Megna Kavlekar was pleasantly surprised when she logged into her office computer and a bubbly voice greeted her saying “welcome on board, Ms Kavlekar” and wished her a long innings with the organisation.

On the other side of the world, Anirudh Narasimhan, Senior Testing Manager at an offshore centre in Canada, was tuning in to catch up with developments at his Bengaluru-based IT company’s headquarters.

This then is ‘corporate radio’ and it is being used by companies across the board, from the IT to the manufacturing world.

While they have been restricting usage of social media sites such as Facebook, companies are trying to ensure employees have some fun at work. These in-house stations are used to play popular songs, wish people on birthdays, welcome new recruits and disseminate the odd HR message, among other things.

The programmes, which are created by an external service provider, are transmitted from secure servers on to the listeners’ desktops, either through an intranet or the internet.

IT services firm Mindtree set up its online station, Mi Radio, last December. Mindtree has over 5,000 employees and “Mi Radio offers a wonderful platform to engage and interact with them”, says Pritish David, Associate Manager (People Function).

Mi Radio offers film music in English, Hindi and southern languages for a couple of hours in the morning and in the evening. Employees get info capsules on the company’s performance, awards, latest in fashion, movies and gadgets. It also offers information on job vacancies, referral bonuses and tax reminders.

Outsourced content

The growing demand has also spawned a few audio content providers, including Salt Audios in Chennai and Bengaluru-based Timbre Media and Radiowalla, which touts itself as a mobile radio-as-a-service provider.

A team of RJs, sound engineers and music composers create the content. The fee they charge can vary from ₹25,000 to over ₹2.5 lakh a month, depending on the work. Music royalty fees are an additional cost.

N Dheena Dayalan, a radio jockey and Founder of Salt Audios, which provides in-house radio products, says “packages are customised for each organisation. We also encourage employee participation”.

Archana Ram, the company’s Head (Creative Solutions) says it makes radio programmes on a day-to-day basis, ready to air with a short lag time. For example, Salt Audios’ product ‘Radio Megamart’ for Mega Mart, a 140-store retail chain, features film songs in various languages based on store locations, and announces offers and seasonal discounts.

At the salon chain Green Trends, “the bespoke radio has become an integral part of our consumer and employee experience”, says R Gopalakrishnan, Business Head, Trends in Vogue. The radio station offers regional music and info-bits on personal care.

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