Dispatch Hub is Zello’s desktop application designed for a seamless, centralized live-voice communications experience on Windows and macOS. Optimized for networks utilizing dispatch channels but equally usable for 1:1s, team channels, and dynamic channels, the app adds the following features to Zello’s ecosystem:
- Sharable call queues for dispatch channels, enabling dispatchers to easily manage drivers’ 1:1 calls and minimize chatter associated with traditional radios
- Integrated mapping features
- Desktop application with intuitive interface for easy use on Windows and macOS computers
While Dispatch Hub was specifically designed to prioritize the needs of transportation workers, its use case isn’t limited. Everyday users will find its functionality to nearly mirror that of the mobile application; users can send and receive messages just as they would on Zello, regardless if they’re a dispatcher, a driver, or an everyday user that’s not a member of a dispatch channel.
This article provides instructions for using Dispatch Hub primarily as a dispatcher. If you’re an everyday user of Dispatch Hub—meaning you’re utilizing this tool in team or dynamic channels, or in 1:1 conversations—see this section.
Please note: Dispatch Hub is the predecessor to Zello’s legacy PC app, which is expected to sunset in 2025. While we don’t have an exact date for the sunset, we’ll update this article as the situation evolves.
Prerequisites
Dispatch Hub requires your device operate on the following minimum system requirements:
- Windows 7 or later
- MacOS 10.11 or later (M1 chips supported on version 8.0.0 or higher)
- 4G RAM minimum / 8GB RAM recommended
- 512MB disk space
Download and Sign In to Dispatch Hub
Use the following links to download Dispatch Hub:
- For Windows: https://zello.com/get/dispatch/windows
- For Mac: https://zello.com/get/dispatch/mac
Alternatively, network admins can download Dispatch Hub directly from their Management Console in two places:
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From a dispatch channel’s details page (Channels tab > click channel name):
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From the Home Tab, under Service Status and Updates.
Once downloaded, open the Dispatch Hub package to complete installation. Then, sign in with your username, password, and network name. Alternatively, if your company uses SSO, click Continue with SSO.
Note: All users utilizing Dispatch Hub for a dispatch channel will be given dispatcher permissions—even if they’ve not been explicitly assigned the role of dispatcher in the Management Console.
Create a Dispatch Channel
Please note: While Dispatch Hub was designed to enhance dispatch channels, it is also compatible with both team and dynamic channels. Channels can only be assigned the type “dispatch” from their initial creation — unlike other channel types, a channel can't be retroactively changed to be dispatch.
For the sake of exploring Dispatch Hub’s full functionality, we’ll look at its operational capabilities with dispatch channels in this section.
Dispatch channels are defined by 2 key roles: Dispatchers and Drivers.
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Dispatchers receive drivers’ calls. With Zello, dispatchers accept drivers’ calls to the dispatch channel in a 1:1 format—meaning calls between drivers and dispatchers are private, reducing the chatter associated with traditional radios.
Drivers’ calls will be placed in a sharable queue for dispatchers to accept. -
To initiate a call to the dispatcher, the driver only needs to press Zello's PTT button on their device. This will place their call in a queue for the dispatchers to answer.
Drivers will be notified when their call is answered. The call will remain active until ended by the dispatcher.
Create a New Dispatch Channel
To create a new dispatch channel:
- Sign in to your management console via the URL [yournetworkname].zellowork.com.
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From the taskbar, open the Channels tab. Then click +New Channel.
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Enter a name for your channel and assign its type as Dispatch. Then click Create.
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Select your dispatchers, then click Add dispatchers.
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Select your drivers, then click Add drivers.
Adding Dispatchers and Drivers to an Existing Dispatch Channel
Like other channel types, dispatch channel users can be added or their roles changed at any point in time. To do so:
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Select Channels from the Management Console’s taskbar. Then choose the dispatch channel you’d like to re-configure.
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Click the + icon at the top-right corner of the Users section.
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Select the users you’d like to add to the channel. Assign their role (- for Driver, Dispatcher for dispatcher), then click Done.
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To change a user’s role, click the gear icon to the far-right of their name. Select Dispatcher if you’d like them to be assigned dispatcher authority, or click Reset Assignments if you’d like them to be a driver.
