April 20, 2012 — Zello catches criminals

Last Tuesday we opened up an email from a user in Malaysia named Jebat. Like many emails, it told about his experience with Zello and how much he loves the app. Unlike most emails, it revealed that for Jebat and his community in southern Selangor, Zello means life or death. He wrote:

Bro, thanks for this apps. We used to use PTT on GSM phones to serve our local community for night watch program. We did this for free and served the whole district 24/7. Suddenly, the only telco that served this app, stopped the service.

Crime rates rised up almost triple times. But thanks to you guys, we find this Zello and continue this public service to our community

Contact me through Zello channel. Like you all, I believe that verbal is better than written. Thanks again and may God bless you all for this amazing apps.

Zello@Work customers often use the paid app for security operations but this was the first we’d heard of volunteers using the free app as such. The team was intrigued, and when six of eleven team members were together in Austin last weekend, we tried to reach Jebat on Zello to learn more.

We were immediately successful, connecting with the night watchman early afternoon (CST) Thursday. When Jebat responded, he told us that it was a bad time: 2:30a.m. in Malaysia and minutes after he and his contacts had spotted a criminal suspect outside.

Agreeing to talk later, we stayed on for a few minutes more, listening to the night watch contacts talk back and forth on their public Zello channel. It was fascinating – like listening to a police scanner – but because none of us spoke Malay, we had little to no idea what was happening and eventually logged off.

The next morning, we received a second email, which explained exactly what we had been listening to. Jebat told us that from the time we had Zello-ed him the night before until about six hours later, he and his channel contacts had been tracking suspects outside a neighborhood in Sepang. Working with the Royal Malaysian Police, they arrested two criminals at about 9am MST. Jebat included the picture above, commenting, “This is the photo. Most of us are happy another crime’s busted. Who knows what would be waiting for us tonight…”

In the rest of his email, Jebat described the operation of two channels that help Sepang community, which reach about 680 users collectively. First, he explained the night watch channel:

We have members from various backgrounds, from religious teachers and professors to fire fighters, hamburger stalls to aircraft technicians, bus drivers to engineers and doctors, and of course, policemen.

Channel community is a PTT community that use a Zello apps on Androids, iPhones or anything that can work with it in order to keep close cooperation with Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and any other enforcements departments.

Our community serves throughout the nation, as there’s request from outside Sepang’s District to join us. But our main focus is Sepang. The more, the merrier, right?

Jebat contrasted the neighborhood security channel with a second channel that “react more to welfare and social channel, more to friendship.” Both channels, he recounted, “served this community for years.” Before they discovered Zello Sepang used a local telco on GSM phones with PTT. But in October 2011, the company abruptly stopped serving Sepang. Jebat described the incident in his email:

No reason. Just like that. Stop. Impact of this incident, we lost contact with each others in this matters as the members of both channels is around 680 members. Thank God, Zello is around. We have tried all popular push-to-talk apps, but Zello suits us. It works just like a pure walkie talkie function. Community always support Zello as our main communication apps… and thank you, because it’s free apps…May God bless you.

Keep Zello Weird.

We got off to a good start by piling into our Fearless Leader’s 12 passenger van and staying in a funky house (fondly called “The Zello Commune”) in a neighborhood close to UT.

In all seriousness, the weekend was well spent. Highlights include:

1. New features coming soon! While in Austin, the team made decisions about which to include in the next few releases. Coming soon: ability to rename contacts and (by popular demand) a Nextel-style alert feature that plays before incoming messages.

2. Wait, there are two Zello’s?? We discussed how to clarify the difference between our free app and our paid upgrade called “Zello@Work.” The paid version is a favorite for businesses replacing Nextel.  Look for a blog explaining more later this week and future changes making the link between the apps more seamless.

3. Not feeling the love: Since our iOS app came out we have been thrilled to see a surge in enthusiasm from our (always wonderful) user community– which is why we were mystified to find that, as of Saturday, we have a sobering 25 reviews posted in the App Store. This crushes our souls.

To keep them from being further crushed, please review us in the App Store right now. Even if you reviewed Zello when it first came out for iOS, the count starts over with each new release. Again, review us right now!!

We’ll share more results from our trip in future blog posts. For now, let it suffice to say that we spent the rest of the weekend:

coding

bonding

and matching.

All in all, a great weekend.

Where did all these hip photos come from? Zello is on Instagram! Follow us (username ZelloMe) or look for pictures on Facebook and Twitter.

