Using Ad Hoc Channels for Group Conversations

  • Updated

This article is written for: Zello Work Zello Friends & Family.

Ad hoc channels allow Android and iOS users to send on-the-fly group messages to network contacts. These channels are best suited for quick, temporary communications, and their creation occurs in-app by everyday users (rather than in the management console by admins like regular network channels). 

Admins can enable and/or disable ad hoc conversations for their network from the management console's common settings. Ad hoc channels are a supplement—not a replacement— to regular network channels created by admins in the management console; because these channels are created by users, they are not privy to the same configuration capabilities as regular channels. 

There are two ways to create Ad Hoc channels:

  1. From the Recents screen
  2. From the Contacts screen

Creating Ad Hoc channels from the Recents tab

This task is performed on the user's device (Android or iOS).

  1. Open the Recents tab and tap the + icon, located in the top-right corner of your screen. 

    ad hoc.png                                                                                                                

  2. Select the contacts you'd like to start an ad hoc channel with and press Start. Invited contacts will receive an alert that the conversation has been created. 
    start convo.png

Creating Ad Hoc channels from a Contact screen

This task is performed on the user's device (Android or iOS).

  1. From the Contacts tab, select a user you'd like to include in an ad hoc channel.
  2. Tap the three horizontal dots located to the right of the user's name and select Add participants
    ad hoc from contact screen.png                                                                                                                                
  3. Select the contacts you'd like to start an ad hoc channel with and press Start. Invited contacts will receive an alert that the conversation has been created. 
    start convo.png

Using Ad Hoc channels

  • Ad Hoc channels are exclusively displayed in the Recents tab. They will not appear in the Channels tab.
  • Users can choose to disconnect from the ad hoc channel. 
  • Ad hoc channels can be renamed by members of the channel.

Removing Ad Hoc Channels

  • Users can remove Ad Hoc channels from their Recents list.
  • Once removed, the user can only re-join the particular ad hoc channel if they're re-invited by another user.