Missed call

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A missed call is the deliberate termination of an outgoing telephone call by the caller, before the called party answers it.

Missed calls can be used to notify another person of the caller's presence or to conveniently obtain a person's cellphone number. It can be used by one who has low credit balance or simply wishes to save money. The number of the caller is usually flashed on the screen of the callee who is using caller ID, and/or can be viewed from the missed calls list of the cellphone. Thus, the onus to call back is on the person who was called.

This phenomenon is common in developing countries, particularly India, Pakistan, the Philippines and large parts of Africa, where cell phone use is increasing, but people still have to cope with the costs of calling on a regular basis. The missed call serves as a cheap way of communication for those who cannot maintain a high credit balance such as teenagers and people with low income. The Cellular Operators Association of India, COAI, has instituted a study to understand the revenue implications of the same in India.^[1] Industry estimates of loss of revenue due to this social phenomenon are 20-25%.^[2]

At least one company in Bangalore is using this "tool" to generate business.^[3]

Missed call, as the Philippine-adapted homonym miskol, was declared the Word of the Year in 2007 at a language convention held in the University of the Philippines, Diliman.^[4]