Zello’s Emergency Alert feature allows users to send messages notifying a designated channel of an emergency situation with the touch of a talk screen button. When an alert is initiated, 10 seconds of audio is automatically recorded and sent alongside the user’s location to the designated channel. 

This feature ensures: 

• Quick, easy notification of an emergency 
• The correct people are informed of a distressing situation
• The user’s location is known and help can be appropriately directed 
• Frontline workers remain connected, even if working in isolation 

Please note: Location services must be enabled on a user's device for their location to be sent in the alert. 

What happens when an alert is sent? 

Receivers 

When an Emergency Alert is initiated, the selected channel will receive an audible notification, 10 seconds of uninterrupted audio from the sender, as well as the sender’s location and a link to view that location on a map. The emergency alert will be prioritized over other incoming messages.

If you a receive an emergency alert on Dispatch Hub, your notification will look like this:

If you receive the alert on your mobile device, the screen will look like this:

*Addresses redacted for demo purposes.

Senders

All messages sent to the alert initiator during an active emergency call will be marked as missed and directed to the sender’s Recents tab. By default, the sender is the only individual who can end the emergency alert; note that this behavior can be configured according to these instructions. 

To initiate an emergency alert, press and hold the talk screen’s Emergency button. Your device will count down from five; if you don’t press cancel before the 5 seconds is up, your alert will be automatically sent. 

To end an alert, press the Exit button in the emergency mode banner:

Please note: This feature is only available on the Plus and Enterprise pricing tiers. Learn more. 

Admins: Enable Emergency Alerts for your network

1. Log in to your management console at yournetworkname.zellowork.com
2. Go to Settings > Common > Emergency Alerts
3. Find the “Assign channel for emergency notifications” setting. From the dropdown, select the channel that you’d like to receive the Emergency Alerts. This is the channel that will receive notifications of the alert.
   
   

Please note: All users you’d like to have the ability to send an emergency alert must be included in the designated emergency channel. Ensure these users have been added to the selected emergency channel, as described here. 

Additionally, this article walks through the available settings and user roles applicable to emergency alerts. 

Assigning Emergency Channels Via User Templates

Subsets of users can be routed to different emergency channels via Zello's user templates feature. 

For example: let’s say your company has a store in Houston and a store in Austin. Using templates, an admin can assign the Houston store to an emergency channel that includes personnel who handle emergencies in Houston; the same can be done for the Austin team, ensuring emergency response is localized and personalized. 

To assign an emergency channel to a user template: 

1. Sign in to your Management Console at (yournetworkname).zellowork.com
2. Go to Menu > User Templates. 
   
3. Either create a new template (click +New Template) or select an existing template. 
   
   
4. Add the intended emergency channel to the template.
   
5. Click Edit App Settings. 
   
   
   
6. Go to Settings > Common > Emergency Alerts. Find the Assign channel For emergency communications setting; click the drop down and select the intended channel. 
   
   
   
7. Click Save and Apply. 

Please note: One user can only be assigned to one emergency channel; additionally, one user can only be managed through one template.

Related Reading

• Initiating an Emergency Alert
• Emergency Alert Settings + Roles 
  • This article walks through the possible configurations of your emergency channel. It's a highly recommended read if you're new to using this feature.