Talkdesk gives administrators several ways to control what callers hear while waiting, but queue music and agent hold music are handled differently. This report will help identify important considerations when configuring on-hold and queue music in Talkdesk.
For organizations using professionally produced music and messages from Easy On Hold®, it’s important to understand that distinction. Queue-waiting audio can be managed through Talkdesk prompts, while the music played after an agent places a caller on hold currently follows a different process.
Custom on-hold and queue music in Talkdesk
Talkdesk allows an administrator to replace the default waiting music for an individual queue with a custom prompt.
Within the queue’s transfer preferences, Talkdesk provides a Waiting music to play setting. Administrators can select Use prompts and choose from the active prompts available in the Talkdesk account.
The basic workflow is:
Studio → Prompts → upload audio → Queues → Preferences → Waiting music to play → Use prompts → select the desired prompt
This allows an organization to use custom music, messages, or a professionally produced combination of both while callers wait for an available agent. Because the audio is configured at the queue level, different queues can potentially use different productions appropriate to their callers, departments, or campaigns.
Music When an Agent Places a Caller On Hold
Talkdesk treats agent hold music differently from pre-agent queue music. This is the audio heard after an agent has already answered the call and then presses the Hold button.
Talkdesk’s current documentation does not describe a self-service upload screen for replacing this audio. Instead, Talkdesk instructs customers who want their own hold music to provide an MP3 file to Talkdesk Support. Talkdesk then uploads and configures the file for the account.
That means the two experiences should not be confused:
Talkdesk specifies that an acceptable audio file format is mp3.
Using an Audio File From a URL
Talkdesk Studio also provides another interesting option: URL to audio file. Within a Studio Play Audio component, Talkdesk allows the designer to select Other Sources, choose URL to audio file, and provide a link to the desired audio.
For example, the source might be an audio file hosted in an Amazon S3 bucket or another web-accessible storage location.
Conceptually, the flow looks like this:
Caller → Talkdesk Studio → remote audio-file URL → Talkdesk plays the audio into the call
This should not be confused with an internet radio or continuous streaming URL. Talkdesk describes this feature specifically as a URL to an audio file.
Talkdesk’s public documentation does not appear to specify whether the remote file is retrieved for every call, temporarily cached, or fetched via another internal process. For that reason, it is safest to describe the feature as remote file playback, rather than continuous streaming.
Automating on-hold and queue music in Talkdesk
Talkdesk also provides a Prompts API, which offers another option for organizations that need their caller audio to stay up to date. Instead of requiring someone to manually upload a new production whenever messaging changes, an external application can potentially deliver updated audio into Talkdesk and replace an existing prompt.
Easy On Hold develops such applications, and is likely to have Talkdesk on its roadmap.
Queue Music vs. Hold Music: The Important Distinction
When discussing Talkdesk music on hold, it helps to identify exactly when the caller hears the audio.
Queue music plays before an agent answers and can be assigned using Talkdesk prompts.
Hold music plays after an agent answers and subsequently places the caller on hold. Talkdesk currently documents this custom audio as something its Support team uploads and configures.
That distinction becomes particularly important when planning an automated audio strategy.
Using Easy On Hold With Talkdesk
Easy On Hold can create professionally produced Talkdesk-compatible audio containing licensed music, branded messages, announcements, or a combination of music and voice.
Depending on the Talkdesk configuration, the audio can be used as:
- Custom queue waiting music
- Studio prompt audio
- Remotely hosted audio referenced by a Studio flow
- Custom agent hold music configured with assistance from Talkdesk Support