How to Find Contacts and Send Private Messages in Allo
Understand how contacts work in Allo, how to find other users in your organisation, and how to start a private one-to-one conversation.
Contacts in Allo are the other users who belong to your organisation. When your administrator adds someone to the organisation and assigns them to your team or location, they appear in your contacts list automatically — you do not need to search for them by phone number or add them manually. This keeps the contact list focused on the people you actually work with in the field.
Who appears as a contact?
Your contacts list shows every Allo user in your organisation who has been provisioned by your administrator and whose account is active. Depending on how your organisation is set up, you may see all users across the organisation or only the members of specific teams and locations that are relevant to your role.
You can only message contacts who are part of your organisation. Allo does not support messaging users outside your organisation's network.
If you expect to see someone in your contacts list but cannot find them, the most likely causes are:
- Their account has not yet been created or activated by your administrator.
- They have been assigned to a different team or location that is not visible to your account.
- Your app has not yet synchronised after a recent change.
Contact your Allo administrator if you believe a colleague is missing from your list.
How contacts appear in the app
Open the Contacts tab in the Allo app to see your full list of organisation members. Each entry shows the person's name and, where configured, their handle or role. Tap any contact to open a conversation with them.
The contacts list is read-only in the app — you cannot add, edit, or remove contacts yourself. All contact management is done by your administrator through the Allo dashboard.
Starting a private conversation
A private message (also called a one-to-one message) goes to a single recipient. It is intended for direct communication between two people — for example, checking in with a coordinator, relaying a specific update to a team leader, or asking a question that is not relevant to the whole group.
Open Contacts
Tap the Contacts tab in the bottom navigation bar to see your list of organisation members.
Find the person you want to reach
Scroll through the list or use the search field to find the contact by name. Tap their name to open the conversation screen.
Type and send your message
Tap the message field, type your text, and tap Send. The app passes the message to your Allo device over Bluetooth, which then transmits it over the radio mesh to the recipient.
Use a private message when the information is relevant only to one person. If several people need the same update, send a group message instead — it is faster and reduces radio traffic.
Contacts versus groups
It helps to understand the difference between contacts and groups before deciding how to communicate.
| Contacts | Groups | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An individual Allo user in your organisation | A named set of users (a team, location, or role) |
| Who manages it | Your administrator, via the dashboard | Your administrator, via the dashboard |
| How to message | Tap the contact to open a one-to-one conversation | Tap the group to send a message to all members |
| Who receives it | One person | Everyone in the group who is within radio range |
| Best used for | Direct, person-to-person communication | Status updates, team coordination, location briefings |
Use contacts for conversations that are truly private or specific to one individual. Use groups when the information is operationally relevant to a whole team or location.
Privacy of private messages
Private messages are intended for the recipient you select and are not visible to other regular users in the app. Within professional organisations, administrators may have access to message logs for operational evaluation and post-exercise review. Ask your Allo administrator about your organisation's specific policies on message storage and reporting.