Amazon Connect vs Sharpen

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Our analysts compared Amazon Connect vs Sharpen based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Call Center Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Sharpen Software Tool

Product Basics

Amazon Connect is a cloud contact center platform that offers customer service over voice, tasks and chat at a comparatively lower cost. The product uses the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to record and store exported reports and conversations. From there, it creates default buckets for storage requirements. Its self-service graphical interface helps non-technical users to manage agents, design contact flows and track performance metrics easily without specialized skills. Sales representatives build natural language contact flows with the Amazon Lex with a natural language understanding (NLU) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology powering Amazon Alexa.
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Sharpen is a cloud-based contact center platform allowing agents to interact with customers more efficiently and deliver better user experiences. The resources ensure agents are effectively trained and well-prepared to handle customer interactions. Other offerings include platform architecture, inbound routing, reporting and analytics, remote work support and more. .
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Flexible Pricing: Save more by paying just for the used functionalities and stop/resume any services at any point in time.  
  • High-Quality Audio: Enhance customer experiences with 16kHz audio, packet-loss resistant calls made over the internet from a desktop using the product’s softphone. 
  • Automated Communications: Integrate with Amazon Pinpoint to add outbound email channels and SMS in the product and send communications automatically. Communicate programmatically with the help of outbound API without performing complex and expensive third-party integrations. 
  • Omnichannel Routing: Eliminate working across multiple tools by using a single UI across all communication channels. Increase operational efficiency and avoid rebuilding interaction flows using the same automated chatbots and interactions across voice or chat. Improve customer experience and reduce resolution time by building call flows, reports and rules once and enabling them across channels. 
  • Efficient Routing: Increase efficiency among agents through a single UI engine for chat and calls. Minimize wait times and ensure customer satisfaction by transferring calls to the most appropriate agent based on availability, customer sentiment, history and skillset. 
  • Faster Issue Resolution: Connect knowledge repositories with built-in connectors for third-party applications like ServiceNow and Salesforce, FAQ stores, internal wikis and file shares. Leverage speech analytics powered by machine learning to detect customer issues automatically during calls and then help resolve them in real-time. 
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  • Continuous Improvement: Get instant access to the product’s guide and learn how to analyze metrics for holistic customer experience, five KPI categories, how to improve EX and CX-based data analysis, methods to enhance service levels and more. 
  • Turn Data Into Meaningful Actions: Understand what’s happening with operations by seeking assistance from experts who review operational data with multiple customers regularly. 
  • Empower Agents: Coach agents inside their queue by offering tools and autonomy to work and perform best while tracking their empowerment, effectiveness and efficiency. 
  • Personalize Conversations: Equip the support team to solve any issues in time while personalizing every customer touchpoint. Offer client information to agents, so they take the most appropriate actions for better resolutions.  
  • High-Touch Partnership: Implement interactions and workflows with a partner who shares similar goals. Keep a hands-on partner as those goals change or grow to realize success, no matter what that means to the organization. 
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  • Automation, Omnichannel and Telephony:  
    • Telephony: Eliminate the need to handle multiple vendors, commit to peak call volumes and negotiate complex contracts by simply managing a network of telephony providers from around the world. Access services such as direct inward dial (DID), over 200 calling destinations and toll-free phone numbers in more than20 countries worldwide. Understand proactive monitoring, which can scale up and down within seconds from telephony experts. 
    • Omnichannel: Access contact centers embedded and intelligent high-volume outbound communications across multiple channels. Speak with millions of people daily for marketing promotions, upcoming delivery notifications and appointment reminders. Schedule communications by simply specifying the communication channel and contact list. 
    • Predictive Dialer With Answering Machine Interaction: Increase efficiency by calling customers in a list automatically. Connect only to live customers by detecting busy signals, respond to voicemail greetings through a machine learning model. 
    • Web and Mobile Chat: Offer customers the ability to text agents without being available simultaneously through asynchronous messaging. Take advantage of secure and encrypted chats that support all existing compliance certifications. Talk with Apple Business Chat or iOS messaging through the product’s routing, contact flows and configuration. 
    • Task Management: Maintain a high customer satisfaction rate through follow-up items to resolve customer requests and issues. Prioritize track and assign agent tasks to completion easily. Improve agent productivity by automating tasks that don’t require user interaction. 
    • Automation: Save time and money with intelligent automation and self-service tools such as interactive voice response, natural language chatbots and automated customer voice authentication. Provide a seamless multi-channel communication experience for chat, voice and task management. Improve efficiency and eliminate the need to repeat tasks and functions by automation capabilities. 
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  • Simplified Interface: Access detailed customer profiles and analyze data related to past interactions. Personalize experiences, serve faster and spend less time searching for customer data. 
  • Omnichannel: Interact with customers across multiple channels, including social media, call, video call, messaging, SMS and community using robust tools to boost customer satisfaction and team productivity. 
  • Workforce Engagement: Improve customer experience with better adherence management, scheduling and forecasting. Train agents with coaching sessions and real-time feedback to enhance productivity and team workflows. 
  • Remote Work: Help agents stay productive and cater to customer queries from anywhere via mobile apps. Let agents interact with customers across many channels and boost the overall client satisfaction rate. 
  • Analytics: Analyze an agent's performance across multiple channels and bring in data to create real-time, intelligent customer insights. Coach employees to become more productive, performance tracking, team processes optimization and make decisions for the company's customer operations. 
  • Implementation and Support: Get an onboarding session from an experienced professional while installing the system to optimize results, drive maximum results and learn about the product and its installation techniques better. 
  • Inbound: Create inbound routes that allow customers to communicate more effectively with agents without channel barriers via workflow routing and conditional automation. 
  • Customer Feedback: Understand customers better, measure satisfaction rates, understand product expectations through client surveys and get insights into everything that might generate more leads. 
  • Security: Get creative in CX and optimize interaction flows and empower agents while preserving customer trust and safety. 
  • Integrations: Eliminate the chances of a data breach via world-class integrations with robust customer database tools and CRMs such as Zendesk and ServiceNow. 
  • REST APIs: Get the flexibility and freedom to build customer-centric solutions and streamline customer journeys by securing data and improving interactions. 
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Product Ranking

