Configure hold audio and queue greetings

Each queue controls what callers hear while they wait in that queue — silence, music, or a ring tone — plus any queue announcements or comfort messages, and the greeting that plays when the agent first connects.

Before you start

• At least one call queue set up, or the details you need to create one.
• (Optional) An audio file ready to upload if you want custom hold music. Custom uploaded audio is only used when Hold Audio is set to Music. MP3 is the typical format.
• (Optional) The text you want callers to hear in queue announcements or comfort messages.

Steps

Set the hold audio

1. Open Settings → Voice.
2. Select your phone number in the sidebar, then go to the Queues tab.
3. Select the queue you want to configure, or create a new queue.
4. Under Hold Audio, pick a mode:
   Silence — no audio. Callers hear nothing while they wait.
   Music — Atender’s default hold music, or a custom track you upload.
   Ringing — a continuous ringing tone, as if the call were still trying to connect.
5. If you picked Music, choose between the default track and uploading your own. To upload, click the audio upload field and pick an MP3.
6. Click Save queue experience.

Configure queue announcements

Queue announcements are comfort messages that play while callers wait, such as “Thanks for waiting — we’ll be with you shortly.”

1. On the same queue, find the queue announcements section.
2. If the queue should use its own announcements instead of the global queue experience, turn on Override global settings.
3. Add or edit the announcement text.
4. Configure when the announcement should play, such as after a wait-time threshold or at an interval.
5. Click Save queue experience.

Global announcements and per-queue announcements behave differently:

• When you save a global announcement, Atender creates editable translations for the IVR languages configured on the tenant.
• Per-queue announcements are not auto-translated. They are spoken exactly as written, so add the announcement in the language and wording callers should hear.

Configure the customer-first greeting

The customer-first greeting plays once an agent answers, before they speak. It’s the “Hi, thanks for waiting — connecting you now” moment.

1. On the same queue, find the Customer-first greeting section.
2. Enable it.
3. Pick how the greeting is generated:
   Text-to-speech — type the message, and Atender speaks it in the configured voice. See Configure TTS voices for the voice selection.
   Audio file — upload a pre-recorded greeting if you want a specific voice or tone.
4. (Optional) Configure the trigger — by queue position, by wait time, or both. The greeting plays when the customer has hit the threshold.
5. Click Save queue experience.

Verify it worked

Dial your number, walk through the IVR to the queue, and listen:

• The hold mode you picked should play immediately on entering the queue.
• Queue announcements should play at the timing you configured.
• When an agent picks up, the customer-first greeting should play before the agent speaks.

When to use what

• Silence — Internal helpdesks where short waits are expected and silence is fine.
• Music — Most consumer support lines. Reduces hang-ups versus silence.
• Ringing — When you want callers to feel like they’re still actively connecting, not parked. Effective for very short waits; uncomfortable for long ones.
• Global queue announcement — When you want the same comfort message across queues, with editable translations for the tenant’s configured IVR languages.
• Per-queue announcement — When a specific queue needs its own wording. Write it exactly as callers should hear it, because it is not auto-translated.
• TTS customer-first greeting — When you change the message often or want it in multiple languages from a single configuration.
• Audio file customer-first greeting — When you want a specific brand voice or a professionally recorded greeting.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: Hold music plays at the wrong volume, or sounds distorted. Fix: Telephony compresses audio heavily. Re-export the source MP3 at a lower bitrate (96–128 kbps) and re-upload. Mastered-for-music files often clip in the telephony pipeline.

• Symptom: Queue announcement plays in the wrong language. Fix: Check whether the message is global or per-queue. Global announcements create editable translations for the tenant’s configured IVR languages. Per-queue announcements are not auto-translated and are spoken exactly as written.

• Symptom: Customer-first greeting plays for the agent, not the customer. Fix: The greeting is meant for the customer side only. If the agent hears it, check that the connection mode is set correctly. Reach out to support if it persists.

• Symptom: TTS voice on the greeting doesn’t match the language of the caller. Fix: The customer-first greeting uses the channel’s TTS voice configuration, not per-caller language. See Configure TTS voices for setting language-specific voices.

See also

• Set up a call queue
• Configure TTS voices
• Configure callback