80's Stories

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

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

National Winner, small business category

1996

National Winner
Small Business Category

Kym launched his award winning “guerrilla marketing” technique and continued to build the company’s national profile.

Model Marketing for Australia Grand Prix in Melbourne

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

Messages On Hold expanding to Asian market

2002

Messages On Hold expanding to
Asian market

Messages On Hold first year anniversary in Singapore

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.

Messages On Hold appeared as a cover story in Generations Magazine

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.

Cricketer Shane Warne promoting Messages On Hold

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

Expanded our voice library by 50%

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.

Mastering Marketing video series produced

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.

VideoUpdate.Me launched

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.

Canity

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.

Expanded service to Japan

2017

Expanded service to Japan

Message in a Bottle

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.

COVID-19 assistance

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.

Podcast editing services

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.