Imagine this scenario: Mr. Smith has just finished up his Google search for local A/V installers and came up with a few in his area. Now he takes out his cell phone to make personal contact.

Bob's Custom HiFi Warehouse answers his call, then puts him on hold -- and some talk radio fills Mr. Smith's ears as he waits a couple of minutes.

Yawn. Click.

Bob's Custom HiFi Warehouse just lost a potential install on a 5,000-square-foot home.

When a frustrated Mr. Smith gets put on hold by the next integrator on his list, Hal's HiFi and Home Automation, he is ready to hang up again when he hears more talk. Only this time the voice seems like more than just babble -- it's telling him about all the services Hal's HiFi and Home Automation can provide him.

"We know you didn't call us to be placed on hold, but we're giving someone the same personalized service that we'll be giving to you shortly. Did you know that here at Hal's HiFi and Home Automation we do more than install home theaters? We can connect your entire house so you can control every room at the touch of a button. And we do it using reliable brands like ..."

Now, Mr. Smith's interest is even more piqued and he's hooked on Hal's.

"When you place a caller on hold, it's an opportunity for you to market your services, and most companies drop the ball in that way," says Jesse Lubar, president and founder of Sunrise, Fla.-based National Telephone Message Corp., Inc., an on-hold message service provider.

"When customers are calling in and are placed on hold, a lot of times they're hearing the radio, they can be hearing negative news about the war or the economy. It's not that that stuff's not important, but it's not why they called. We replaced the radio with targeted marketing."

Lubar says his 17-year-old company has produced on-hold messages for 30,000 clients -- including a lot of repeat business -- in the United States, Caribbean, Europe and Middle East. His clientele ranges widely, and Lubar approximates those in the electronics industry at a little more than 400.

Another on-hold message company, San Diego-based Flashpoint Studios, found that 70 percent of business callers are put on hold, of which 60 percent hang up and 30 percent don't call back.

The research -- culled from AT&T, North American Telecommunications Association, US West, Nationwide Insurance and Maximarketing Studies -- also showed that 84 percent of callers prefer on-hold messaging to other options, and 15 percent to 35 percent of callers even purchased additional items or services as a result of something they heard while on hold.

"Even when you're just playing music, it's the owner or manager that might be deciding what music it should be, and the person may or may not respond to it," Lubar says.

"We can use a hard-sell or soft-sell approach depending on the desire of the company -- whether they want to be aggressive or just have a basic overview; some want trivia or comedy, or a past jingle as background music; some want to drive people to their Web site. The worst thing is to play dead silence."

National Telephone Message Corp. (www.ihearditonhold.com) has 37 employees to do all of its production in-house, including script writing, voiceovers (male or female, of varying accents and ages), sales, production and shipping.

It can provide just the equipment to play the messages, just the content, or both, and works with companies to decide what messages, voice types and music to incorporate.

Packages range from $500 to $1,500 with options such as a one-time deal, quarterly messages, a monthly plan and such. A custom installation company, for example, might want a fresh message every three months to tell potential clients about the latest technologies it offers.

Messages usually run 30 to 45 seconds and eight to 10 are included in a loop for a CD (to run into the phone system through an RCA minijack) or WAV file (stored on a hard drive, especially for use with VoIP-based systems).