[ashark]

We used to have to call[1] several people to organize a gathering/outing, in the distant past of 15 years ago. If someone wasn't home you just had to try again later and/or leave a message, which they would only hear when they got home. Maybe every now and then someone would miss something because of this, though not often. Shockingly, it worked just fine.

[1] from our homes, obviously, since that's where the phone is, unless you were one of the rare high school students carrying a cellphone that had a usable amount of minutes on it, and even then cell call quality was (is...) so crap that you'd prefer your home phone.