Getting Started Guide for Zello Work
Welcome to Zello Work! This guide shows you how to create and manage a free 14-day trial and then upgrade to a paid subscription and add more users.
Table of Contents:
- Part One: Create your Zello Work network
- Part Two: Install and log into the app on your device(s)
- Part Three: Invite your coworkers to join your Zello Work network
- Part Four: Begin Using your Zello Work network
- Part Five: Create channels
- Part Six: Add users to your new channel
- Part Seven: Edit user details
- Part Eight: Track user adoption
- Part Nine: Convert from the trial to a paid subscription
Part One: Create your Zello Work network
If you have already created your network, skip to Step Two.
1. In a web browser, go to the Zello Homepage.
2. Click Get Started.
3. Fill out the Create Network form with your name, company's name, your corporate email address, and your work phone number. Make sure that you are providing contact information that can be used to verify your account or recover your password later if needed.
4. Make sure you choose a unique private network name to identify your company! Try to keep the name memorable and short.
5. Click Continue. You’ll get a confirmation email that you’ve successfully created a network.
6. Create the admin account. The admin user is automatically included with all networks and cannot be deleted. This is the account that is used to configure your network, but it can be used to log into Zello on a mobile device and behaves as a regular user in your network. Make sure you choose a password you can remember!
7. You will now be taken to a screen within your Management Console for your new network. You will immediately be prompted to begin creating accounts for users in your network. You can begin creating accounts with a username and password and enter a phone number/email address to send them a link to sign in to your Zello network on their phones. Alternatively, you can skip this step for now.
Note: You will need to create an account for all users in your network. User accounts previously created with a free version of Zello will not be able to sign in to your network.
8. After clicking “Done,” you will be taken to the homepage for your Management Console. This dashboard is where you can manage network users, channels, devices, and settings. The purple buttons that you see tell you more about specific features of your Management Console.
Part Two: Install and log into the app on your device(s)
Once you have created your network, the next step is to try it out!
1. Download the app and log in using one of the following methods:
2. Once you are logged in to your network, try Zello out by sending messages to Echo! Echo is a user that comes automatically with all new networks, and can be used to test audio by repeating messages you send to it. You can delete Echo if this functionality is not useful to your team.
iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
1. Download the Zello app from the App Store.
2. Once installed, open Zello and select the Zello Work link from the Welcome to Zello screen.
3. On the Login screen, enter your username, password, and network name.
4. You are now logged in to your network! You will be taken to your contacts screen.
Note: For more information on using Zello Work on iOS, please refer to iPhone Zello Work Start Guide.
Android (phone, tablet)
1. Download the Zello app from the Google Play Store.
2. Once installed, open Zello and select the Zello Work link from the Welcome to Zello screen.
3. On the Sign in screen, enter the username, password and network name.
4. Tap the blue checkmark to complete the sign-in. At this point, you will be prompted to select app permissions. We suggest that you allow all capabilities for optimal use of the Zello app. You will now be taken to the Contacts screen, where other network users will be listed.
Note: For more information on using the Zello Work app, please refer to Android Zello Work Start Guide.
Windows / macOS (Dispatch Hub)
1. To install Zello Work on your computer, type in the network URL: "[Your network name].zellowork.com/app"
2. Select the right option for your computer:
3. Install the app and sign in using your network name, username, and password. Please note that depending on the permissions on your PC or internal company IT Policy, you may require an internal IT administrator login to install the Dispatch Hub.
NOTE: If you are not able to sign in, verify your network configuration. Refer to network configuration instructions.
Part Three: Invite your coworkers to join your Zello Work network
Effective communication requires more than one person, so it's time to invite your coworkers to join Zello from their Device. You can do this in a couple of ways:
a. Through your mobile app: You can invite new coworkers to join from your mobile app by pressing the blue Invite Coworkers button on the Contacts screen. You will have an option to send a text or an email with a link to download Zello, along with a link to sign in to your network once they have the app downloaded. Note: when you add people to your network using this method, their usernames will be user01, user02, etc. Usernames cannot be changed.
b. Through the Admin Management Console: If you create users through the management console, then you will be able to select the username for them.
1. In order to create users, navigate to the Users tab. This is where you can get an overview of all of the users in your network and add users by clicking the green + New User button.
2. When you click the + New User button, you will be prompted to create a profile. The only required fields are the username and password for the user - the rest are optional.
3. Once you hit Create User, you will get the option to send the user a sign-on link via email or text. If you have the user’s device with you, you can also scan the QR code that populates. You will have to first download the Zello app on the device, and then use the QR Code option to sign in.
Note: QR codes are unique to each user.
If you ever need to re-generate the sign-on link for a user, you can do that from the user’s profile (see Part Seven for more information about profiles). Simply click Get SignOn Link and then enter their email address or phone number, or have them scan the QR code. You can find full instructions here.
Part Four: Begin Using your Zello Work network
Now that you have created a network and added users, you can test Zello by contacting someone from the contacts page of your Zello App. Admins can later edit user contacts and channels from the Management Console.
