Austin-based Zello, a push-to-talk voice messaging app that works like a walkie-talkie, is helping over 135 million people communicate on everything from a national crisis to planning a road trip with family or friends.
The app has helped people communicate since 2012 but has recently garnered global attention for its impact on Venezuelans who are trying to survive in a country where food and water is scarce and most independent media outlets have folded. Zello’s Venezuela Hasta Los Tuétanos keeps the South American country’s people updated on the latest political, social, economic and humanitarian situation.
“The original problem was looking for a texting equivalent to a phone call where you could just push a button and talk,” said CEO Bill Moore. “So this radio-style communication [is] making that available across mobile devices.”
Moore, who is the founder and CEO of popular radio streaming app TuneIn Radio, teamed up with Alexey Gavrilov, founder of Zello and core member of TuneIn’s engineering team, to take the helm of Zello.
Zello serves thousands of businesses including Honda, Restoration Hardware, Starwood/Marriott Hotels, Uniqlo, Waste Management and YRC Freight. The app helps work teams communicate and collaborate in real time and is especially useful to remote workers in retail, construction, hospitality, transportation and manufacturing who rely on radio-style communication.
“I expect that Zello’s highest impact will come from improved knowledge sharing and communication within organizations,” Gavrilov said. “Slack going public in 2019 is a validation that companies are getting serious about moving to modern tools in their workflows.
“One area of great untapped potential is deskless workers, and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), where apps like Zello deliver similar benefits to what Slack did for office workers,” he said. “By enabling instant communication and sharing, Zello increases productivity, employee retention and work safety.”
The app leads the pack when it comes to push-to-talk voice messaging app for businesses worldwide by turning iOS, Android and Windows devices into walkie-talkies that can also record messages, track location and send emergency alerts.
“It’s a crowdsourced 911 alternative for the country of South Africa.”
Users can communicate in real time over any wireless or data network to share updates, connect in emergencies and solve problems. Channels can be tailored to the needs of each customer and the app has a presence in every country. It operates via a web management console and is available in 22 languages.
“There are two main sides to what we do. First is consumers, users who use it to keep up with friends and family,” Moore said. “Maybe you’re organizing a road trip or you’re using it to chit chat about a sports game.
“The second side of it is for companies who use it to replace two-way radio,” he said. “They’re typically deploying a mobile application to their workers and they’re centered on workers who don’t have a desk. The opportunity for us is a massive market and those workers totally rely on human voice communication.”
This is because remote workers are typically driving or doing something that requires using their hands.
“Voice is great for a bunch of reasons. One is you can talk while doing something else,” Moore said. “More importantly, that’s how we naturally communicate. It’s a very rich and productive way to build trust, it’s great for solving problems and great at organizing people.”
The app is available to companies for $6 per user each month with optional feature upgrades. These include central archives of their communication, premium maps features and the emergency communication channel.
In addition to the Venezuela crisis, the app has also been helpful during natural disasters such as hurricanes Harvey and Maria, wildfires that have plagued the country recently and global protests.
“It’s a crowdsourced 911 alternative for the country of South Africa,” Moore said. “When the stakes are high your voice is essential. It’s reliable. Zello often works when nothing else does. It works on any kind of data connection.”
He said Zello even works with a marginal 2G connection.
“You can hardly text and Zello still works with your voice,” Moore said.
Though the app has a strong global presence, the company is headquartered in Austin -- a fact its leadership expressed with satisfaction.
They credit its attractiveness to the fast-growing and “amazingly” collaborative tech community and the fact that the city can usually be found on “Top Cities to Live” lists. The harmonic and energizing work environment is contagious and makes it a great place to recruit employees or hire out-of-staters who have no qualms about moving to the “Live Music Capital of the World.”
“We’ve had one person quit in the time we’ve been operating. That’s almost unheard of. People really enjoy working here,” Moore said, adding that the company is currently hiring for several positions. “One reason is the impact we have on the world.”
