Amazon Connect

Overview

Amazon Connect, now marketed as Amazon Connect Customer, is AWS's cloud contact center. It routes voice, chat, email, SMS, WhatsApp and Apple Messages for Business to AI agents and human agents. Apple Messages chats use the same flows, routing and agent workspace as Connect chat. Setup goes through Apple registration, an AWS Support ticket and Apple's experience review.

Key features

• AI agents built on a no-code canvas, with handoff to human agents
• Apple Messages list pickers, time pickers, forms, quick replies, Apple Pay, iMessage apps, authentication and attachments
• Message Suggest, which offers chat when customers call your number
• Two-way SMS, WhatsApp, email and voice
• AWS APIs and SDKs
• HIPAA eligible, with PCI DSS, FedRAMP, SOC and ISO 27001 support

Pricing

Pay as you go with no seat licenses or minimums: chat $0.010 per message, voice $0.038 per minute plus telephony, email $0.080 per email, and SMS and third-party messaging $0.014 per message. Prices vary by region.

How it compares to Linq

Apple Messages for Business is Apple's business chat channel in the Messages app, not iMessage from a phone number: customers chat with a verified brand and usually start the conversation. Linq sends iMessage, RCS and SMS from real phone numbers through an API, for a flat fee from $260 a month. Connect bills each message and minute instead of a flat fee.

Best for

Teams on AWS that want one contact center for voice, SMS and Apple Messages.

Sources

• aws.amazon.com/products/connect/customer
• aws.amazon.com/products/connect/customer/pricing
• docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/adminguide/apple-messages-for-business.html