On November 28th, 2023, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the arrival of their new generative AI assistant, Amazon Q. According to AWS, the conversational tool was specifically designed for the workplace, to help companies solve problems, have better conversations and generate content faster.
Currently in “preview”, Amazon Q extends across the entire AWS portfolio, bringing a range of capabilities to Amazon Quicksight, AWS Supply Chain, and Amazon Connect.
For contact center agents, this powerful new tool, built with the latest large language model technology, could be the key to unlocking higher levels of productivity and efficiency. Here’s everything you need to know about using Amazon Q in Connect.
What is Amazon Q in Connect?
Amazon Q is a generative AI chatbot built with businesses in mind. According to AWS, it helps users get fast answers to pressing questions, act based on data, and streamline decision-making. Unlike some other generative AI tools leveraged by contact centers today, Q is fully customizable.
You can connect the bot to your company’s data, information, and systems using more than 40 native connectors. Business users can have more tailored, relevant conversations with their assistant and receive personalized responses.
While Amazon Q is rolling out to various components of the AWS portfolio, the AI assistant in Amazon Connect will probably be most exciting for contact centers.
Amazon Q in Connect is an evolution of the previous service, “Amazon Connect Wisdom,” – a machine-learning tool designed to empower employees by unifying knowledge across ecosystems and delivering ongoing support.
In Connect, Q uses generative AI to give agents suggested responses to customer questions, coach them through the sales journey, and accelerate issue resolution. The generative AI bot can leverage real-time data from a conversation with a customer and infuse it with company data to provide next-best-action, contextual guidance to every agent.
Plus, agents can use natural language prompts to search for information across connected knowledge sources in seconds. Unlike ChatGPT, Amazon Q always shares the source of its data, so you can quickly check the accuracy of any information.
Like many CX copilots, Amazon Q in Connect can also summarize conversations automatically and analyze data. Plus, it can integrate with tools like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Zendesk, and Amazon S3.
How to Access Amazon Q in Connect: The Basics
Agents can access the AWS assistant within their Amazon Connect agent worspace, or desktop. However, it’s worth noting the generative AI tool is still in preview. Currently, the full features are only available in some areas of the US. However, Amazon Q’s conversational “Q&A” ability is available across all AWS commercial regions.
At the time of writing, Amazon allows all Amazon Connect customers to use Q in Connect for free, until March 2024. However, you will need an existing Amazon Connect subscription. You can find all of the subscription costs for Amazon Connect here.
After March, Amazon Q in Connect will cost $40 per agent monthly. This is par with the cost for generative AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot for Sales and Service.
Crucially, you’ll also need an Amazon Connect Contact Lens subscription to use Amazon Q for real-time recommendations during calls. However, Lens isn’t necessary to use Amazon Q in chat conversations.
How to Enable Amazon Q in Connect
Once you have the proper licenses for Amazon Q, Connect, and Contact Lens, you can enable the Q generative AI assistant in two ways. The first option is to use the Amazon Q in Connect API. There’s a complete step-by-step guide for this on the AWS blog.
The second, easier option is to use the Connect console to enable Q. You’ll need to follow a specific setup process here. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to getting started.
Step 1: Create a Domain
First, when you enable Amazon Q in Connect, you’ll be prompted to create an “Amazon Q in Connect Assistant (domain). This creates an assistant for your contact center that’s connected to a specific knowledge base.
You can create multiple domains, but they won’t share external application integrations or customer data. However, you can also create a knowledge base using external data, with connectors for tools like Salesforce and ServiceNow in the Amazon Connect console.
When you create a domain, you can give it a name and decide how often your knowledgebase data will sync with your chatbot.