AWS has kickstarted its annual re:Invent event for customers and partners to stay up-to-date with its latest digital innovations.
In CCaaS, these innovations are coming thick and fast as AWS takes on stalwart vendors, already leading the market in customer acquisition – according to the research firm Metrigy.
Gartner also commended AWS for its completeness of vision in CCaaS. The analyst’s latest Magic Quadrant ranks the vendor only behind NICE in this regard.
Yet, AWS shows no signs of slowing down, embedding Amazon Lex into Connect earlier this year. The vendor also added new case management, sentiment analysis, and outbound campaign tools.
Now, it aims to finish 2022 with a bang, launching more innovations and using re:Invent as the perfect platform to show them off. These new releases include:
- Forecasting, capacity planning, and scheduling tools
- Automated quality scoring capabilities
- Conversational analytics for chat interactions (both human and automated)
- Custom workflows and step-by-step guides for agents
Below, we delve deeper into each before considering what differentiates AWS in the in the crowded CCaaS market.
Amazon Connect’s WFM Solution Is Now Generally Available
As teased in March this year, Amazon Connect’s new WFM solution is now generally available, offering more depth than anticipated for a newbie in the space.
Indeed, it offers forecasting, capacity planning, and scheduling solutions, all infused with machine learning (ML) for enhanced accuracy and a more effortless planning experience.
First, consider its forecasting tools. The solution uses ML models to predict customer demand and handling times. Contact centers can then assess which works best in their environment by testing historical contact volumes and outcomes.
Below is a sneak peek of the forecasting tool, which also forecasts outbound, transfer, and callback rates to supplement the most comprehensive planning strategies.
From the forecast, Connect’s WFM solution automates staffing calculations, factoring in estimated attrition and absence, alongside target service levels and maximum occupancy.
WFM teams can then build a long-term capacity plan to share with stakeholders.
From this, users may turn to native scheduling tools, which automate much of the process but allow planners to make tweaks based on their experience.
These tools build schedules by factoring in unique shift profiles, agent specialties, and business rules.
Once published, supervisors and agents receive notifications that the new schedule is available.
Moreover, according to AWS:
Scheduling now supports intraday agent request management, offering agents overtime or voluntary time off.
Finally, the system adjusts forecasts, capacity plans, and schedules in real-time, using the latest data and following business rules. This helps contact centers to hit their service level targets.
New Conversational Insights Support Quality Assurance
Contact Lens for Amazon Connect – the CCaaS solution’s native conversational analytics tool – now offers users the opportunity to build agent performance evaluation forms.
These forms include customizable evaluation criteria around script adherence and compliance practices. Contact Lens then automates the evaluation of all conversations – across particular contact center channels – against these criteria.
As a result, contact centers can monitor all customer conversations instead of just two or three percent through traditional contact listening processes.
Early-adopter and home maintenance firm Frontdoor enjoyed success with the new solution.
As Scott Brown, SVP of Customer Experience at Frontdoor, said: “[Amazon Connect’s] analytics are equipping us to make better-informed decisions and strengthen our agent coaching strategy.”
Our managers appreciate how easy it is to access conversational insights; things like sentiment, categorization, recordings, hold time, and more are provided side-by-side in the same UI, where evaluation results are pre-populated.
These insights are evident in the following screenshot of an Amazon Connect evaluation form.
