Memory Shared is a new series of articles where we explore some of the most interesting Case Studies of client projects. Like actual memories, each project memory we share is multilayered so we’ve decided to make each memory a two-parter. Part 1 explores the business context and product strategy behind each project, while Part 2 explores the technical solutions we came up with featuring deep dives into the frameworks, work-arounds and coding heroics of our team. Enjoy the memories and don’t hesitate to share!
Nord DDB produced a moving television advertisement for Swedish telecom giant Telenor Sweden called “Missed Calls.” Before submitting the ad to Cannes Lions, they needed to fix a voicemail functionality featured in the spot. Our team was brought in at the 11th hour to develop a tech solution that would enable customers to securely download voicemail messages “as advertised” in the campaign.
“Missed Calls” Project Overview
Client: Telenor & Digital Fans (Nord DDB)
Year: 2024
Project Description: A Frontend Web App and Backend Voicemail API to record Voicemail Messages for Telonor Sweden Users
Team Involved: Tech Lead, Frontend Developer, Backend Developer, Project Manager
Technologies: node.js, MySQL, custom Voice Interface Integration (Telnyx), React.js
Answering the Call: A Legacy Telecom Challenge
In early 2024, Digital Fans Stockholm – part of Nord (DDB) group – reached out to us looking for a technical partner to develop a solution for a marketing campaign they were preparing for Telenor Sweden. The essence of the campaign was a highly emotional TV commercial called Missed Calls. The storyline follows a person listening to a voicemail from their deceased mother, with the message becoming a kind of emotional amulet carried with them throughout life.
When Digital Fans approached us, the campaign timeline was around two months. The challenge was that the creative concept presented a feature that was not availible at the moment - the ability to download voicemail messages. And given the nationwide exposure, there was a high likelihood that viewers would be inspired to download meaningful messages from their relatives.
The timeline was too short to implement such functionality directly within Telenor’s infrastructure due to technical constraints. Voicemail systems are not the most modern or prioritised parts of telecom platforms but as you can see in the moving TV spot below, the functionality was absolutely crucial to the narrative of the campaign. We were faced with the kind of challenge we enjoy – finding a way to enable users to download voicemails on their end.
A voicemail doesn’t always mean a lot, until you’ve lost the person who left it. True stories of people losing precious voice messages was the driving force behind ‘Missed Calls’. Every single day, more than 60,000 voicemails are shared between people in the Telenor network and ‘Missed Calls’ can now help people keep these memories forever.
Saving Voicemail: Our Approach & Process
Over the first few weeks of collaborating with Digital Fans we held multiple intensive creative discovery sessions and then transitioned into our own internal Research, Development, Testing and Delivery.
Discovery
We initially explored the idea of developing a mobile app that records messages directly on a user’s device as they listen to them. However, constraints from Google and Apple guidelines made this approach unfeasible. After exploring several other options, we agreed with Digital Fans that we would research an external solution that would provide a Voice Calling API. After aligning on the approach and validating all sensitive security aspects with the Digital Fans and Telenor teams, we began the crucial R&D phase.
Research & Development
With roughly one month remaining before the campaign launch we dove head first into R&D. We knew we needed to find a reliable Voice Calling API so after testing several options, we ended up choosing Telnyx due to its support in Sweden (through Telenor) as well as its advanced recording capabilities, transcription features, and strong documentation and pricing. Once we onboarded Telnyx’s API we moved seamlessly into developing both our backend and frontend solutions. You can read more about our technical solution in Part 2.
Testing
Due to the heightened security and potential stress the solution might endure due to media exposure and Telenor client base, we spent a significant amount of time optimising and quality assurance of the backend while also ensuring a high-quality interaction layer of the frontend based on the UX/UI design and campaign website provided by Digital Fans. At one point, our designers and engineers doing QA for the backend became so familiar with the system that they could recite voicemail prompts in Swedish from memory - despite not speaking the language. “Togs emot” became a bit of a catch phrase around the office as it’s Swedish for "received" and was the main keyword that triggered our message recording solution.
Robocall of Duty: Our Solution
The solution we ended up shipping had an integrated web app on the frontend where users could securely authenticate via a phone number and a one-time SMS password, then provide their voicemail PIN and access messages through an interactive, on-brand campaign page with UX/UI design by Digital Fans.
The backend service API integration we built effectively calls Telenor’s remote voicemail system, authenticates using the user’s PIN, and then listens to and records the message and allows users to save and download the files once recorded.
To understand the solution better, imagine if a robot called your voicemail and it understood what the voicemail interface was saying and reacts live by tone dialing (“Press # to listen to your message), and then it understands exactly where the message starts and ends and records it so you can download it later.
After the Beep: Key Project Insights
Overall it was an exciting and unique challenge from the strategy, design and development perspective. Building the reliable Voice API backend included recognising specific moments in live transcription of the swedish voice interface to programmatically “press” buttons at the right time, authenticate users, detect when a message starts and ends, and determine whether new messages were available. We ended up using a transcription API to follow live transcription and programmatically react to it. I’d love to dive into the details of our technical solution but I’ll leave that for a future partner piece by Memory Squared CTO Rafał. Watch this space!
Please Leave a Message: Summary & Client Testimonial
Ultimately, despite a tight deadline and many unforeseen technical challenges, the “Missed Calls” campaign was a huge success and ended up winning a bronze medal at Cannes Lions in 2024! The campaign was so popular it was featured on Swedish TV. Our solution proved popular as well, garnering thousands of impressions with intense traffic peaks typical for TV campaigns with 3756 official logged users over several months. As proud as we are about our work, you don’t have take our word for it:
“I’ve had experience working with development companies in European countries, and none of them has come close to the work Memory Squared has done.”
Rafael Pedroso - Co-Founder Digital Fans (Part of NORD DDB)
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