AWS has demoed a lite communications solution for smaller businesses.
The solution, built by AWS’s partner Digiclarity, is essentially a boiled-down, tailored, and augmented version of Amazon Connect.
In its promotion, AWS highlights how service providers and telcos can resell the offering to the underserved small business market.
Those businesses can be as small as one-to-nine employees, with Digiclarity targeting service-based businesses, such as electricians, painters, and plumbers.
Such companies usually find enterprise tech, like Amazon Connect, too complex or expensive. However, the brandable solution – going under the banner “Amazon Connect-powered SMB communications as a service” – is simplified to meet their needs.
Jason Keel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at DigiClarity, introduced the solution on the AWS YouTube channel. He said:
We wanted to create a platform that could give small business owners a complete contact center, customer management system, and invoicing and billing, in less than five minutes.
SMBs of up to 500 employees can test the solution at no cost, with Digiclarity offering a free seven-day trial.
During setup, they’ll go through three basic steps on a single dashboard: entering the business name, selecting the industry, and specifying the business size.
With this information, the solution adapts to the business, leveraging Amazon Bedrock on the backend.
In doing so, it configures menus, greetings, and workflows, customized specifically for that industry.
From there, users can upload their logo, enter their business hours, and get a dedicated phone number via Amazon Connect in minutes.
What Else Is Included?
After setup, businesses can utilize several of the platform’s core features. These include:
- Appointment Scheduling: For businesses where technicians visit customers (like electricians), or vice versa (like pet grooming), the scheduling system adapts accordingly.
- Invoicing & Quotes: Users can send quotes and invoices within minutes.
- Team Management: Businesses may simply add staff members.
- Customer Import: Sync customer contacts from iOS or Android apps, which is especially useful for businesses operating without a CRM system.
- Voice Setup: Configure IVR menus, greetings, and self-service options via Amazon Connect.
Yet, there are also more advanced features. For instance, there’s a customer-facing portal for the SMB’s clients.
Through this, customers can book services, view past appointments, and track request updates in real time. They may also monitor their appointment statuses, when a technician is en route (via native location tracking tech), and past and upcoming jobs. If they want something else, they can chat directly with an employee.
One final notable feature is the solution’s embedded AI workflows. With these, users can automate processes via simple written commands.
For instance, they can ask the platform to: “Create an invoice for John for $300,” and it will automatically generate and send the invoice.
It may also ask questions to uncover extra details, if necessary, and then take care of the rest.
“We really wanted to bring the type of technology used in food delivery or rideshare apps down to this segment – HVAC contractors, painters, electricians – any home service industry,” concluded Keel.
Our goal was to make it simple for small business owners and their customers to communicate and work better together.
Communications Platforms for SMBs, an Underserved Market
There is no shortage of contact center providers. Indeed, hyperscalers – like AWS, Google, and Microsoft – are competing with market stalwarts and various new entrants.
Some of the latter have marketed to SMBs, but once they close platform gaps with enterprise providers, their focus shoots upmarket, where they can secure big-buck contracts.
That leaves a massive gap for platforms like the AWS-Digiclarity offering.
After all, SMBs are typically stuck buying a platform that’s too capable or juggling point solutions for calling, scheduling, invoicing, etc.
With this offering, AWS suggests that SMBs get a future-proof contact center solution, while resellers can meet an underserved market with value-adding services.
