Flow block in Amazon Connect: Send message
This topic defines the flow block for setting the number to call back the customer.
Description
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Use this flow block to send a message to your customer based on a template or custom message you specify.
Use cases for this block
This flow block is designed to be used in the following scenarios:
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Send an automatic acknowledgement when you receive a new email or SMS contact, for example, "Thank you for your message. We will get back to you in 24 hours."
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Send automated email or SMS responses that resolve the contact. For example, if a customer sends a text asking "How do I reset my password?" you can send a templated or generated email response that provides instructions.
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Send survey emails or SMS messages. For example, "Thank you for your time today. How did we do?" Use a Disconnect flow type for this use case.
Contact types
| Contact type | Supported? |
|---|---|
Voice |
Yes |
Chat |
Yes |
Task |
Yes |
Yes |
Flow types
You can use this block in the following flow types:
| Flow type | Supported? |
|---|---|
Inbound flow |
Yes |
Customer queue flow |
Yes |
Customer hold flow |
Yes |
Customer whisper flow |
Yes |
Outbound whisper flow |
Yes |
Agent hold flow |
Yes |
Agent whisper flow |
Yes |
Transfer to agent flow |
Yes |
Transfer to queue flow |
Yes |
Disconnect flow |
Yes |
Required permissions
To configure this block to send SMS or email messages, you need the following permissions on your security profile:
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Channels and flows > Phone numbers > View: To view the drop-down menu of phone numbers.
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Email addresses - View: To view the dropdown menu of From email addresses.
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Content Management - Message templates - View: To view the dropdown menu of message templates that are available for SMS messages and emails.
If you don't have these permissions, you can still set the properties dynamically. For example, if a phone number has been set manually already on the block, and you view the block without the View permission, you'll still be able to see that resource, just not the list of resources in the dropdown menu.
How to configure this block
You can configure the Send message block by using the Amazon Connect admin website or by using the StartOutboundChatContact action in the Amazon Connect Flow language.
Configuration sections
Send an SMS (text message)
The following image shows the Send message properties page when it's configured to send an SMS message.
Configure the following properties on the page to send an SMS message:
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From: The phone number that the message is to be sent from. The dropdown menu shows a list of phone numbers that are claimed for your Amazon Connect instance.
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Set manually: Use the dropdown menu to search for a phone number that has been claimed to your Amazon Connect instance.
You must have the required permission in your security profile to view the dropdown list of templates.
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Set dynamically: Accepts an attribute based on a Namespace and Key that points to an ARN of a phone number that has been claimed by your Amazon Connect instance.
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To: The phone number that the message is to be sent to.
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Set manually: Enter the customer's phone number. This is where the SMS message will be sent. You can enter only one phone number. This is useful for testing the block.
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Set dynamically: Accepts an attribute based on a Namespace and Key that is a phone number string the SMS is sent to. This must be in E.164 format.
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Message: The message that will be sent to the customer.
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Use template: Use the dropdown menu to choose from a list of SMS templates. You can choose one template to be sent to the customer.
An SMS template is a complete SMS message structure that contains only plain text. It provides the entire response or notification to the customer.
You must have the required permission in your security profile to view the dropdown list of templates.
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Use text: Send a plain text message either Set manually by typing one in or Set dynamically by adding an attribute based on a Namespace and Key.
Note
Message accepts plain text (including links and emojis), up to 1024 characters, including spaces.
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Flow: The Amazon Connect flow that will handle the outbound contact created. This flow can be used to assign the outbound contact to an agent to respond to the customer.
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Set manually: Use the drop-down menu to choose from a list of published flows.
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Set dynamically: Accepts an attribute based on a Namespace and Key that points to a flow ARN.
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Link to contact: This property gives you the option to link the outbound contact that is created to the inbound contact that initiated the flow. In some situations, you may not want to link the outbound contact that is created to avoid repetitive contact associations.
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This property gives you the option to link the outbound SMS contact to the inbound contact that initiated the flow.
In some situations, you may not want to link the contact to avoid sending repetitive outbound SMS messages. For example, if the flow is configured to send the customer the message Thank you for your message! We will get back to you within 24 hours. every time you receive a contact.
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Send an email
The following image shows the Send message properties page when it's configured to send an email.
Configure the following properties on the Send message properties page to send an email message:
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From: Use the dropdown menu to choose the email address the message is to be sent from. The menu shows a list of email addresses configured for your Amazon Connect instance.
You must have the required permission in your security profile to view the dropdown list of emails.
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Set manually: Use the dropdown menu to search for an email address that has been configured for your Amazon Connect instance.
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Set dynamically: Choose the Namespace and Key from the dropdown menus. For example, if you want the From email address to be the same as the one the customer sent the email to, choose Namespace = System,Key = System email address.
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To: The email address email message is sent to.
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Set manually: Enter a single email address in the following format: customer@example.com.
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Set dynamically: Choose the Namespace and Key from the dropdown menus. For example, to send an email reply to the customer's email address, choose Namespace = System, Key = Customer endpoint address.
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CC: The email address to go on the cc line of the email.
Important
You can enter only one email address on the cc line.
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Set manually: Use the text box to enter a list of email addresses, separated by a semicolon (;). These are the email addresses the message will be sent to.
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Set dynamically: Enter an attribute based on a Namespace and Key For example, to send an email reply that is cc'ed to the same email addresses on that were cc'ed on the customer's original email to you, choose Namespace = System, Key = CC Email Address List.
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Message:
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Use template: Use the dropdown menu to choose from a list of email templates that have been created for your contact center. You can choose one template to be sent to the customer.
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Use text: Enter a plain text message.
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Subject: To enter the Subject dynamically, for example, to use the same subject that was in the customer's original email to you, choose Namespace = Segment attribute, Key = Email Subject.
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Message: To enter the Message dynamically, choose a User-defined attribute.
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Link to contact:
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This property gives you the option to link the outbound email contact to the inbound contact that initiated the flow.
In some situations, you may not want to link the contact to avoid sending repetitive outbound email messages. For example, if the flow is configured to send the customer the message Thank you for your message! We will get back to you within X hours. every time you receive a contact.
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About using templates in the block
An email template is a complete email message that contains plain or rich text content. It serves as a pattern for part or all of an email message. An email template can be used by:
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A flow to send acknowledgements or automated responses to an end customer without agent involvement.
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A contact center manager to define the structure or outline of every agent response to ensure details such as signature, header/footer branding, and disclaimers are always included in the response to the customer.
The following image shows an example dropdown menu with a list of available email templates.
The email template contains the subject and body of an email message to be sent to a customer.
Note
The subject from the template is not included when the Send message block is being used to Reply or Reply all to an inbound email contact.
About creating email and text messages in the block
In the case of email, when you use a message created in the Send message block, you need to enter a Subject and Message for the email.
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Subject: You can enter up to 998 characters, including spaces.
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Message: Enter plain text, up to 5000 characters, including spaces. The message can be set manually by typing in a message or dynamically by a User-defined attribute set within the flow. The following image shows the character count for an email message.
In the case of SMS, when you use a message created in the Send message block, you need to enter only a Message, no subject.
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Message: Enter plain text, up to 1024 characters, including spaces. Or, set the message dynamically by using a user-defined attribute set within the flow.
Error scenarios
A contact is routed down the Error branch in the following situations:
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Incorrect information passed to the block, such as a system email address that does not exist for the From field.
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Email sending service failure.
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Some attributes of the email template could not be populated before sending.
