Amazon Connect Shaping the Future of Telnet

With 18 years at Telnet working from a frontline agent up to client services, I have been exposed to many iterations of ContactSuite, which is our primary CRM and omnichannel management tool. I still recall a time where this software was used to manage calls only, but even at that stage I could see the potential the software had, and it was well ahead of what I was used to using at previous contact centres. Back when I first started using this software I couldn’t have imagined where it would lead and how important Amazon Connect would become in shaping the future of Telnet.


Starting at the beginning, any time software that has such a huge impact on the fundamentals of how we work is rolled out I would expect there to be substantial disruption to my work day and the lengthy “teething” process where we have to get used to the changes and work around the unforeseen issues. However, this was not the case with Amazon Connect. The roll out happened in an frighteningly short time frame and yet despite this there was no disruption in our work from an operational point of view and the only changes we saw were positive ones. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.


Once the initial roll out was complete it was time to start reviewing what new features and functions we had gained and what legacy functions were to be lost. Thanks to the Telnet/ContactSuite IT and Development Teams, any legacy features that we really needed to continue smooth operations were preserved and able to be worked into Amazon Connect without any substantial issues and any legacy features that were lost were replaced by better and more functional systems via Amazon Connect. This meant the net gains from making the move were substantial and the overall reception from the business was overwhelming positive, this is very rare when it comes to changes to how we work on such a large scale.


From here it became time to look not at what we were doing with Amazon Connect and ContactSuite but what we could do. Digging into the many additional features we could enable and seeing how well they work with ContactSuite had me the most excited I have been for the future in a long time. Examples that spring to mind are the impact Contact Lens can have on how we handle quality assurance, how interactive voice response can streamline fault logging, the depth of recording behavior settings and how they can change how we handle privacy sensitive work not to mention the many uses for the natural language processing and other AI features. I could keep talking about the exciting new features we hope to see in the near future for hours, but I will just say that the next couple of years will see massive positive changes to how we work and the services we can offer our clients.


As ContactSuite continues to partner with Amazon connect, the future can only look brighter for both ContactSuite and Telnet. I can see many wins on the horizon for both companies over the next year and I look forward to brining our clients along for the journey and ensuring they share in the successes we achieve and get the most out of every new feature and service we develop. Keep an eye out for next weeks blog post where I will be conducting an interview with the ContactSuite CTO about his experience in working with Amazon Connect and Telnet.

Written by Sam Rae