Mediator supports both synchronous and asynchronous request and response interactions. In a synchronous interaction, the client requests a service and then waits for a response to the request. In an asynchronous interaction, the client invokes the service, but does not wait for the response. You can specify a timeout period for an asynchronous interaction and you can specify an action to perform after the timeout period, such as to raise an event or start a process.

Mediator also supports event-based interactions. Events are one-way (fire-and-forget) asynchronous interactions.

For more information about synchronous and asynchronous interactions, see How to Configure Response Messages and Understanding Message Exchange Patterns of an Oracle Mediator.