This morning have mostly been humming Baker Street and Stuck in the Middle with You, for obvious reasons.

The latter tune reminded me of a happening a few years back, when I phoned AN Printco and was put on hold. The music playing was the soundtrack to Reservoir Dogs, which was fine until I suddenly found myself listening to the track featuring an expletive-ridden section of dialogue from the film. Oops.

This incident inspired the subsequent compilation of a PrintWeek article featuring the top ten 'music while holding' choices of various print-related companies up and down the country. It was illuminating and amusing.

There's a serious side to such choices, too. Not least in ensuring that any selection is in tune with your company's image, and won't cause the client on the other end of the line to blench and hang up when they are confronted with, say, the sort of hip hop music that comes with a parental advisory warning.

Alternatively, you could use any on hold time as an opportunity to upsell and inform the caller about services that they may be unaware of. This was the case with a firm I called just before Christmas, who'd put together some promotional messaging about their various offerings in a professional way, without resorting to Remington-style cheesiness. It was impressive and engaging.

The New Year is as good a time as any to make sure that callers put on hold aren't left cold.