This article is written for: ✅ Zello Work ❌ Zello Friends & Family.
Your status controls how and when you receive messages on Zello, and it tells your teammates whether you're available to talk. This article explains what each status means and how to change your own status in the Zello app.
The four statuses
Available All incoming messages play out loud in real time. To your teammates, your profile photo shows a solid green dot (a green circle with a checkmark in older app versions).
Busy Incoming audio is muted and messages are saved to your History so you can listen when it's convenient. You'll still get visual and vibrate notifications for new messages. Busy contacts show an orange dot on their profile photo.
Offline Zello does not receive or play new messages in real time. When you sign back in, you'll be notified of any messages you missed. To your teammates, an Offline user appears in Standby (a green unfilled circle), and they can still send you messages for up to seven days while you're away.
Solo Listen and talk with a single contact or channel while every other conversation is muted. You can replay anything you missed from History later. This is useful when you need to focus on one conversation without interruptions.
A note on Standby
Standby is not a status you select yourself. Zello assigns it automatically to a user when their device loses its internet connection, their phone is turned off, the Zello app is closed, or they set their status to Offline. It reverts to Available or Busy automatically once the connection is restored or the app is reopened. A newly added user who hasn't signed in yet may also appear in Standby until their first login.
How to change your status
You can change your status right from the Zello app.
On iOS
- Tap your user icon (profile photo) in the top-left corner.
- Tap Status.
- Choose the status you want.
On Android
- Tap your profile icon in the top-left corner.
- Select Status.
- Choose the status you want.
Please note: On Zello Work, the ability to change your own status is controlled by your network administrator. If the Status option is missing or greyed out, your admin has disabled status changes for your account. Contact your administrator if you need this enabled.
Set a status message
You can add a short status message that others see alongside your status, for example "In a meeting" or "Back at 3 PM." On the Status screen, tap Set status message, enter your text, and save. Custom status messages are enabled by default on Zello Work networks.
Automatic status settings
Zello can change your status for you in a couple of situations:
- Switch to Available when you press the Talk button. Turn this on with the toggle at the bottom of the Status screen so a single press brings you back online.
- Switch to Busy when your phone is on silent (Android). When enabled, your status automatically changes to Busy whenever your phone's notifications are silenced. This can be set by you on your device, or enforced network-wide by your administrator from the management console.
For administrators
Status changing is managed in the Zello Work management console. You can enable or disable it for your whole network, and you can grant it to specific people by assigning them a user template (for example, a "Managers" template that adds the permission to change status while your other settings stay the same). This lets you keep frontline users on a fixed status while allowing supervisors to manage their own.