Since 2010, we’ve been honored to work with Advanced Ground Information Systems on one of the most “classic” uses for push-to-talk: a first responder/military application called “LifeRing.” Using Zello’s stellar SDK/API, LifeRing combines PTT, GPS and an impenetrable data bubble to make an app that’s not only lifesaving – but extremely cool.

How does a military app work anyway?

That’s classified information. No, really… it is. What we can tell you is that AGIS’ CEO Cap Beyer describes the LifeRing system as, “a map-­‐based world,” in which each of AGIS’ key features is tied to its GPS function. For instance, a military officer has the ability to silently direct his troops by drawing an arrow on his own LifeRing map.

Beyer explains, “What he draws on his map they, his troops, see on theirs.” Officers can take advantage of all LifeRing’s features this way – without ever needing to navigate away from their maps.

Where does push-to-talk fit in?

Zello works the same way. Rather than navigating to a contacts list, soldiers use symbols spread across their map that represent their contacts’ present location. The moment they select a symbol, Zello begins transmitting clear, real-­‐time audio to the contact chosen.

Before they had Zello, Beyer explains, “We were using our own conference call software, but the disadvantage with large groups outdoors is that you hear an extensive amount of background noise.” Under the old system, officers often had to fight background noises such as wind, rain or even gunfire when trying to communicate with their troops. With Zello, officers now use Push-to-Talk that provides the clarity that is crucial in a combat situation.

Why does LifeRing matter?

LifeRing has played a significant role in protecting U.S. naval and military operations. The system has been used at President Obama’s inauguration in 2008 and at the Asian-Pacific Economic Council in 2011. It is currently used by the U.S. Military.

As we wrapped up our interview with AGIS, Beyer commended above all Zello’s flexibility; our SDK and API helped make Beyer’s “map‐based world” possible. He concluded, “You’ve been easy to work with. The whole experience has been very rewarding.”

Ever landed in San Francisco International Airport?

You’d know if you h­­ad. With four terminals and seven concourses, it ranks as one of the busiest in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world. Flying in or out isn’t likely to be an experience you’ll forget soon.

Fortunately for San Francisco, facilities provider PrimeFlight Aviation will be implementing a few changes this month that should help calm San Fran’s busy terminals. PF Aviation provides ground services, security and facilities for almost every U.S. airline in 40+ airports. This April, they’ll make San Francisco the latest to use Zello PTT for calm, collected communication.

“We use Zello mostly for our passenger services, which is primarily wheelchairs,” says Account Manager Tristan Nunnally. “In the airline industry, you have what’s called an ‘SSR,’ a Special Service Request.” The most common request is that PF Aviation have wheelchairs ready to escort handicapped passengers to and from flights.

According to Nunnally, “Zello fit perfectly” with that goal. “It allows our agents to communicate – and it also helps us save money,” says Nunnally, referring to the 300 voice plans PF Aviation eliminated after switching to Zello. But for Nunnally, Zello’s best feature is that it allows him to “customize it and set up channels for our airports.” Over the past year, PF Aviation has created channels for airports that include Washington Reagan, Omaha, Philadelphia, La Guardia, West Palm Beach, Kansas City and more. Each time their wheelchair services expand, “All I have to do is add more users and I can break everything down the way I need. I have control. It’s very flexible.”

In aviation services, flexibility is key. Says Nunnally, “We usually know in advance how many wheelchairs are coming on and off [a plane], so we know what to expect.” Unfortunately, to err is human, and the wheelchair count is not always accurate. Nunnally relates, “One time in particular we were told there were four wheelchairs on the flight, but instead of four… it was fourteen.” The dispatch team Zello-ed the update instantly and assembled forces to track down the rogue wheelchairs.

“Our dispatcher was able to contact four terminals with the click of a mouse. Via traditional 2 ways or Nextels, she would have had to solicit assistance via four different radios or phones. It would have been possible, but not as expeditious or easy,” explains Nunnally. “This way, everybody heard the call and could response. Zello made that possible.”

A Zello para atualização iPhone já? Não basta fazer a primeira versão??
…Sí, somos tan buenos :)

Изменения, которые нам нравятся больше всего:

1. تقديم الدعم لتحسين صوتية
2. UI oversatt til portugisisk, spansk russisk, arabisk og norske.

We have Zello users all over the world. Interested in helping us translate the app to your language? Email us at info@zello.com

In the meantime, grab the first Zello for iPhone update! Version 1.1 is available now with these improvements:

• New Recent conversations tab
• Ability to listen to history messages when offline
• UI translated to Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Norwegian
• Improved VoiceOver support
• Improved voice quality when both users are on  WiFi
• Faster call setup
• Reduced CPU and memory use
• Online status saved between application starts
• Lots of bugfixes