Call Tree (Definition)

A telephone procedure which can be used to notify staff of an emergency.

A call tree is typically used to notify staff out of hours. A common arrangement is that one person will call a small group of staff members with a message, then those persons will phone other staff and pass on the message, until finally all relevant members of staff have received the message.

To ensure that a call tree is effective it should be regularly tested: missing or changed phone numbers can severely degrade the performance of a call tree.