student asking question

What does "at the tone" mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"At the tone" refers to at the "beep" sound, or the sound made on a phone answering machine before someone is able to leave a message. When you call someone and they don't answer, you usually reach their voicemail, where you can leave a message. It is common to record yourself on voicemail saying either "please leave a message at the tone" or "please leave a message at the beep", indicating that someone can leave their message on the answering machine once they hear a beep sound.

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