Plus, my phone system (Panasonic) allows you to monitor on-hold audio by pressing the “1″ digit without picking up the phone. That turns on/off the phone extension’s speaker for listening to the music source. I suspect other phones have a similar feature.

Anyway, with the Nel-Tech Messenger USB’s MSRP of $293.95 ($250 street), and the Pro-Digital running $269.99 ($220 street) they seem a little pricey.

Granted, I’m sure they sound great and probably last forever, but we’re happy with the audio quality that our free nano is giving us.

My solution isn’t about finding the best possible alternative — It’s finding the most reasonable one. The one that satisfied our requirements for the least amount of trouble.

Free iPod Nano vs. $250 device?

I can check the audio on the nano by plugging in some headphones.

Yes, I do have to call our phones to hear how it sounds when you’re actually on hold, but you would want to do that *anyway*.

As for the battery issue, let me see if I get this straight:

- If my iPod battery dies, even though it’s plugged into the wall, AND
- Our power goes out, THEN
- The iPod won’t turn itself on.

I would not buy a $250 insurance policy against this type of catastrophe. It’s just a little out there for us.

Besides, this practice had no on-hold music for 30 years before we bought it. An hour or two of silence isn’t going to turn anyone away. We spend a lot of time making sure people aren’t on hold in the first place.

My recommendation was based on our actual usage of a free piece of technology.

As always, your mileage may vary.

Tim Brown, our tech-guru-in-residence, weighs in on why using your Nano is a no-no

Using a consumer-grade mp3 player as a source for your on-hold music may appear to be a cost-effective and simple solution. But here’s what you can expect:

Not Enough Audio Oomph for On-Hold Playback
Personal mp3 players were designed with low amplification output (60 milowatts) to conserve battery power. You don’t detect the low output, however, because your headphones are high-efficiency and make the audio sound great in your ears.

Your phone hold system, however, requires more amplification than your headphones do. And since the only place to get an audio feed out of your mp3 player is through the headphone jack, the audio signal really doesn’t give your hold system what it needs for proper volume in your phones.

Possible results? Non-existent audio, the hold message fading in and out, or a thin or distorted audio quality.

Battery Trouble
Anyone who’s owned an iPod Shuffle for a year or so can tell you: those little internal batteries don’t last long, and replacing them costs about as much as the player itself.

You can run your personal mp3 player from an AC outlet using a USB converter (which adds cost) but there’s no way around battery trouble. And if you ever have a power failure with your mp3 player plugged into an outlet, it won’t turn itself back on when the power resumes. Your on-hold could be off for weeks before you notice.

Monitor Speaker
With a commercial grade player, the external speaker and board controls allow you to quickly check your on-hold message to make sure everything’s a-okay, and test it easily, too, when you load the message. With an iPod, you have to call your phone system and get placed on hold. That’s a hassle.

I recommend…
A professional music on hold player meant for 24/7 on-hold playback. It has the proper amplification, A/C power
and controls for ideal operability and excellent audio results.

We are a dealer for both the Nel-Tech and Pro-Digital USB players. Each comes with an excellent warranty of at least 3 years. Each includes memory drive, a built-in external monitor speaker, a built-in amplifier for extra oomph, and the unit runs on standard AC power.

If dependability, quality and your time are important to you, make the smart choice and choose the right player for the right job.

Tim Brown has more than 25 years experience in radio, recording and live sound. He can be reached at: tim@easyonhold.com.