Set up email in Amazon Connect - Amazon Connect

Set up email in Amazon Connect

Following is an overview of the steps to set up the email channel for your contact center.

  • Enable email for your Amazon Connect instance. During this process you get an auto-generated email address. You also have the option of adding five custom addresses.

  • Create email addresses.

  • Create or update queues for email: In the Outbound email configuration section:

    • Default email address: Specify the outbound email address that is pre-selected for agents when they reply to or initiate emails.

      • This must be a verified email address within Amazon Connect (an email address created in Amazon Connect under an Amazon SES verified domain).

      • This should be the most commonly used email address for this queue.

      • For agent-initiated outbound emails, agents can send emails using the default email address from the default outbound queue configured in their routing profile. Agents can also select from the Additional email addresses configured on the queue, giving you flexibility to control which email addresses agents can use based on their role or team.

      • This model is similar to outbound voice contacts, where you specify the outbound caller ID and flow per queue, and agents use the default outbound queue from their routing profile.

    • Outbound email flow: Select a flow to execute for outbound emails sent from this queue. You can select the Default outbound flow in Amazon Connect: "This call is not being recorded" or another flow that is type Outbound.

      • The outbound email flow you configure here applies to agent replies to inbound email contacts received on this queue, and agent-initiated outbound emails when this queue is selected as the default outbound queue in the agent's routing profile.

      • If you do not specify an outbound email flow, the Default outbound flow in Amazon Connect: "This call is not being recorded" is automatically used for all outbound emails from this queue.

      • Similar to outbound voice contacts, configuring different outbound email flows per queue gives you flexibility to execute different contact flows based on the queue. This allows you to customize the outbound email experience for different teams, brands, or business units.

    In the Additional email addresses section:

    • Search for email addresses: Select up to 49 additional email addresses that agents can use when replying to or initiating emails. Agents can select from all configured email addresses (default plus additional) using a dropdown list in their workspace (see Select a From email address). You can configure up to 50 total email addresses per queue (1 default + 49 additional).

    The list of available email addresses respects tag-based access control (TBAC). Agents only see email addresses they have permission to use based on their assigned tags.

  • Create or update routing profiles to specify that agents can handle email contacts.

    Important

    In the routing profile:

    • Default outbound queue defines the list of email addresses available to agents for any outbound emails they initiate. Agents can select from the email addresses configured on this queue.

    • Maximum contacts per agent defines how many emails agents can receive, and double that number is how many outbound emails agents can initiate. For example, if you set Maximum contacts per agent to 5, agents can receive up to 5 emails and create up to 10 agent-initiated outbound emails.

  • Create message templates. Email templates can define the structure of the email for the agent, for example, for a signature or a disclaimer, or they can be a full response.

  • Configure flows with the Send message block. Use this block to send a message to your customer based on a template or custom message. In addition, you can specify:

    • The To and From email addresses and display names. You can specify them manually or dynamically by using System attributes such as:

      • Customer endpoint address: This is the customer's email address that initiated the contact.

      • System email address: This is the email address that the customer sent the email to.

      • Customer display name: This is captured from the email the customer sent to you.

      • System display name: The display name of the email the customer sent to.

      • CC Email Address List: The full list of cc'ed email addresses on the customer's email.

      • To Email Address List: The full list of To email addresses on the customer's email.

      For example, to send an automatic reply when a customer emails you, set Email address dynamically to Customer endpoint address, and Display name dynamically to Customer display name.

    • Message: Specify a template or enter plain text.

      • You can specify the Subject dynamically by using the Segment attribute - Email Subject.

      • You can specify the Message dynamically by choosing a User-defined attribute.

    • Link to contact: Choose if you want to link the inbound contact email to the outbound contact email. You may not want to choose this option for automatic reply emails.

  • Use the attributes in the Check contact attributes block to check the channel of the contact. If it's an email, you can use the following Segment attributes to check:

    • Email Subject: You can check the subject for certain keywords, for example.

    • Amazon SES Spam Verdict and Amazon SES Virus Verdict: When the customer's email comes in, Amazon SES scans it for spam and viruses. For example, if the condition equals FAILED (that means, the email failed the check) you can disconnect the contact or send the email to a special queue for managers to review it.

  • Assign the following security profile permission to your agents who need to initiate outbound emails.

    • Contact Control Panel (CCP) - Initiate email conversations