What services does COHM provide?

COHM produces on-hold marketing, IVR recordings, podcast production, radio advertising, and in-store music streaming, along with AI-assisted voice technology built around real voice talent.

Is COHM Canadian-owned?

Yes. COHM is independently owned and operated out of Ottawa, Ontario, and has been since its founding in 1983.

Does COHM use AI voice technology?

Yes, selectively. COHM is developing AI voice infrastructure with a focus on ethical, consent-based use of voice talent, informed by leadership’s direct policy work with the Canadian Association of Voice Actors (CAVA).

What's the difference between COHM and Outcast Media?

COHM focuses on enterprise audio production — IVR, on-hold messaging, and voice branding for business phone systems. Outcast Media, COHM's sister brand, handles podcast production and broader marketing creative services.

About COHM

About

40+ Years of Audio Production

Ottawa’s Audio Production Company Since 1983

Commercial On Hold Marketing Inc. (COHM) is a Canadian audio production company based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1983 by Brian Lauzon. For over 40 years, COHM has produced professional voice-over, IVR recordings, on-hold messaging, and audio branding for businesses across Canada and the U.S.

The company is now led by President Brittany Lauzon, who also founded Outcast Media, COHM’s sister brand for podcast and marketing creative services.

“Decades in the game — and we’re still paving the way forward.” — Brittany Lauzon, President

From a Home Recording Booth to a National Audio Brand

COHM started small: founder Brian Lauzon recorded on-hold messaging in a home sound booth, then mailed cassette tapes to clients for playback on their phone systems. It was one of the first companies in Canada built entirely around the idea that hold time could be marketing time – and in 1987, that idea made the Ottawa Citizen.

Four decades later, the format has changed completely – cassettes to CDs, CDs to cloud delivery, scripts to AI-assisted production pipelines — but the underlying approach hasn’t: real voice talent, professionally directed, built around how your business actually sounds. Read the full COHM legacy story →

Today, COHM offers on-hold marketing, IVR recordings, podcast production, radio advertising, and in-store music streaming – plus emerging AI voice technology, developed with the same human-first standards that built the company.alent.ls they need to create a compelling and memorable audio brand.

Leadership

Brian Lauzon – Founder. Brian founded COHM in 1983, identifying an overlooked opportunity in business telecom: the time customers spent on hold. His early, scrappy approach to on-hold audio production helped define a category that didn’t really exist yet in Canada.

Brittany Lauzon – President. Brittany took over operations in 2012, bringing COHM into IVR recordings, podcast production, and AI voice technology while keeping the company’s production standards intact. She also serves as an AI Technical Advisor for the Canadian Association of Voice Actors (CAVA), working directly with Canadian lawmakers on AI voice rights and biometric data protection – work that shapes how COHM approaches AI voice responsibly, rather than treating it as a shortcut around real talent.

What We Believe

Two things drive how COHM operates: doing right by clients, and doing right by the people who do the work.

Clients get treated like partners, not accounts. Whether you’re a single-location small business or a national brand managing audio across dozens of locations, the production standard doesn’t change.

Real voice talent, used responsibly. COHM was built on human voice work long before “AI voice” was a category, and that hasn’t changed as the technology has matured. Where AI voice tools are used, they’re deployed with consent and compensation for the talent involved – not as a way to cut talent out of the process.

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Longevity is earned, not assumed. Staying independently owned and operating for over 40 years in an industry that’s been reshaped by digital, then cloud, then AI, means COHM has had to actually adapt — not just survive on legacy contracts.

Let’s make some noise

Where COHM Is Headed

COHM is currently building secure, Canadian-hosted voice technology infrastructure – including a TTS connector for Genesys contact center platforms – designed around the same principle that’s guided the company since 1983: audio production should sound human, and the people behind that sound should be treated fairly.

Outcast Media, COHM’s media and podcast production arm, extends that same storytelling approach beyond the phone line.

Let’s start your project