What is the Music on Hold Module used for?

The Music on Hold Module is used to upload audio files to your PBX from your web browser and to divide the files into various Music on Hold Categories. You can select which category to use for particular calls in the Inbound Routes, Outbound Routes, Ring Groups, and Queues Modules.

Overview

The Music on Hold module is intended to reassure callers that they are still connected to their calls. The PBX comes with 11 built in songs that are the default hold music. You can easily add your own music or sound files to the system by uploading them in .wav or .mp3 format, or stream a live feed. Adding custom music on hold is a great way to bring personality to your phone system. The PBX allows two styles of music on hold – static files and streaming. Static files are audio files (WAV or MP3 files) that are uploaded to the server and played back when a caller is placed on hold. Streaming audio is used to connect to a live audio feed from a particular source. This could be an Internet stream, or a stream from a sound card or other audio device. MoH categories can be applied to inbound routes as well as to queues, ring groups, outbound routes and conferences. Categories assigned at the call level will override the MOH category for that target only. Once a call leaves that target, it will fall back into the category specified in the inbound route it was matched against.

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Licensing Considerations

In the past, it was common to plug a radio or CD player into your phone system. In reality, most copyright and music licenses do not actually allow you to do this. There are two legal ways to acquire music on hold content – pay for a license from the copyright holder or find a source of music released under a license suitable for your PBX. We are not providing legal advice; you are responsible for understanding what is required of you in order to use a particular piece of music as your hold source.

BMI - MoH Licencing

ASCAP - MoH Licencing

http://www.opsound.org

Creative Commons Search on Sound Cloud

Note: that soundcloud depends on user honesty. Users without license to do so may upload content under a different license. When using sites like this it may be a good idea to verify the uploader is the actual content creator.

http://www.premiumbeat.com/ <-- is a good source of pay once per song

Adding Music Categories

The PBX has one category, which is “default.” You can create additional categories by clicking on the “Add Music Category” in the top right hand side of the screen.

You will be brought to the following

Category Name

Enter a category name, then submit changes to save your new category.

Adding Static Music

In the right side navigation menu click the category you wish to add music to.

Upload a WAV or MP3 File

Here you can use the file section box to upload a WAV or MP3 from your computer.

You will click Choose File

You will then be prompted to specify the location on your local computer where the sound file is located. Depending on your browser, you may be able to drag and drop the file directly to the “Choose File” box.

Volume Adjustment

Here you can increase or decrease the volume of this specific MoH file before uploading it. Once the file has been uploaded, you cannot make changes to the volume without deleting the file and uploading it again with the adjusted levels.

Upload

Press this button to actually upload your MoH file. If you’re uploading an MP3 file, you will need to wait for the page to completely load after submitting because the system is converting the MP3 to WAV format.

Disable/Enable Random Play

Selecting this option will either toggle random play on or off. Random play picks a random file each time to play when a caller is put in the MoH category. Disabling random play will have each caller start with the first MoH file and work their way down the list in the order in which they are uploaded.

MoH List

A list of MoH files in this category. You can click the red “Delete” button on the right of each file to remove a specific MoH file.

Adding Streaming Music

Streaming categories can be used to capture audio from a line-in or an online audio stream.

Using an audio stream for MoH is more complicated than using static audio files and the results can be unpredictable depending on the source and type of the stream.