This organizational protocol distributes the burden of mass communication during an outage or emergency. The incident commander calls a few top-level managers, who each call their direct reports, cascading down until the entire roster is notified. Automated software platforms handle most mass alerts, but infrastructure teams still maintain manual paper-based trees in case the primary network goes down.
Grab the emergency binder and start the call tree, because the main data center just lost utility power.
Also heard as
- phone tree
Related terms
Phone tree
An automated, multi-level voice menu that routes callers based on their keypad or spoken responses.
Call center
A centralized facility equipped to handle large volumes of inbound or outbound telephone requests.
Helpline
A dedicated telephone routing service designed to connect callers with specialized support or emergency assistance.