Phone tag is a phenomenon in which two parties attempt to contact each other by

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

, but neither is able to get a hold of the other for a conversation. Both parties may leave a message on the

answering machine An answering machine, answerphone or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the United Kingdom, UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), ...

voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to ind ...

of the other, and request a call back. This continues for a period of time, often with the two parties exchanging attempts to have a real-time conversation. The name derives from the playground game tag, where players chase one another in turn. Phone tag became common in the 1980s with the advent of messaging technologies and

caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...

. It was seen as having advantages in that people could leave and receive messages at their convenience rather than having to find a common time with the other party to have a conversation. Phone tag, like later messaging inventions such as

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...

via

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

and

WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...

, facilitates selectivity in communications.Career Quest for College Students; By Robert T Uda; page 55 Nowadays, emerging technologies can convert voice messages into text form, making it easier to check voicemail and get a message across.

References

Telephony {{comm-stub

See also

References