To test your network:
1. From any device connected to the network, go to the Contacts list and select a Contact in Available status (solid green circle).
2. On the Talk Screen, hold down the talk circle. When the circle is red, your message is sending. Release when done speaking.
3. Listen for an audio confirmation from your Contact. The talk circle turns green when you are receiving a message.
Identifying users’ current status from the Management Console
On the Management Console, select Users from the taskbar. The Users list displays each username, display name and position (if provided), and their channel assignment(s). The circles to the left of each username indicate their current availability status. You can also see statuses from the Contacts Screen of the Zello app.
Here are the status types and the user’s availability for each. Here are instructions for managing your status within the app.
- Available: Solid green circle with a checkmark indicates the user is online and all messages will play in real-time
- Busy: Solid orange circle indicates Zello will not play audio in real-time but will, instead, save messages to History for later listening
- Standby: Hollow green circle indicates the Internet connection is lost or Zello is not running. Missed messages will be automatically played when the user returns to “Available" status.
- Offline: Hollow gray circle indicates the user is not signed into the app. The user cannot receive messages while in Offline status. However, they will receive any missed messages sent within 7 days of going Offline once back in "Available" status.
Part Five: Create channels
Channels allow groups to communicate in real-time, using one-to-many transmissions. Here are some pointers about how they work:
- All channel users can hear every message (by default - this can be changed using User Roles), but only one person can speak at a time.
- The interrupt time default is one minute, but this can be changed from the settings of your Management Console.
- Up to 6000 online and connected users are supported per channel.
- There is no limit to the number of channels you can have in your network.
Admins can change channel settings, delete channels, and reassign users to channels using the Management Console. When you create your network, a default channel called “Everyone” is created. All network users are automatically assigned to the "Everyone" channel. This channel can be deleted if you don’t need it.
Adding a new channel
1. From the Management Console, select Channels from the taskbar.
2. You should see the default "Everyone" channel already listed.
3. Click on + New Channel to create a new channel.
4. Enter a name for the new channel.
5. Select the Channel Type using the drop-down arrow. Select from one of the following types: Team, Dynamic, or Hidden, or Dispatch. Click here for a full description of the differences between these channel types. You can also change a channel type at any time.
6. After choosing a channel type, click Create Channel, and the channel will be added to your list.
Part Six: Add users to your new channel
1. Once you click Create Channel, you will be taken to the profile page for your channel. This is where you will add users and where you can define user roles.
2. Click on "+" to add users.
3. Select the users that you would like to be in your new channel.
4. When finished, click on Done to add the users to the channel.
NOTE: The free trial only allows up to 100 users per network. If you decide to convert your network into a paid subscription, then you can add as many users as you need. In order to add a large number of users at one time, you can import multiple users from a CSV file. You can also export user data.
Part Seven: Edit user details
Editing a user's details
- From the Management Console taskbar, select Users.
- From the Users list, select the user you want to edit. In this example, we are editing "User2".
- From the top menu on this screen, you can Clone the user, change their password, create a SignOn link for the user to log into the network, or Delete the user. You will not need to use Request Log unless the user is experiencing a technical issue.
- Their Display Name, Position, and Email Address can be edited under User Details.
- Their User Template, Web Console Access, and Cloud History (which retains all messages created by the user if your network has Message Vault enabled) can be edited under User Settings.
- All Channel memberships and Direct Contacts of the user are listed on the right side of the screen.
For information on the network console settings, please refer to the Zello Work Console Settings Guide.
Part Eight: Track user adoption
It's important to make sure your coworkers actually join your Network! We have two ways for you to track user adoption.
1. See which users have signed into Zello via your Sign In Report: Click on Menu and then Sign In Report.
The Sign In Report shows you which users have signed in, when, and which platform they are using.
2. Listen to the network's message history: Go to History (also known as Message Vault) to observe the messages that have been sent in your network. You can see when messages were sent, who sent them and to whom, and even listen to messages. This can give you an idea of the type of conversations that your colleagues are having over Zello. Note that if you do not want messages stored in this way, you can disable message history storage from the user profile page.
Part Nine: Convert from the trial to a paid subscription
You can easily convert your 14-day free trial into a paid subscription using a credit card and the Management Console. The paid subscription will allow you to keep all the users and channels you currently have, plus add unlimited users, channels, and ad hoc groups. You can add premium features such as Emergency Alerts, Message Vault, or Premium Maps for an additional fee. See Pricing for details.
1. From the Management Console taskbar, select Upgrade.
2. On the Upgrade screen, select the number of users for your network and any premium features you want to add. You can also specify Monthly payments, or select Yearly payment for a 15% discount. If you are a 501C non-profit or educational organization, contact sales@zello.com for details about our non-profit discount.
3. Click on Enter Payment Details and enter your credit card information. Note that as soon as you enter payment information, your trial will end, so it is best to wait until the end of the thirty days.
4. You can pause or cancel your subscription at any time by selecting Cancel Subscription at the bottom. You can resume your subscription at a later time.
Questions? Contact us or submit a new ticket for support-related inquiries.