Anonymized Message Vault

Message Vault stores a complete record of your network's communications, but for some organizations, retaining voice recordings and user identities isn't an option. Anonymized Message Vault is a privacy-focused mode that lets you keep a record of what's happening across your team without storing audio, images, or information that identifies individual users.

Anonymized Message Vault is designed for organizations with privacy requirements that make standard Message Vault a non-starter, including GDPR-regulated businesses, unionized workforces, and companies with internal policies that restrict storing employee voice recordings.

This article covers how Anonymized Message Vault works, what data it stores, how to enable it, and answers to common questions.

How Anonymized Message Vault handles data

When Anonymized Message Vault is enabled, some data is never stored, some is stored but anonymized, and some is retained as normal.

Never stored. Anonymized Message Vault doesn't capture this data at all:

• Voice message audio
• Image files

Stored but anonymized. User-identifying information is replaced with a non-reversible "Anonymous user" label, with no way to recover the original identities:

• Sender usernames and display names
• Recipient usernames for direct messages
• Participant lists

Retained as normal. Anonymized Message Vault stores this data as-is, just like standard Message Vault:

• Timestamps
• Message types (voice, text, image, alert)
• Message durations
• Channel names
• Transcriptions
• Text messages
• Location messages (if enabled on your network)

What changes in the Web Console

When Anonymized Message Vault is enabled, the Message Vault section of the admin management console looks and behaves differently than the standard view. The screenshots below show what the same view looks like with and without anonymization.

Message Vault (without anonymization)

Anonymized Message Vault

The changes in the anonymized view are listed below in detail:

• Sender names display as Anonymous user and are not clickable.
• The From filter is removed.
• The Play button on voice messages is grayed out, since no audio was stored.
• Exported files show "Anonymous user" in the Sender column.
• All other metadata (timestamp, duration, channel, message type, transcription) displays normally.

Enabling Anonymized Message Vault

Anonymized Message Vault is enabled on a per-network basis by Zello. To have it turned on for your network, contact Zello paid support.

Once enabled, the change takes effect immediately for new messages, with no disruption to your network or downtime for your users.

Frequently asked questions

Does Anonymized Message Vault apply to messages that were already stored? No. Only messages recorded after Anonymized Message Vault is enabled will be anonymized. Existing messages in Message Vault are not modified.

What happens if we turn it off later? Messages recorded while Anonymized Message Vault was on stay anonymized permanently, even after it's turned off. Messages recorded afterward will include identity information as normal.

Can names still appear in transcriptions? Yes. If someone says a name out loud during a voice message (for example, "Charles, can you assist at checkout?") or types a name in a text message, that name will appear in the transcription. Anonymized Message Vault doesn't scan or redact transcribed content.

Can we anonymize just some users or channels? No. Anonymized Message Vault is a network-wide setting. It can't be applied to only specific users or channels.

Does it work with different Message Vault retention periods? Yes. Anonymized Message Vault works with all Message Vault retention periods, from 30 days up to 2 years.

Does it work with AI Message Search? Yes. Since AI Message Search uses transcriptions and metadata rather than voice files or identities, it works normally on anonymized networks.

Does it satisfy GDPR requirements? Anonymized Message Vault is designed to address privacy concerns that many organizations in regulated jurisdictions face, but compliance requirements vary. We recommend reviewing the feature with your own Data Protection Officer or legal team to confirm it meets your specific obligations.