How Amazon Connect Compares with TCN’s Cloud-Based Contact Center

Looking for a new call center platform can be time-consuming and confusing. TCN offers an incredible contact center platform—check out our case studies for some great customer success stories. However, when comparing the TCN and Amazon Connect platforms, it’s best to look carefully at what you get with the product upon successful implementation. AWS has gotten a lot of buzz for other product releases, so made sure to give you the inside scoop on its actual viability as a contact center platform.

À La Carte Pricing
TCN’s model of pay-as-you-go pricing builds on the power of cloud-based computing. Both Amazon Connect and TCN’s cloud-based contact center platform leverage à la carte pricing.

With either platform, you can avoid fixed monthly subscription costs or yearly contracts. With Amazon Connect, you can make and take calls, and only pay for the minutes used during the call (Amazon has some additional charges associated with Business Intelligence and Standard Calls. For instance: Amazon Connect adds a nearly 2-cent “service usage” fee on top of all standard rates.) In the interest of fairness, however, here are some side-by-side feature comparisons.

Dashboard Reporting, Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics
TCN records every conceivable metric to provide a suite of business analytics dashboards for quick visualization of call center metrics. (Check out our Reporting platform!)

TCN Platform:
• (Standard Reporting): Live Agent Status Monitoring Dashboard, Active Calls, Abandoned Calls, Total Calls, Average Hold, Average Wait, Average Talk Time, Average Aftercall Work Time, Active Agents, Inactive Agents, Calls Waiting, Agents in Aftercall, Calls in Queue, Flag Call Durations by Color, Calls on Hold, Conversion Rate, Hang-ups, Messages Delivered, Promises to Pay Tracked, No Answer, Answered but Hung Up, Cost per Active Individual Call, Real-Time Cost per Active Call Total, Agent Dashboard, Operational “Big Picture” Dashboard, Quick Stats Overview Dashboard, Visual Agent Overview Dashboard.
• Monthly and on-demand reports.
• Prebuilt metrics visualizations for reporting.
• Custom BI available beyond standard set with no programming on customer’s part.

Amazon Connect:
• List of agents with basic call metrics – handle time, aftercall work, number of calls, presence—that’s it!
• No at-a-glance coloration or individual agent status flagging.
• Reports must be created manually, one by one.
• Basic agent metrics only – call time, time answered, etc.
• Basic call queue dashboard for SLA, Occupancy, number of calls.
• No Price-Per-Call Tracking

Agent Interface/Softphone
Description: The agent interface, or softphone, is the on-screen window that operates like a telephone that can be operated with the mouse and keyboard.

TCN Platform:
• Integrated with CMS and contact databases for unified, live customer profiles on outbound and inbound calls.
• In-line call messaging prompts agents to read disclosures and any other statements that leadership would like to include (including a live checklist for answers and statements made).
• In-line work screens and customer profile screens.
• Customer Information Dashboard for Agents including IVR options selected by customer.
• Manual Dialing dashboard for TCPA Compliance steps.
• Call recording can be triggered on demand and is included in platform 3.0 (standard platform).

Amazon Connect:
• Two agent option buttons upon install: Dial Number and Quick Call.
• Call recording is possible but requires additional subscription to S3 bucket for cloud data through Amazon.
• No manager call barge-in option.
• No manager whisper-to-agent call option.
• No work screens or dialogue prompts for agents to encourage compliance and disclosures.
• No Record Call toggle for agents.

Automated Calling Systems and Call Flow Tools
Call flow tools help organize who answers your calls based on wait times, which agents are available, and skill sets of various agents.

TCN Platform:
• Inbound Call Manager
• Outbound Call Manager
• Blended Call Manager (places outbound calls when there is a gap on inbound calls, for maximum productivity.
• Cell Phone Scrubbing to remove cell phones from calling schedules and other functions, to enhance compliance automatically.
• AgentSMS automated texting services work independent of location.
• Compliance-friendly automated dialing systems included.

Amazon Connect:
• Dynamic call flows only work with a subscription to AWS Lambda service. Additional Charge.
• IVR call flow logs only available with subscription to Amazon Cloudwatch service. Additional Charge.
• Inbound Call Manager
• Outbound Call Manager
• No blended call flows available.

Summary:

TCN’s contact center platform far outperforms in terms of features and utility without additional costs. Amazon’s Connect service appears to be a premature entry into the contact center space, with little understanding of the nuance and analysis that goes into managing a proper contact center. The lack of features mean Connect will have limited application for most industries. Also, many of the services they did include appear to be intentionally tied to multiple fee-based subscriptions provided by AWS.

Ready to witness TCN’s cloud based contact center in action? Schedule a demo today.