80s
Beginnings
Working from the spare bedroom of his Scarborough unit, Kym Illman established Messages On Hold in 1988.
1990 - 2000
ON-HOLD IDEA EARNS BIG HAND
It all started in 1992...
Thousands of footy fans became aware of Messages On Hold when they saw waving fingers competing with the goal umpires for attention after each scoring shot.
Kym Illman was awarded Young Business Achiever of the Year
1996
National Winner
Small Business Category
Kym launched his award winning “guerrilla marketing” technique and continued to build the company’s national profile.
1998
Model Marketing for Australia
Grand Prix in Melbourne
Melbourne model, Tiffany, was painted to look like she was wearing a racing suit, while Melbourne’s Chantal Spurling modelled a white bikini with tyre tread marks and the Messages On Hold logo painted across her body.
2000 - 2010
MESSAGES ON HOLD EXPANDING
2002
Messages On Hold expanding to
Asian market
2003
Messages On Hold first year anniversary
in Singapore
Dressed in $20 and $100 Australian dollar notes, Miss Hazel Hussein, turned a lot of heads along Orchard Road in Singapore. The cost of her dress was almost AUD$7,000.
2004
Messages On Hold appeared as a cover story
in Generations Magazine
Messages On Hold appeared as a Cover story in Generations Family Business Australia Magazine.
2005 to 2010
Cricketer Shane Warne promoting Messages On Hold
Kym wanted a true Aussie icon to market Messages On Hold, so the spin bowling champ himself, Shane Warne, jumped on board.
2010 - NOW
2010
Expanded our voice library
by 50%
Our global voice talent library continues to grow substantially. Our talent includes both male and female voices, as well as various ages, languages, and accents.
2012
Mastering Marketing
video series produced
Marketing expert, Kym Illman, spilled his secrets to success. He developed clear, concise, and informative video tutorials covering all-things marketing: free publicity, relationships, branding, and more.
2013
VideoUpdate.Me launched
Professionally written, recorded, and produced industry-specific video newsletters. Say more to a bigger audience, in less time, in an interesting and engaging way.
2015
Canity
Canity, an online customer service training platform, is welcomed into the world! Offering video-based micro-learning content for teams, in engaging, bite-sized videos.
2017
Expanded service to Japan
2018
Message in a Bottle
A note, placed in a bottle and thrown overboard on June 12, 1886 was found by Kym and Tonya, near Wedge Island, WA on January 21, 2018. The find was confirmed as a Guinness World Record on March 8, 2018.
2020
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Messages On Hold assisted thousands of businesses in keeping their customers informed. This included regular updates as government regulations changed, changes to opening hours, and more.
2022
We built three new state-of-the-art recording studios, and, in keeping with the latest trends, launched podcast editing services. Our studios allow for professional sounding recordings, simpler live direction, and no background noise.
Why On Hold?
We've spent our fair share of time tearing out hair listening to bland music and awful recordings while waiting on hold. Now with our dedicated creative teams and passion for out-of-the-box phone audio that'll snap callers awake, on hold messages will never be the same.
Maintain your callers' attention, boost sales, inform your customers, and keep up with the demands of a fast-paced, digital world, with Messages On Hold.
Media Gallery
MARKETING VIDEOS
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