diff --git a/code/initialise_app.py b/code/initialise_app.py
index bd3513b..2307209 100644
--- a/code/initialise_app.py
+++ b/code/initialise_app.py
@@ -1,60 +1,63 @@
 from discord_logging.handler import DiscordHandler
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
+from configparser import ConfigParser
+from pathlib import Path
 import logging
 import os
 
 
-def initialise_app():
+# load default values
+config = ConfigParser()
+config.read(Path(__file__).parent / 'defaults.ini')
+LOGGER_LEVEL = config.get('main', 'logger_level')
+DISCORD_SERVICE_NAME = config.get('discord', 'service_name')
+DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL = config.get('discord', 'webhook_url')
+DISCORD_LOGGER_LEVEL = config.get('discord', 'logger_level')
+
+
+def initialise_app(
+    logger_level: str = LOGGER_LEVEL,
+    discord_service_name: str = DISCORD_SERVICE_NAME,
+    discord_webhook_url: str = DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL,
+    discord_logger_level: str = DISCORD_LOGGER_LEVEL
+):
     """
     Convienience function that ensures eveything is ready
     before running the main loop.
     """
-    # load environment variables from file
+    # load environment variables
     load_dotenv()
+    logger_level = os.getenv(
+        'LOGGER_LEVEL',
+        default=LOGGER_LEVEL
+    )
+    discord_service_name = os.getenv(
+        'DISCORD_SERVICE_NAME',
+        default=DISCORD_SERVICE_NAME
+    )
+    discord_webhook_url = os.getenv(
+        'DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL',
+        default=DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL
+    )
+    discord_logger_level = os.getenv(
+        'DISCORD_LOGGER_LEVEL',
+        default=DISCORD_LOGGER_LEVEL
+    )
     # setup logging
     fmt = '|%(asctime)s| %(levelname)s %(filename)s:%(funcName)s:%(message)s'
     datefmt = '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'
-    logger_level = os.getenv('LOGGER_LEVEL', default=None)
-    if logger_level is None:
-        logger_level = 'info'
-        logging.info(
-            'environment variable LOGGER_LEVEL not set. '
-            'Using default (info)'
-        )
     level = getattr(logging, logger_level.upper())
     logging.basicConfig(format=fmt, datefmt=datefmt, level=level)
     # setup logging to discord
-    discord_url = os.getenv('DISCORD_URL', default=None)
-    assert discord_url is not None
     logger = logging.getLogger()
     discord_handler = DiscordHandler(
-        service_name='bandwidth_probing',
-        webhook_url=discord_url,
+        service_name=discord_service_name,
+        webhook_url=discord_webhook_url,
     )
     discord_handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter('%(message)s'))
-    discord_handler.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+    level = getattr(logging, discord_logger_level.upper())
+    discord_handler.setLevel(level=level)
     logger.addHandler(discord_handler)
-    # ensure environment variables are set
-    necessary_list = [
-        'DB_IP_ADDRESS',
-        'DB_NAME',
-        'DB_COLLECTION_NAME'
-    ]
-    for var in necessary_list:
-        assert var in os.environ, f'environment variable {var} not set.'
-    # set defaults if not yet handled
-    default_dict = {
-        'USER_ID': 0,
-        'REPLICATES': 3,
-        'TRIGGER_INTERVAL_SECONDS': 60
-    }
-    for k, v in default_dict.items():
-        if k not in os.environ:
-            logging.info(
-                f'environment variable {k} not set. '
-                f'Using default ({v}).'
-            )
-            os.environ[k] = str(v)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':