HOW CSG REBUILT
ZAIN SUDAN’S USSD SERVICES
IN WEEKS
Case Study
WHO?
Zain Sudan is one of North Africa’s leading communication services providers (CSPs). Zain’s Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) gateway is a critical component of its services. The USSD is the most used communication channel in Sudan, providing vital services such as balance inquiries and plan purchases—even amid the most extraordinary circumstances.
Uncontrollable external factors caused Zain Sudan’s data center to suddenly go offline, completely interrupting service capabilities with no clear path to reconnection. This service freeze threatened not only the company’s operations but also the communication needs of approximately 18 million of Zain Sudan’s 20 million customers.
CSG, which provides Zain Sudan’s USSD gateway as part of its messaging solution offering, helped rebuild and reintegrate USSD self-service in record time, allowing Zain Sudan to stop revenue leakage and start generating revenue again.
WHAT?
Both teams worked tirelessly, often around the clock. CSG’s global reach meant its network solutions team always had team members available to support Zain Sudan 24/7.
“We understood the sensitivity of the situation, the crisis people were in where they were unable to buy plans or make calls,” said Mayoor Mahendra, CSG’s vice president of network solutions. “We know the importance of USSD as a channel, hence we drove the entire team to work toward going live as soon as possible.”
HOW?
It typically takes anywhere from 10 to 16 weeks to integrate a new USSD solution. CSG and Zain Sudan successfully re-deployed USSD services in just three weeks following a blackout. The solution gave Zain Sudan the ability to build more services on top of the existing ones, such as offering additional self-service options.
RESULTS
plan purchase requests
4.7M
5.7M
WEEKS
3
balance
inquiries
typical time to
integrate new
USSD solution
time to integrate Zain’s new USSD solution
“The way CSG helped us overcome this outage set a new standard for collaboration and trust. From the challenges we faced reengaging with customers to delivering the uninterrupted services we’re known for, the CSG team surpassed our expectations.”
— Emad Elsheikh, Chief Technical Officer Zain Sudan
10-16
WEEKS
Zain Sudan receives a daily average of:
Integration Time
time to integrate Zain’s new USSD solution
WEEKS
3
typical time to
integrate new
USSD solution
WEEKS
10-16
balance
inquiries
5.7M
plan purchase requests
4.7M