Quantum information platforms are based on qubits that talk to each other and photons (optical and microwave) are the carrier of choice—to date, to transfer quantum states between qubits. However, in some solid-state systems, acoustic vibrational properties of the material themselves known as phonons can be advantageous. In a recent study published on Science Advances, B. Bienfait and colleagues at the interdisciplinary departments of Molecular Engineering, Physics and Materials Science in the U.S. described the deterministic emission and capture of travelling (itinerant) phonons through an acoustic communication channel, to allow phonon-based coherent transfer of quantum states.