The company needed something relatively difficult and innovative done fast. Their idea was great - they wanted to build a system that would enable radio stations to tailor commercials for specific target groups. They were just about to receive a new round of funding, but to be able to get it they needed a working software with very specific features. They were looking for fearless developers to join forces with the company’s CTO and build an MVP of something that very few specialists had ever done before.
Even with the best intentions, sometimes you might find yourself in a tough spot with your IT project where you have to meet a short deadline but, for some reason, you’re experiencing a personnel shortage or a lack of technical competencies in your team… It might appear that your project is facing a dead end, but there’s always a way out! Take advantage of our team of software heroes that is ready to complete a successful rescue mission for you.
What Is AdTonos About?
Our client’s vision for the business was, let’s say, quite revolutionary and pioneering at the time.
The idea was based on a concept that was first conceived in 1998. Back then, the concept of social media hadn’t even been conceived and so now household names like Facebook or MySpace were simply nonexistent.
AdTonos had been developing a technology-driven business focusing on changing the idea of the modern online radio experience by transforming it into a social, collaborative, interactive and dynamic medium.
Instead of broadcasting potentially annoying or useless commercials, they had enabled a way of showing ads that were tailored and precisely targeted to the specific audience in order to increase the clicks throughs and conversion, as well as to improve the overall experience of the listeners.
The Rescue Mission Objectives:
- To release an MVP version of the platform.
- The challenge: To take over the project after the previous IT company had failed.
- Time frame: 3 months from introduction to release.
The Project’s Background
The concept for AdTonos was great and so we were naturally really impressed (and inspired) from the moment we heard of it. They wanted to create a system that would enable radio stations to tailor commercials to their target groups of listeners. “At last, no more annoying ads” we thought.
However, the task was by no means straightforward as they needed to create a platform that would be both relatively difficult and innovative, all within a very tight time frame. We knew they were going to need an outsourced team of seasoned experts.
Call for a Rescue Mission
We took the project over from the previous contractor who hadn’t been successful in capturing all the information. We had to salvage what we could from the work that had already been done in order to get the ball rolling on this complex project.
The clock was ticking and AdTonos was just about to receive a new round of funding but to make it happen, they first needed to create a seamlessly functioning software with a specific set of features.
At the time, AdTonos was actively looking for fearless developers to join forces with the company’s CTO and build an MVP of something that very few specialists had ever done before. Ultimately, we created an entirely new product that fit the bill.
Our Solutions
The project was all about creating a solution that would allow for the delivery of personalized ads to their online radio listeners.
While we were developing the MVP, we decided to complete two separate core modules for the AdTonos platform:
Module#1: Streamer
The streamer is responsible for retrieving the source stream from a sender. If necessary, the streamer transcodes it into a more suitable or correct format – in real time. Next, a real-time stream analysis detects when the voice ad starts and when it stops.
This process is done by creating a fingerprint audio stream and comparing it with the previously generated advertising jingle fingerprint. Our software functions similarly to the application Shazam which recognizes the pitch of a song in order to identify it. At the time the block gets detected, an ad playlist downloads based on the information which is gathered about the specific listener.
In the first phase of the project, this information was taken from the IP address and hence was simply based just on the location of the listener. At this point, the original ads were extracted from the radio stream and replaced with those in the predefined playlist. This way, each radio listener would hear different ads tailored specifically to them, that were relevant to their interests and needs.
Module#2: A Web App for Advertisers and Radio Station Owners
This is a web application that enables advertisers to create an advertising campaign and station owners to share their streams to advertisers. There are many variables that you can use to target your ad. Once you set up an ad campaign, you need to choose your targeting parameters to determine who to show it to.
Our Team and the Technology
We use Angular, Meteor and audio signal analysis tools to detect the advertising block as well as the software for building a playlist.
Initially, the system was created by two full-stack developers and one frontend developer.
The core functionalities are implemented in JavaScript/TypeScript language.
The backend runs on Node.js using the Meteor framework.
The frontend is developed with the Angular framework.
FFMPEG was used to transcode incoming and outgoing streams to different formats.
Tech Challenges
- Integration with external streaming services.
- Preparing the customized ads playlist for listeners based on the targeting parameters set by the advertiser.
- Integration with radio streaming services.
- Detecting ads being played on the original stream and replacing them in real-time with ads customized for the listener.
What do the Team Members Say About the Mission?
- “AdTonos is a difficult and interesting project with many unusual problems and a critical infrastructure. The project requires a responsible approach because the success of the project depends directly on the software development outcome – it’s all about the correct calculation of advertising rates, or, serving dedicated ads without delays.” – Wojciech, Frontend developer.
What AdTonos Says About Our Job?
- “I’ve been working with many software houses or developers for more than 20 years and I want to say one thing (and I do mean it): I have never, ever, had such a great collaboration experience as with LEOCODE. Everyone in their team, no matter if they work in the Sales or the Development Team, is a high-calibre professional.” – Michał Marcinik, CEO of AdTonos.
Conclusions
- These types of innovative projects require some R&D before the proper software development.
- Finding a tech team in such a narrow specialization might be difficult. Always look for the right competencies and the relevant previous experience of your tech team.
- Communication and close collaboration are the key factors of success – Michał was located in a different city and we had to work together on a weekly basis with clear goals.
- Interesting projects that can be seen in the real world strongly motivate developers – they could likely be users of the software themselves and can have an impact in certain industries.
- The final success of this project proves the effectiveness and high performance of rescue mission teams.