Default channel (contact) allows users of Zello app to skip a step of selecting a contact or channel to talk before making a push-to-talk call with hardware or screen button. It could be most useful in the following cases:

• User only talks to one channel or contact as typical for many dispatch scenarios

• User predominantly talks to the same channel (i.e. team channel) or person (i.e their supervisor) with occasional conversations with others

• When using specialized push-to-talk devices including screenless network radios

Assigning the Default channel (contact) has the following impact on the application behavior:

• When first started, Zello will automatically open the talk screen for the default channel

• When using hardware PTT button it'll broadcast to the default channel after 20 seconds of inactivity with other users. This is especially useful with screenless devices such as network radios

  • On Android devices, set "Automatically activate a contact" to never if you'd prefer it to not work this way.

• You can still talk to anyone and any channel in your list, however, after 20 seconds of inactivity the app will switch back to the default channel.

• When the app switches back to the default channel a special notification sound is played

The Default channel (contact) has a pin icon and displays at the top of the list.

Note: You can only select one default contact or channel from within the app.

How to set the Default channel (contact) from the app

From the drop down menu on the respective talk screen select Set as default

You can remove the Default the same way as it was added (the menu action changes to Clear default).

Note: You can also press and hold from the contact/channels list or swipe to the side to show these options.

Please go to this link for instructions on how to set it up from the Admin console

Note: Default channel (contact) is currently only available on the Zello Android and iOS app. Users should be on Zello version 4.91 and above on Android, and 4.110 and above on iOS.