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Zello

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Zello Inc
Company typePrivate
IndustryMobile application development
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
U.S.
Key people
Alexey Gavrilov, CEO
ProductsZello
Number of employees
51-200[1]
Websitezello.com

Zello is a tech software company in Austin, Texas, U.S., known for the Zello app, which emulates push-to-talk (PTT) walkie-talkies over cell phone networks.

History

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Alexey Gavrilov developed the product originally called Loudtalks which was announced at the TechCrunch 40 Mobile and Communications Conference on September 17, 2007.[2] Zello acquired the Loudtalks technology, rebranded, and moved the development team to Austin. It added apps on June 20, 2012.[3] Bill Moore is the CEO and Gavrilov is CPO. Moore founded and was CEO of TuneIn where Gavrilov and his team created popular TuneIn applications.

Zello made the news in June 2013 when Turkish protesters used it to circumvent government censors.[4] As a result Zello was the top most downloaded application in Turkey during the first week of June 2013.[5]

In February 2014, it was blocked by CANTV in Venezuela. Zello released workarounds and patches to overcome the blocks to support approximately 600,000 Venezuelans who have downloaded the application to communicate with each other amidst protests.[6] It "has been one of the most downloaded applications in Ukraine and Venezuela."[7]

In July 2017, in Latvia, Zello was the main application which was used by thousands of volunteers and rescuers for communication purposes while looking for Ivan Berladin who went missing.

In August 2017 during relief efforts following Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Zello became a popular method for communications between volunteer rescuers (particularly members of the Cajun Navy) and people stranded by the widespread flooding.[8][9] The app received over 6 million signups in one week as Florida residents responded to hurricane warnings for Hurricane Irma.[10]

In September 2018, while Hurricane Florence caused unprecedented flooding in the US states of North and South Carolina, rescuers used Zello to request information about the locations of people needing help and on street conditions.[11]

On August 27, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives select committee investigating the 2021 United States Capitol attack demanded records from Zello (alongside 14 other social media companies) going back to the spring of 2020.[12]

Members of the Freedom Convoy 2022 almost exclusively used Zello to communicate with other members and supporters.[13][14][15]

Participants in the Kenya Finance Bill protests that began in June 2024 have used Zello as their app of choice for communicating anonymously in real time. Over 40,000 users in Kenya downloaded the Zello app from the Google Play store between June 17 and June 25, peaking at the fourth most downloaded app in the country on June 25. According to political scientist Herman Manyora of the University of Nairobi, the use of Zello made the protest one of the most effective in the country's history. President William Ruto acknowledged the use of Zello by protesters on July 2.[16]

On 2 December 2024, Zello advised all its users to change their passwords after a suspected cybersecurity breach.[17][18]

Products

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Zello is a live voice push-to-talk communication platform that turns any smart device into a digital two-way radio that works over Wi-Fi and cell networks anywhere in the world. Purpose-built to connect frontline teams and communities, the push-to-talk walkie-talkie app offers instant voice communication with one or many in unlimited secure, private channels, as well as message replay, emergency alerts, location tracking, dispatch capabilities, and Bluetooth device support.

Zello users can create channels and give control to other Zello users to become moderators. New York Times' technology columnist David Pogue describes Zello's channels, "Like most of the best applications, Zello lets you create groups so that you can carry on something like a party-line phone call among a handful—or hundreds—of friends or collaborators."[19]

Once a channel is created channels can appear on the "Trending" list and creators can assign additional moderators to keep their created channels safe. Though available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Blackberry, Zello can also be accessed from a Windows PC computer with the Zello for Windows PC.[19] For other smartphone operating systems (e.g., Sailfish OS) there are Zello-compatible apps provided by third parties.[20]

Zello Work is the paid service of Zello app that allows corporates and users looking for real-time communication over groups and channels. Zello Work is different from Zello but is however owned by the same company.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Zello Software Development". LinkedIn. July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  2. ^ Riley, D. (September 17, 2007).TechCrunch 40 Session 2: Mobile & Communications. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  3. ^ Perez, S. (June 20, 2012). "Voice Chat App Voxer Gets New Competition From Zello." Techcrunch. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Arthur, C. (June 4, 2013)."Turkish protesters using encryption software to evade censors." The Guardian. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  5. ^ (June 2, 2013).Zello Walkie Talkie Daily Ranks. App Annie. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  6. ^ Zhang, S. (February 25, 2014)."The Mobile App Driving Venezuela's Anti-Government Protests." Gizmodo. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  7. ^ Burke, S. (February 24, 2014.) "Protesters in Venezuela, Ukraine turn to peer-to-peer messaging app." CNN. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  8. ^ On Roads Turned Waterways, Volunteers Improvise to Save the Trapped and Desperate, Manny Fernandez, New York Times, August 29, 2017
  9. ^ Hartman, H. (September 7, 2017) "I downloaded an app. And suddenly, was part of the Cajun Navy." Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  10. ^ Bhuiyan, Johana (September 10, 2017). "This walkie talkie app got six million new users in one week as Florida prepared for Hurricane Irma". Recode. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  11. ^ Healy, Jack; Fink, Sheri (September 15, 2018). "Torrents of Water in Towns Across the Carolina's. And a Guy With a Boat". New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  12. ^ Breuninger, Kevin; Wilkie, Christina (August 27, 2021). "Congressional panel investigating Jan. 6 insurrection demands records from Facebook, Twitter, other tech firms". CNBC. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  13. ^ Gilmore, Rachel (January 27, 2022). "'Fringe minority' in truck convoy with 'unacceptable views' don't represent Canadians: Trudeau". Global News. Corus Entertainment. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  14. ^ Maher, Stephen (January 26, 2022). "The grassroots action against Erin O'Toole's leadership has begun". Macleans.ca. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  15. ^ Grant, Demar (February 11, 2022). "What is Zello? Inside the app that helped organize "freedom convoy" blockades". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  16. ^ "Kenya's biggest protest in recent history played out on a walkie-talkie app". Rest of World. July 16, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  17. ^ https://www.cyberdaily.au/security/11438-zello-requests-users-reset-passwords-as-cyber-incident-speculated
  18. ^ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/zello-asks-users-to-reset-passwords-after-security-incident/
  19. ^ a b Pogue, D. (September 5, 2012)."Smartphone? Presto! 2-Way Radio." The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  20. ^ NRad, (April 30, 2020) an experimental Zello Client for Sailfish OS
  21. ^ "How does Zello Work differ from the free Zello app?". Zello Help Center. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
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