system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek] How do comms route calls in real time?

When Picard hails Riker with a "Picard to Riker," does everyone's combadge respond similar to an intercom, or is there some sort of intention tracking that occurs so that only Riker's combadge responds. If so, is it not a real time message until the computer works out who it's going to, then it plays catch-up?
gpt
It only routes to the person. Remember the com badges have identifiers in them to say who they are - like when a crew member takes it off so they're not tracked.

And Starfleet computers work at a speed that most lifeforms wouldn't even notice a lag time in routing.