Modifying the Dispatcher Role
The dispatcher role defaults to the following configurations:
Setting | Default Configuration | Other Options |
Type | Speaks to users without roles (i.e. dispatchers can speak to drivers) |
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Normal |
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Can disconnect from channel | On |
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Auto-disconnect timeout | Disabled |
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Can send alerts to channel | On |
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If your network includes users who may perform both the dispatcher and driver role at different points in time, configure them as drivers. Anybody who uses dispatch channels on Dispatch Hub will be given dispatcher permissions while using the desktop app, but the same isn’t true of the mobile app. See the note below for additional context.
Please note: Dispatch Hub doesn’t currently allow for dispatchers to send messages to other dispatchers through the dispatch channel. They can, however, send messages to each other on a mobile device. Alternatively, a network admin can create a channel that’s exclusively for dispatchers as a workaround for those utilizing the desktop app.
To edit the configuration of a dispatcher role:
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Select Channels from the management console taskbar. Then choose the dispatch channel you’d like to configure.
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Find the Roles section. Click the gear icon at the far-right of the Dispatcher role.
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Edit the role as desired. Then click Continue.
Dispatchers: Accept Incoming Calls
While any channel type can be utilized via Dispatch Hub, this section focuses on answering dispatch calls. For more information on using Dispatch Hub as an everyday user (i.e. not solely to answer dispatch calls), see this section.
When a driver taps the PTT button on a dispatch channel’s talk screen, they’ll be put into a shared queue that’s accessible to that channel’s dispatchers. Their call will appear as pending in Dispatch Hub:
Note that, if desired, a dispatcher can listen to a call before accepting it. To do so, click the play button:
To accept the call and talk to the driver, click Accept. Accepted calls will be moved to the active queue:
Each dispatcher has their own active call queue. Once the dispatcher accepts a call, it’s no longer viewable to other dispatchers in the channel.
To end a call, click the X End Call button in the upper-right corner:
Dispatchers: Call a Driver
In addition to accepting calls, dispatchers can place outgoing calls to drivers through the Dispatch Hub app. To do this:
- Open Dispatch Hub’s Contacts tab. Then select Dispatch Channel Users.
- A list of users organized by their associated dispatch channels will appear. Note that if a user is present in more than one dispatch channel, their name will appear multiple times in this list.
- Hover over the intended recipient’s name. (If the user is in more than one dispatch channel, ensure you’re hovering over their name under the heading assigned to the channel you’d like to place the call.) You’ll see two icons: a Call button, and a bullseye. Click the bullseye to locate the user on a map; click Call to place an outgoing call.
- The driver will be automatically connected.
Dispatchers: Transfer Calls
On Dispatch Hub, call queues are shared between dispatchers. If you're unable to assist someone, consider moving their call:
- To the Pending queue, if you're unsure who can assist
OR
- To another dispatcher via the Transfer function, if you know who can assist
Move to Pending
If you’ve accepted a driver’s call and find yourself unable to assist them—but you're unsure who can— consider placing them back in the call queue so another dispatcher can help. Doing so will move the call from your Active Calls queue to the Pending Calls queue.
To move an active call back to the pending queue:
- Open Dispatch Hub’s Calls tab. Hover over the driver’s name, and click the three horizontal dots.
- Select Move To Pending.
- The call will appear in the Pending Calls queue. You will no longer be able to communicate with that driver unless you accept their call once more.
Please note: When you move a call back to pending, the next dispatcher who accepts it won’t be able to see the message you both exchanged. The next dispatcher will be able to see the messages the driver sent while their call was in the pending queue, as well as the name of the dispatcher who moved the message to the pending calls queue.
Transfer
If you accept a driver's call but realize that another dispatcher is better suited to handle the communications, consider transferring the call. Please note that this functionality is only available for dispatchers using Dispatch Hub; calls cannot be transferred to mobile dispatchers at this time.
- Open Dispatch Hub’s Calls tab. Hover over the driver’s name, and click the three horizontal dots.
- Select Transfer Call. Note that this option will only appear if at least one other dispatcher is currently online.
- Select the available dispatcher you'd like to receive the call.
- The call will be moved out of your queue. The call will appear in the selected dispatcher's active calls queue, alongside a note that the call was transferred from your queue:
Dispatch Hub Maps
Track drivers’ locations with Dispatch Hub’s maps function. Please note that both historical breadcrumb tracking and Google Maps traffic tracking are only available to customers on the Plus or Enterprise tiers. Real-time location tracking and user status/battery life is available to Core, Plus, and Enterprise subscriptions. Learn More.
