0744 – Telephony Voiceovers

2023.01.14 – 0744 – Telephony Voiceovers

Telephony voice over – (‘voicemail’, ‘Message On-Hold’, ‘MOH’, ‘Integrated Voice Response’ or ‘IVR’ “for sales press 1, for help press 3…”)

These voices have to represent the brand and what they stand for and might sound like and who they’re speaking to. The voice is the representative of the company and so a more mature, experienced voice might be most appropriate. Doctors’ and dentists’ callers probably don’t want to hear a teenager, they want someone who perhaps sounds more like ‘mum’ or the dentist themselves.

Very often it’s just the staffer who’s available who gets to record these messages, especially a few months after the original professional recording has been done and there’s a change to some of the details that need to be included.

With these recordings, it is usual to keep the tone polite and conversational, natural, friendly, welcoming, real and connected. Confident but not too earnest. And you might need to speak slightly slower because of the information and instructions. There might be opening hours, a website address or instructions on what buttons to press.

(Integrated Voice Response refers to the automated phone system which routes calls or gives information depending on the caller’s interaction by voice or keypad selection, such as those used by cinemas for screenings and bookings and large companies.)

The read has to be appropriate for the business, so you wouldn’t read a commercial (or therefore an on-hold message) the same way for a cancer hospital as for a car dealership or a cattery. Remember the end user, the person calling in.

If you become the voice of the brand, it could mean lots of repeat work as well as updates when parts of the company change – such as a restructuring or renaming of departments - which will mean the ‘telephone tree’ layout will change.

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