Music on hold - because silence sounds like a dropped call
Put a caller on hold in silence and within seconds they are saying "hello? hello?" and hanging up. Hold audio fixes that: music or messages reassure the caller they are still connected, make the wait feel shorter, and give your business a more professional answer than dead air.
On ONSIM the audio is played by the network - no on-hold box wired to a phone system, no hardware at all. Upload it once in the dashboard and every hold, queue and transfer across your account uses it.
Music on hold questions
Where does the caller hear the hold audio?
Whenever they are waiting and would otherwise hear silence: on hold during a call, waiting in a call queue, or during an attended transfer between colleagues. Silence makes callers hang up because they assume the call has dropped - audio keeps them on the line.
Can I use my own audio or messages?
Yes. Upload your own audio in the dashboard - licensed music, a professionally voiced welcome, or marketing messages ("ask about our service plans") that turn hold time into the one advert your customers reliably hear. You can change it seasonally without touching any hardware, because there is none.
Do I need a licence to play music to callers?
For commercial music, generally yes - playing chart music to callers counts as public performance and needs the appropriate licence (in the UK, TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS covers most cases). Royalty-free hold music or a voiced message avoids the licence question entirely, which is why many businesses choose it.
Does this work when my "phone system" is just mobiles?
Yes - that is the point of doing it in the network. Your callers hold in the network, not on a handset, so a customer waiting for a plumber whose team runs entirely on Landline SIMs hears exactly the same professional hold experience as a caller to a firm with a floor of desk phones.
Part of a proper call flow
Hold audio matters most where callers actually wait: behind a virtual receptionist menu and in call queues. Set the three up together and a two-person firm answers like an organisation.