Please note: To view users on a map, the network admin must grant the dispatcher access to the web console. To do to, the network admin (not the dispatcher) should:
Alternatively, if you’d like to assign many dispatchers map access at once, consider uploading a user template. |
To access the map:
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Open Dispatch Hub and select Window > Map from your system’s taskbar:
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Open Dispatch Hub and open the Zello menu (3 horizontal lines in the upper-left corner of the application). Then go to Window > Map.
This will open a map view that pinpoints active users’ locations.
Click on a user’s name to gain greater insight into their status. From here, you’ll see the time the user was last active; their device’s battery charge; and their speed in MPH. Additionally, the dispatcher may take the following actions on this screen:
Call User | Select this to place an outgoing call to this user. Your screen will be redirected to the active calls queue, and the user you’re calling will be notified of the call. |
Open in Google Maps* | When clicked, Google Maps will open the driver’s location. |
View Location History* |
View historical breadcrumb tracking data, giving insight into a driver’s travels. |
*Features only available for networks with Premium Maps enabled. Note that Premium Maps are part of Zello’s Plus pricing tier. Learn more.
Dispatch Hub Settings
Like the mobile app, Dispatch Hub has settings that are configurable both from the management console and in the app itself. Settings configured from the management console are going to be more granular in nature; when settings have been administered from the console, they’ll appear blue. For more information on locking these settings so that they’re unchangeable by end-users, see this article.
Settings administered from the Dispatch Hub app itself are configured on a device level, meaning changing a setting from the app will only change it for a single user.
Keep in mind that some dispatchers may be granted low-level sub-admin access so that they can view Dispatch Hub’s maps.
Console Settings
To administer settings pertaining to Dispatch Hub’s operation in the management console:
- Sign in to your management console at [yournetworkname].zellowork.com
- Select Settings from the taskbar. Then select Desktop from the side menu.
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There are three categories of desktop settings: General, Local History, Alerts, Voice Quality. Administer the settings to fit your network’s needs.
Dispatch Hub App Settings
- Sign in to Dispatch Hub.
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From the menu bar, go to Zello > Settings.
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There are two settings screens: General and PTT Buttons.
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Microphone Recording volume for your microphone. Please note that the microphone is inherited from your device. Speakers Playback volume of the speakers Zello is using. Please note that your speakers are inherited from your system. Talk button behavior Configure the expected behavior of the PTT button. Learn more. Close idle active calls Active dispatch calls can be configured to automatically close after a set period of time. Learn more. Play pending call messages This setting determines if a pending call is automatically played when initially received.
If set to Never, received dispatch calls will not play aloud unless the dispatcher clicks the play arrow.
If set to Always, voice messages received in a dispatch channel will automatically play aloud on Dispatch Hub.
If set to When there are no active calls, received dispatch messages will play aloud if the dispatcher isn’t currently engaged in an active call.
Ready to send Turn on if you’d like a beep to play when Zello is ready to send a message. Talk button up When toggled on, you’ll hear a beep when your message has been successfully transmitted. Appearance Choose one of three options to configure your app’s appearance. - System: If chosen, Dispatch Hub will inherit your computer’s configured appearance
- Light: If chosen, Dispatch Hub will display in light mode. This
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Dark: If chosen, Dispatch Hub will display in dark mode. Your app’s background will appear black and the text will appear white.
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Use this section to configure PTT keyboard shortcuts on your computer.
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Everyday Use of Dispatch Hub
While Dispatch Hub offers additional functionality specific to dispatchers and drivers, it can be used for everyday communications, as well. Dispatch Hub is compatible with 1:1 communications, as well as communications in team, dynamic, and dispatch channels.
Use the menu to navigate between your dispatch calls, channels, contacts, and recent messages. Like the mobile app, click on a name and/or channel to send a message:
Please note: The Contacts tab includes two tabs: Direct Contacts and Dispatch Channel Users. Use Direct Contacts if you’d like to send a 1:1 (non-dispatch) message to someone;
Click the microphone icon to record a voice message. Click the + icon to send an image (or if enabled, location), or type in the Message box to send a text.