How do I integrate Amazon Connect with Zendesk?

6 minute read

I want to use Amazon Connect with Zendesk. How do I set that up?

Short description

Install and configure the Amazon Connect for Zendesk app in your Zendesk Support account, then integrate the app with Amazon Connect. After integration, you can create contact flows to use Amazon Connect with Zendesk ticketing.

For this setup, you need the following:

An Amazon Connect instance.
A Zendesk Support account with a Zendesk Talk Partner Edition plan, or a Zendesk trial account.

Resolution

Get your instance's access URL

1. Open the Amazon Connect console.

2. Under Instance Alias, choose your instance's alias.

3. On the Overview pane, copy the Access URL for your instance.

Important: If the URL looks like the following, then copy through the .com only: https://instance-name.awsapps.com/connect/login (For example: https://instance-name.awsapps.com)

-or-

If the URL looks like the following, then copy the complete URL: https://instance-name.my.connect.aws

Install the Amazon Connect for Zendesk app

1. Sign in to your Zendesk account.

2. On the Amazon Connect app page of the Zendesk Marketplace website, choose Install.

3. In the APP INSTALLATION dialog box, confirm that your Zendesk account is selected. Then, choose Install.

4. In your Zendesk, under INSTALLATION, do the following:
For Amazon Connect URL, paste the access URL for your instance that you copied earlier.
For Default entry point phone number, enter a number.
For Contact Flow attribute containing Zendesk Ticket Number, copy the value "zendesk_ticket". You need this attribute value later in this setup.
(Optional) Update the other settings based on your use case.
Note: You can change these settings in your Zendesk at any time after installation.

5. Choose Install.

Integrate Zendesk with Amazon Connect

1. Refresh the Zendesk account's browser tab. The Amazon Connect app icon appears at the top-right of your Zendesk instance.

2. Select the Amazon Connect app icon at the top-right corner. Two URLs appear.

3. Copy the two URLs one at a time. Then, add them to the Approved domains list in the Approved origins section of your Amazon Connect instance by doing the following:
Open the Amazon Connect console. Then, in the left navigation pane, choose Approved origins.
Under Approved origins, choose Add domain. An Add domain text box appears.
In the Add domain text box, under Enter domain URL, paste one of the URLs that you copied earlier.
Choose Add.

Important: You can add one URL at a time to the Approved domains list only. You must repeat step 3 of this section to add the second URL.

4. In a new browser tab, log in to the Amazon Connect dashboard either as a created user or by choosing Log in for emergency access.

5. In your Zendesk, select the Amazon Connect app icon. The Amazon Connect Contact Control Panel (CCP) opens in Zendesk.

(Optional) Create a contact flow for Zendesk ticketing

Follow these steps to create an example contact flow. This contact flow prompts callers for input (for example, an account number or ticket number). Then, the flow automatically generates a Zendesk ticket with the caller's information.

Note: It's a best practice to include Check hours of operation and Check staffing blocks before transferring a call to an agent. These blocks verify that the call is within working hours and that agents are staffed to service the call. However, these blocks are not required to achieve the desired functionality of this setup. For more information, see Best practices for Amazon Connect.

Create a contact flow

1. In the Amazon Connect console, under Access URL, choose the access URL for your instance.

2. Log in to your instance using the administrator account.

3. In the left navigation bar, pause on Routing. Then, choose Contact flows.

4. Under Contact flows, choose a template, or choose Create contact flow to design a contact flow from scratch. For more information, see Create a new contact flow.

5. In the contact flow designer, next to Save, choose the arrow icon. Then, choose Save as.
Note: This option saves your contact flow as a new version, instead of overwriting the original.

6. In the Save as text box, enter a New name and Description for your contact flow.

7. Choose Save as.

Add a Store customer input block

1. In the contact flow designer, choose Interact. Then, drag and drop a Store customer input block onto the canvas.

2. Choose the block title (Store customer input). The block's settings menu opens.

3. Under Prompt, do the following:
Choose Text to speech (Ad hoc).
For Enter text, enter a message that asks the customer for their input. For example, "Please enter a valid Zendesk ticket number followed by #." For more information, see Create prompts.

4. Under Customer input, do the following:
Choose Custom.
(Optional) For Maximum Digits, enter a maximum number of characters that callers can enter.
(Optional) For Delay between entry, enter a number of seconds that callers have between entering each digit before timeout.
For Encrypt entry (recommended), select the check box and configure encryption. For more information, see Encrypt customer input and Creating a secure IVR solution with Amazon Connect.

5. Choose Save.

For more information, see Use Amazon Connect contact attributes.

Add a Set contact attributes block

1. In the contact flow designer, choose Set. Then, drag and drop a Set contact attributes block onto the canvas.

2. Choose the block title (Set contact attributes). The block's settings menu opens.

3. Under Attribute to save, choose Use attribute. Then, do the following:
For Destination key, enter "zendesk_ticket".
For Type, choose System.
For Attribute, choose Stored customer input.

4. Choose Save.

For more information, see Use Amazon Connect contact attributes.

Set up call transfers

Add a Set working queue block and a Transfer to queue block.

For more information, see Set up contact transfers.

Add a Disconnect / hang up block

From the contact flow designer, choose Terminate / Transfer. Then, drag and drop a Disconnect / hang up block onto the canvas.

Connect the blocks

In the contact flow designer, drag the arrows from each block to the block that you want to perform the next action. All connectors must be connected to a block before you can publish the contact flow.

As you connect the contact blocks, make sure that you do the following for each block:

Connect Start or Success to the next block in the following order:
Entry point > Store customer input > Set contact attributes > Set working queue > Transfer to queue
Connect Error and At capacity to the Disconnect / hang up block.