USSD Application Redevelopment and Deployment

Overview

Shankly Technologies faced USSD downtime, slow responses, and poor menu flow. Innovura revamped the architecture, boosted reliability, and streamlined subscriptions, delivering a seamless, multi-channel experience that strengthened Shankly’s market position.

Company: Shankly Technologies
Industry: Telecoms & Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS).
Services: IT Consulting, Cloud Services, Software Development & Cyber Security
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe

Challenge

1. Frequent Downtime: Unreliable infrastructure led to service interruptions, eroding user trust.
2. Scalability Issues: Legacy systems could not handle growing subscriber demands & handle peak demand, causing a high churn rate.
3. Outdated USSD Menu Design: A convoluted menu structure led to high drop-off rates.
4. Limited Payment Options: Over-reliance on a single payment method restricted accessibility.

Solution

1. Redesigned Architecture, & Security: Migrated to Amazon EC2 instances with auto-scaling to handle traffic spikes and ensure consistency. Implemented AWS VPN for encrypted communication and AWS Storage (S3) for automated database snapshots, ensuring data integrity and disaster recovery. Deployed multi-AZ (Availability Zone) architecture Ensured secure data snapshots and disaster recovery for 99.99% uptime.
2. Integrations: SMPP for Automated SMS confirmations for subscriptions and payments, enhancing transparency. SDP for automated credit or airtime billing. Ecocash as a secondary payment method, enabling seamless mobile money transactions.
3. Streamlined User Experience: Redesigned USSD/SMS/IVR menus for intuitive navigation, reducing subscription barriers and compatibility with all mobile devices, including low-end handsets. Simplified USSD menu navigation by categorizing content into intuitive tiers (e.g., “Devotionals,” “Teachings,” “Training”). Introduced multi-language support (Shona, Ndebele and English). Optimized subscription and payment flows to reduce subscription steps from 7 to 4, improving conversion rates.

Results

1. Enhanced Performance: 99.99% application availability post-migration. Response times reduced from 8s to <2s.
2. User Growth: The subscriber base grew to 2 million within 3 years, driven by improved menu, availability and payment options.
3. Operational Efficiency: AWS infrastructure reduced server costs by 30% while improving scalability. Database snapshots enabled rapid recovery during outages.
4. Subscriber Retention: 45% reduction in customer complaints. 60% increase in repeat subscriptions.

Technologies

1. Cloud Infrastructure: AWS EC2, VPN, S3 Storage, Multi-AZ Deployment.
2. Language: Java, HTML, JS and CSS.
3. Payment Gateway: EcoCash and SDP API integration.
4. Telecom Protocols: SMPP for SMS, Asterisk for IVR.
5. Monitoring: Zoho analytics for real-time performance tracking dashboards.