OpenUp is a 24/7 crisis intervention text service targeting youth and young adults aged 15-35 in Hong Kong launched in 2018. It is funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and operated by a group of local non-governmental organisations.

Project information

• Project status: Active, launched in October 2018
• Project homepage: www.openup.hk
• Client: The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
  • Funded by:
    • The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
  • Other participating parties
    • Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong
• Press release:
  • Jockey Club Online Youth Emotional Support “Open Up” Official Launch Ceremony & 2018 Hong Kong Youth Mental Health and Internet Usage Survey Release - Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong

My roles and service

• Senior Analyst Programmer at Zensis Limited
  • Requirements engineering
  • High availability solution design for 24/7 operations
  • Project coordination with multiple external parties, including
    • Marketing agency: KymeChow
    • Telecom service sponsors
      • CSL Mobile Limited
      • SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited
  • Deployment on a major public cloud
  • Maintenance and support

Key features

• The system handled 14,400 cases, 1.4 million messages in 11 months since service launch
• Help-seekers can access the service by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, SMS and MMS
  • A web-based chat box also available for those do not want to reveal their mobile number or Social Media accounts
  • The system tries to assign an available crisis counsellors. If all crisis counsellors are busy, the help-seeker will be put on a queue
• Helpline counsellors can handle multiple cases at the same time
• Helpline supervisors can monitor the service status on a dashboard
  • If necessary, supervisors may intervene and takeover

For help-seekers

• Help-seekers can text any opening messages to the helpline’s mobile number, Instant Messaging or Social Media account to start.
• A web-based chat box also available for those do not want to reveal their mobile number or Social Media accounts.
• The system tries to assign an available crisis counsellors. If all crisis counsellors are busy, the help-seeker will be put on a queue.
• While a help-seeker is waiting for the counsellors, a chat bot evaluates the help-seeker’s mood with a questionnaire. The help-seeker could be given priority in the queue by the system based on the evaluation results.

For crisis counsellors

• A crisis counsellors can work at different locations.
• They can help one or multiple help-seekers at the same time.
• Counsellors can stop new assignments to themselves, e.g. to take a coffee break.

For supervisors

• Supervisors can monitor the service status on the dashboard.
• They can monitor the on-going counselling conversations and if necessary, join the conversation to assist.
• They may reassign a help-seeker to a different crisis counsellors.
• They can bring a help-seeker in queue to a crisis counsellor, overriding the system behaviour).

Connecties is a portal website targeting foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

Project information

• Project status: Active, launched in October 2020
• Homepage: www.connecties.com
• Client: PrimeCredit Limited

My roles and service

• Senior Analyst Programmer at Zensis Limited
  • Requirements engineering
  • Solution design
  • Cloud architecture
  • Maintenance and support

(Picture source: Customer “SmarTone Macau” website)

X-Power was a transparent HTTP proxy solution for SmarTone, one of the largest mobile network operators in Hong Kong. It filled to gap by “fixing” webpages and video in webpages that was not able to work properly on smartphones. For example, a Flash video player in a webpage are replaced with a HTML5 player and the corresponding video are transcoded to mobile-compatible formats. The product becomes obsoleted when the majority of the contents on the web became mobile-optimized.

Project information

• Project status: Inactive
• Client: SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited
  • A major telecommunications provider
  • 2.7 million customers (financial year 2020)
  • Hong Kong Exchange: 0315

My roles and service

• Analyst Programmer / Programmer at Zensis Limited
  • Software development
    • HTTP packet analysis using Wireshark
    • Transparent HTTP proxy implementation
    • Integration with video transcoding software
    • RADIUS authentication and accounting
    • Browsing history
  • Maintenance and support

Media coverages

• Smartone Vodafone X Power Demo - ePrice HK, a demonstration by SmarTone CEO Douglas Li (黎大鈞) (Spoken Cantonese only)
  • 🎬Part 1
  • 🎬Part 2
• 數碼通總裁專訪 : X-Power為 iPad/iPhone 功能增值 - 香港 unwire.hk (Interviewing SmarTone CEO: X-Power add values to iPad/iPhone) (Chinese only)

Mobile subscriber customer service app for Filipino and Bahasa Indonesian speaking, prepaid, subscribers in SmarTone.

Project information

• Project status: Active

• Client: SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited

  • A major telecommunications provider
  • 2.7 million customers (financial year 2020)
  • Hong Kong Exchange: 0315

• Download

  • (SmarTone prepaid SIM cards required to use all features in the app)
  • Apple App Store
  • Google Play

Key features

• Balance checking, top-up and transfer
• Services subscriptions

My roles and service

• Senior Analyst Programmer at Zensis Limited
  • Backend development lead
    • SOAP Web Services and RESTful API integration
    • RADIUS authentication and accounting
  • Deployment planning and execution
  • Maintenance and support

Smart Visual Voice Mail enhances voice mail experiences with a mobile app

Project information

• Project status: Inactive
• Client: Hong Kong Telecom (HKT)

My roles and service

• Analyst Programmer at Zensis Limited
  • IMAP system integration