Ella, your team's AI-assistant

Ella is your team's AI-assistant that delivers quick, relevant answers to user questions.

Drawing from documentation that’s selected and uploaded by a network’s admin, Ella's answers are tailored to fit the context of your unique conversation—making it a powerful tool that connects users with the right information at the right time. 

When a question arises—for example, an associate is seeking clarification about a certain store policy, where something’s located, or an internal procedure—users can open Ella’s talk screen, ask their question, and receive a response that’s crafted using the documentation previously uploaded by an admin to the Management Console. 

Ella functions as a 1:1 direct contact, accessible from both a user's Contacts and Recents screen. Messages with Ella are entirely private; the feature isn't compatible with channel communications at this time. 

And Ella can now do even more. When connected to the systems your team already uses, like inventory, scheduling, or ticketing tools, Ella can pull live data and take action, all by voice. To learn more, see Ella in action.

Functionality and prerequisites

Ella answers questions using files stored in knowledge bases that admins create and manage in the Management Console. Users can be assigned to one or more knowledge bases, and Ella references only the files in the knowledge base(s) assigned to the user who’s asking. This ensures answers are based on information the user is allowed to access.

To use Ella, a user must be assigned to at least one knowledge base. Once assigned, Ella appears for that user as a direct contact in Zello. Users can ask questions by voice or text, and Ella replies in the same format. Channel communications aren’t supported at this time.

To learn how to create knowledge bases, upload files, and assign users, see this support article .

Note: If Ella was set up on your network before February 3, 2026, your existing files were automatically stored in a single knowledge base. If you want different users to have access to different information when using Ella, refer to the support article above for guidance on managing them.

Accepted file types

Ella answers questions using only the files uploaded to your network’s knowledge bases. ensuring that any answers stay specific to your organization.

Currently, Ella only draws from static documentation. If any relevant documents are updated or changed, they should be re-uploaded to ensure the most current information is available. The following file types are accepted: 

All uploaded files must be 10MB or less. Additionally, although Ella can handle questions + responses in over 50 languages, the static documentation she pulls from must be in English.  

Interacting with Ella 

To prompt Ella, open the Ella contact and either speak or text your question. Ella may take a few seconds to craft a response; during that time, you’ll notice three dots appear in the interface, indicating a thinking state.

When a response is ready, it will be delivered in the same format you prompted Ella—via text if you texted a question, or via voice response if you messaged Ella using live voice. 

Additionally, please note the following: 

• Ella can only handle one question at a time; a follow-up question can’t be asked until the initial question has been answered.
• Ella operates in a conversational manner, answering any follow-up questions within the context of the ongoing discussion. 
• The context period lasts 10 minutes; after 10 minutes of inactivity, Ella forgets the conversation and the context is cleared. 

Ella in action

Ella can also connect to the systems your team already uses, like inventory and pricing databases, scheduling and dispatch, or work-order and ticketing tools, and work with them directly. Once connected, Ella can:

• Pull live data, so workers get current answers just by asking. For example, "Ella, how many units of SKU 4471 do we have in the back?" or "Ella, is forklift 12 available, and where was it last checked out?"
• Take action, such as logging an inspection, creating a work order, or updating a record, all by voice.

Ella figures out which system to check, can combine several steps to answer a single question, and replies by voice or text. Workers talk to Ella the same way they always have.

Getting Ella connected is tailored to how your team works, so the Zello team helps you set it up. Together, you'll identify the use cases with the biggest impact, connect Ella to the right systems, and test everything before rolling it out to your workers. Having a member of your team who knows those systems involved helps the setup go smoothly. To get started, reach out to your Zello account manager or Zello support.

For how to create knowledge bases, upload documents, and assign users, see Managing Ella's knowledge bases.