When it Comes to Marketing

"When it comes to marketing, increased volume has been a staple of radio and TV commercials," says Dan O'Neill, chief technology officer for La Jolla's Trusonic, Inc., the company that broadcasts the music you hear when you are put on hold on the telephone.

Trusonic's MBOX, a commercial digital player for storage and broadcast of on-hold music and messaging, was released this month. The new model offers volume levels 40 percent higher than before.

The music is played from central computers programmed with a library of songs "a million deep," including U2, Sheryl Crow, Shania Twain, and George Strait. Anyone can submit songs for consideration. "Trusonic Independent Artists" get paid per play, as well as receiving a free band page with MP3 storage space at garageband.com.