phone trees
Branching contact chains
A phone tree is a system for spreading information quickly through a group by having each person contact a set number of others, who then do the same.
The structure branches outward like a tree, allowing one message to reach many people efficiently.
Schools and organizations use phone trees to announce closings or emergencies: The PTA activated the phone tree when the field trip was canceled.
The term also refers to automated menu systems that route callers through branching options: I spent twenty minutes navigating the phone tree before reaching a human.
- callsContacts by telephone
- call listScheduled outreach queue
- interactiveAllowing mutual exchange
- automated menuComputerized telephone navigation system
- hold musicAudio during phone waits
branching · networks · evacuation plan · neighborhood watch · prayer chain · hierarchies · telephone · lines · chain of command · delegation · organizations · office directory · jacks · communications · voicemail · community groups · text messaging · family circles
- communityneighbors, neighborliness, neighborhoods, kinship, community centers
- Customer complaintshold times, wrong order, overcharges, lost package, late delivery
- phone servicesvoicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, call blocking
- grassroots organizingcanvassing, door knocking, voter registration, petitions, rallies
- mutual aidteamwork, helping, sharing, lending, cooperation
- gossiprumor, rumors, gossip, hearsay, whisper
phone treesmass text
Message sent to many
broadcast message · group text · emergency alert system · email blast · robocall
phone, tree, phones, phoned, phoning, phonetic, phonetics, phoneme, phonemes