What Is Synchronous Messaging?

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Synchronous messaging is like ping pong, except you can't win. Do you know how to keep the ball in play in ping pong? You have to hit it back to your opponent? Well, synchronous messaging is precisely like that, except there's no winner. The only thing is to win. The other person drops out of the game, but since they're your opponent, they'll never do that. Ever. Synchronous messaging is the best kind of messaging. It's when you can send a message and get back a response quickly without having to wait around forever for that response. If you're unfamiliar with synchronous messaging, it's like texting someone on your phone. You send them a message, they respond immediately, and then you keep texting each other until one of you has to run out of things to say or gets bored enough to stop. That's how it works in enterprise messaging systems: you send a message and get back a response quickly, without waiting forever for that response. Synchronous messaging transmissions are controlled by network protocols, such as Ethernet, Token Ring and Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET). The SONET protocol is a synchronous transmission method that uses fiber optics to transmit data at high speeds. Bell Communications Research developed the SONET protocol in 1984. The protocol was created to help communications companies provide high-quality services over long distances. The most common synchronous messaging transmission methods today are Ethernet and Token Rings. Both ways use different types of physical media to transmit information between computers. Synchronous messaging is like a phone call—there is a start and stop to the conversation, and if someone doesn't answer the phone, you wait for them to get back to you. Asynchronous messaging is more like email. You can send messages back and forth all day, but if two people send messages simultaneously, there's no way for them both to get through.

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