The Team
The different team collaborated on the project:
Product Manager: Miraf Kassaye
IVR Developers
System Architects
Integration Engineers
Voice Artist
QA Test Engineers
My Role
As Digital Services Manager and Product Owner, I led the full lifecycle of four IVR platforms for Safaricom Ethiopia, serving Consumers, Enterprise clients, M-PESA users, and Merchants/Agents. My responsibilities included:
Customer Insights & Analysis: Analyzed call center trends and conducted field visits to understand customer pain points, frequently used services, and common FAQs.
Benchmarking & Best Practices: Conducted market research and visited other Safaricom operations (mainly in Kenya) to identify best practices and integrate lessons learned.
Stakeholder Collaboration: Partnered with the Consumer, Enterprise, and M-PESA business units to prioritize features and ensure solutions addressed real customer needs.
Requirements & Design: Created user stories, flows, and audio scripts in five languages (English, Amharic, Afan Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali) for voice artists and developers.
Cross-Functional Leadership: Led walkthroughs with IVR developers, system architects, integration engineers, and QA teams to ensure smooth implementation.
Monitoring & Optimization: Oversaw post-launch performance, collecting customer feedback and analyzing usage to continuously enhance the IVR experience.
This project implements an advanced Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for Safaricom Ethiopia’s customer service hotline (700), designed to offer fast and efficient automated support. The IVR provides customers with a variety of self-service options, including:
Top up accounts
Check their balance
Receive internet settings (APN)
Verify voucher card status
Manage 4G Home services
and access detailed information about products and services.
These features allow customers to quickly manage their accounts and find the information they need, without the need to wait for a live agent. When more complex issues arise, the system ensures a smooth transition to a live agent for personalized support. By automating common tasks and offering seamless escalation to human assistance, the IVR system enhances both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Consumers IVR Features and User Flows
This project introduces a sophisticated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for Safaricom Ethiopia’s Enterprise Customer service hotline (755). Tailored specifically for the needs of enterprise clients, the IVR system is designed to provide immediate, automated assistance, offering a range of self-service options to efficiently address common queries and issues. The system enables a streamlined experience by guiding users through various services, such as:
Account management
Billing inquiries
Technical support.
Should a more complex issue arise, the IVR ensures a smooth escalation to a live agent, allowing for personalized support and ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction. This enhanced IVR system aims to optimize the overall service experience for enterprise customers, providing both efficiency and convenience.
Enterprise IVR Features and User lows
This project implements an advanced Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for Safaricom Ethiopia’s M-PESA customer service hotline (733), designed to deliver efficient, automated support to both new and existing M-PESA users. For unregistered customers, the IVR simplifies the registration process, enabling them to easily sign up for M-PESA. For registered users, the system offers a range of self-service options, including checking account balances, and obtaining information about various M-PESA services. The IVR also provides guidance on how to pay merchants and instructions on how to receive money from abroad. Additionally, users can reset or unlock their PIN through the system. By providing these essential services via an intuitive and automated interface, the IVR streamlines the customer experience, reduces wait times, and enhances overall efficiency. When necessary, the system seamlessly escalates calls to live agents for more complex or personalized assistance. This IVR solution aims to improve accessibility and convenience for M-PESA users while optimizing operational efficiency.
M-PESA Consumers Features and User lows
This project implements an advanced Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for Safaricom Ethiopia’s M-PESA customer service hotline (733), designed to deliver efficient, automated support to both new and existing M-PESA users. For unregistered customers, the IVR simplifies the registration process, enabling them to easily sign up for M-PESA. For registered users, the system offers a range of self-service options, including checking account balances, and obtaining information about various M-PESA services. The IVR also provides guidance on how to pay merchants and instructions on how to receive money from abroad. Additionally, users can reset or unlock their PIN through the system. By providing these essential services via an intuitive and automated interface, the IVR streamlines the customer experience, reduces wait times, and enhances overall efficiency. When necessary, the system seamlessly escalates calls to live agents for more complex or personalized assistance. This IVR solution aims to improve accessibility and convenience for M-PESA users while optimizing operational efficiency.
Features and User lows