Standby
GlossaryWritten by Burak YReviewed by Burak YLast reviewed 3 September 2026
Time in which a responder must remain reachable and capable of responding, even when no incident is active. Standby has a real cost even on a quiet night, because it constrains travel, alcohol, sleep and childcare arrangements. Treating it as free is the most common reason on-call arrangements become unsustainable.
In practice
A week of standby with two pages still means seven evenings within reach of a laptop and a stable connection. The load is not two interruptions; it is seven constrained days.