Getting Started with Amazon Connect (Part 2): Routing, Flows, and Going Live

Introduction

Creating a phone number and a queue is only the beginning. When a customer calls, Amazon Connect needs to know what message to play, whether the business is open, which queue should receive the call, and which agents can answer it. Routing profiles control which queues agents can handle, while contact flows define the customer’s journey.

Let’s connect these components and build a simple inbound call flow.

Step 1: Create a Routing Profile

A routing profile determines which contacts an agent can handle. It connects agents to one or more queues and defines the channels they can use.

For example, a support agent may handle voice and chat contacts from the General Support queue, while a billing agent may only handle calls from the Billing queue.

To create a routing profile:

1. Open Users and select Routing profiles.
2. Select Add new profile.
3. Enter a name, such as Support Agents.
4. Select the channels the agents will handle.
5. Configure the number of contacts an agent can handle.
6. Add the required queues.
7. Set queue priority and delay if needed.
8. Select a default outbound queue if agents will make outbound calls.
9. Save the profile.

Assign the routing profile to the appropriate users.

The queue holds waiting contacts, while the routing profile determines which agents can receive those contacts.

Step 2: Create a Contact Flow

A contact flow defines what happens when a customer calls the Amazon Connect number. It can be as simple as a greeting followed by a queue transfer, or it can include menus, customer information, self-service, and transfers. Amazon Connect provides a visual flow editor, so basic flows can be created without writing code.

Creating a Simple Inbound Flow

For our example, the flow will greet the caller, check business hours, and send the call to the support queue when the team is available. If the business is closed, the caller will hear a message and the call will end.

To create the flow:

1. Open Routing and select Flows.
2. Select Create flow.
3. Add a block to play a greeting message.
4. Add a block to check the Hours of operation configured in Part 1.
5. Connect the Open and Closed
6. On the Open path, configure the General Support queue and transfer the contact to it.
7. On the Closed path, play a message informing the caller that the team is unavailable.
8. Disconnect the call after the message.
9. Connect all blocks from the entry point.
10. Check that all required outcomes are connected.
11. Save and publish the flow.

The basic call path is:

Incoming Call → Greeting → Check Business Hours → Support Queue

When the business is closed:

Incoming Call → Greeting → Check Business Hours → Closed Message → Disconnect

Start with a simple flow and test it before adding more conditions or transfers. This makes troubleshooting much easier.

Adding More Options

Once the basic flow works, you can add a menu such as:

• Press 1 for Sales
• Press 2 for Technical Support
• Press 3 for Billing

Each option can direct the caller to a different queue. Contact flows can also collect information, provide self-service, or interact with external systems.

Step 3: Connect the Flow to the Phone Number

The flow is now ready, but Amazon Connect still needs to know which flow should run when the number receives a call.

To associate the flow:

1. Open Channels → Phone numbers.
2. Select the phone number created in Part 1.
3. Find the Associated contact flow
4. Select the inbound flow you created.
5. Save the changes.

The phone number is now connected to the flow. When a customer calls, Amazon Connect will start the flow, check business hours, and route the call to the configured queue.

Step 4: Add Quick Connects

Agents often need to transfer customers to another team, a supervisor, another agent, or an external number. Quick connects provide predefined transfer destinations that agents can select easily.

To create one:

1. Open Routing → Quick connects.
2. Select Add new.
3. Enter a clear name, such as Transfer to Billing.
4. Select the required transfer type.
5. Select the destination queue, agent, or external number as applicable.
6. Select the required transfer flow.
7. Save the quick connect.
8. Add it to the appropriate queues.

Use names that agents can understand quickly, such as Billing Team, Technical Support, or Supervisor.

Step 5: Review Amazon Connect Analytics

Once the contact center is running, you need to monitor more than just whether calls are working.

Amazon Connect provides real-time and historical information. Real-time metrics can show contacts waiting in queues and agent activity, while historical reports help analyze contact volume and handling time.

To view real-time information:

1. Open Analytics.
2. Select the relevant real-time metrics or dashboard.
3. Review queue and agent activity.

Amazon Connect also provides conversation analytics capabilities, including transcription and sentiment analysis, when configured. If call recording or analytics is required, ensure the necessary settings are included in the contact flow.

Start with the metrics that are useful for your team. More detailed reporting can be added later as the contact center grows.

Step 6: Test Before Going Live

Before using the number with real customers, test the complete call path.

Use this checklist:

• Call the number during business hours.
• Confirm that the greeting plays.
• Verify that the call reaches the correct queue.
• Log in as an agent and set the status to Available.
• Confirm that the call is offered to the correct agent.
• Call again outside business hours and verify the closed message.
• Test a transfer using a quick connect.
• Confirm that the transfer reaches the correct destination.
• Check the real-time metrics for the test interaction.
• Test what happens when no agent is available.

Testing the no-agent scenario is especially important because the flow can behave differently when all agents are busy.

Conclusion

By completing these steps, we now have a basic Amazon Connect contact center with routing profiles, a working contact flow, phone number integration, quick connects, and basic monitoring.

Part 1 focused on creating the core environment. Part 2 connected those components into a working call path.

This is only the starting point for a production contact center. As requirements grow, you can add more queues, advanced routing, self-service, customer authentication, business application integrations, and detailed reporting.

Starting with a simple flow makes testing and troubleshooting easier before adding more complexity.