, play music and choreograph the dance steps? It takes God-given talent to be a professional performer-and that's who Advertel routinely employs for every telephone production we record. Advertel is a proud signatore of the American Federation of Television and Radio Announcers and Screen Actors Guild.
    
    
11. Q: How will employing Advertel to professionally produce my telephone system voice prompts and hold queues help my business?
    A: Competition is heating up! With the Internet growing exponentially each day, the global marketplace has businesses of all varieties clamoring for new ways to market their products-and establish themselves as their respective market leader! If something can be said or established early in the process, say, at the commencement of each phone call, that establishes market superiority or creates a better corporate image than the competition, then your organization will quickly become the favored one to call! And, for most firms, that translates to more business!
    

1. Fill the silence on-hold
2. Appease a captive audience
3. Promote products callers wouldn’t otherwise request
4. Answer frequently asked questions
5. Soothe the savage beast
6. Put smaller scale co-op advertising dollars to work
7. Diminish perceived time waiting
8. Remind caller who they called
9. Remind caller they haven’t been disconnected
10. Present little known details of company background
11. Create better impression
12. Exercise control over the portion of the call that can be 100% controlled
13. List full range of products/services
14. Overcome common objections
15. Create company persona
16. Reinforce brand image
17. Reinforce other media advertising
18. Pre-sell the caller
19. Finish the sales message
20. Inform employees of new programs
21. Diminish need for more operators
22. Lower cost-per-thousand (CPM) of ad campaigns
23. Increase closing ratio
24. Reduce caller abandonment
25. List affiliations
26. List locations
27. Increase telephone sales
28. Welcome a new customer
29. Welcome a new employee
30. Promote an event
31. Celebrate a holiday
32. Add call capacity to phone system
34. Lighten caller mood
35. Show good faith effort at customer service
36. Create “newsletter” of the phone
37. Eliminate ASCAP/BMI fees for radio use
38. Eliminate bad radio tuner reception
39. Eliminate radio station from being arbitrarily changed by cleaning crew
40. Eliminate competitors’ radio ads
41. Eliminate undesirable music/news content
42. Capture unused customer time
43. Boast of community involvement
44. Boast an industry accomplishment
45. Present industry news
46. Reinforce mission statement
47. List fax numbers
48. Direct attention to website
49. Offer tollfree alternatives
50. List hours of operation
51. List payment options
52. Offer safety tips or helpful hints
53. List return or ordering procedures
54. Present travel directions to your facility
55. Acknowledge personnel achievements
56. Offer vision of future
57. Present personal assurance by management (in their own voice)
58. Try out new slogans and tag lines
59. Low cost method of introducing and/or beta-testing a new product line
60. Position your company ahead of its competition
61. Be respectful of callers willing to wait
62. Put back “personality” telephone automation took away
63. Eliminate extremely repetitive ACD messages
64. Show appreciation of callers/customers
65. Make job easier for customer service representatives
66. Competitor has an on-hold message
67. Callers expect to hear something on-hold
68. Deliver a consistent message among all forms of media
69. Put something on-hold
70. Entertain and amuse callers
71. Recommend complimentary services
72. Explain warranty
73. Relax an upset caller
74. Provide info that won’t fit in a conventional ad
75. Increase caller patience
76. Drown out the annoying “chime” or “click”
77. Provide assurance that a CSR will soon return
78. Detail company’s experience
79. Strengthen company perception
80. Provide structure, tone, and level of professionalism
81. Suggest alternatives to out-of-stock items
82. Promote clearance and discontinued lots
83. Detail options too lengthy or technical for CSR
84. Reinforce all the reasons why caller called in the first place
85. Reinforce callers’ confidence to conduct call
86. Offer new suggestions, ideas
87. Complete the job advertising started
88. Inform callers of choices they aren’t likely to  know
89. Add awareness to full scope of services
90. Increase attention span of callers
91. Reduce caller frustration
92. List departments and telephone extensions
93. Welcome a new vendor/supplier
94. Promote the city, borough or neighborhood
95. Celebrate a sport team victory
96. Add enthusiasm about your product line
97. Satisfy the habitual complainer
98. Present your company in its brightest light
99. Reduce complaints of waiting too long
100. Maintain positive tone throughout the call.