#13

among all
Call Center Software

#24

among all
Call Center Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Calling Capabilities Call Routing System Collaboration Dialers Mobile Capabilities Phone System Voice Intelligence And Analytics Voicemail And Messaging Workforce Management 78 76 93 88 100 88 100 83 35 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 114 reviews
Great User Sentiment 116 reviews
91%
of users recommend this product

Amazon Connect has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 91% when considering 114 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

85%
of users recommend this product

Sharpen has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 85% when considering 116 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

4.3 (34)
3.6 (21)
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4.44 (48)
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4.4 (47)
4.7 (69)
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Awards

Amazon Connect stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Easy to Use: The interface is straightforward and intuitive, making it simple for users to learn and navigate the system. This ease of use allows managers and supervisors to independently make changes to call flows and agent groups without relying on others.
Scalability: Amazon Connect's cloud-based nature allows businesses to easily scale their contact center operations up or down as needed. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for businesses with fluctuating call volumes or seasonal demands.
Cost-Effective: The pay-as-you-go pricing model means businesses only pay for the resources they use, making it a cost-effective solution compared to traditional on-premises contact center systems.
Integrations: Amazon Connect integrates seamlessly with other AWS services and third-party applications, allowing businesses to create a unified communications ecosystem. This can include CRM systems, helpdesk platforms, and workforce management tools.
Advanced Features: The platform offers a wide range of features, including skills-based routing, call recording, real-time analytics, and chatbots, enabling businesses to deliver a personalized and efficient customer experience.
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Easy to Use: Sharpen's interface is intuitive and user-friendly, making it simple for agents to learn and navigate. The platform's drag-and-drop functionality allows for easy call flow creation and modification, empowering supervisors to make changes without relying on IT support.
Agent Empowerment: Sharpen provides agents with tools to manage their availability and schedules, promoting a sense of ownership and control over their work. The platform also offers performance dashboards and analytics, enabling agents to track their progress and identify areas for improvement.
Supervisor Visibility: Sharpen offers supervisors real-time and historical data on agent performance, call queues, and other key metrics. This comprehensive visibility allows supervisors to identify trends, address issues promptly, and make data-driven decisions to optimize call center operations.
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Limited Customization: The user interface can be challenging to navigate and customize to specific workflows, especially for complex routing needs or integrations with other systems.
Reporting Challenges: Generating customized reports or accessing granular data for analysis can be difficult, limiting the ability to gain deep insights into call center performance and agent activity.
Learning Curve: The platform's features and functionalities can have a steep learning curve, requiring significant time and effort for users to become proficient, especially those without a technical background.
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Limited Reporting: Sharpen's reporting capabilities may not be sufficient for some Call Centers, especially those with complex needs or a large volume of calls. The platform may lack the ability to create custom reports or integrate with other business intelligence tools.
Integrations: Sharpen may not offer a wide range of integrations with other business tools, such as CRM or workforce management systems. This can limit a Call Center's ability to streamline workflows and improve efficiency.
User Interface: Some users find Sharpen's user interface to be clunky or outdated. The platform may not be as intuitive or user-friendly as some other Call Center software options.
Customer Support: Sharpen's customer support has received mixed reviews, with some users reporting long wait times or difficulty getting issues resolved.
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Amazon Connect, the cloud-based contact center software from Amazon Web Services (AWS), has garnered a mixed bag of user reviews over the past year. While some users rave about its user-friendly interface, scalability to accommodate growth, and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional contact center solutions, others point out its limitations in advanced features and express dissatisfaction with customer support. The software's strengths lie in its ease of use, particularly for those familiar with other AWS products, and its pay-as-you-go pricing model, which allows businesses to only pay for what they use. This makes it a great option for startups and small businesses looking for an affordable and scalable solution. However, more established businesses with complex needs may find the lack of advanced features, such as robust workforce management tools, to be a dealbreaker. One of the key differentiators of Amazon Connect is its seamless integration with other AWS services, such as Amazon Lex for chatbots and Amazon Polly for text-to-speech. This allows businesses to easily add AI-powered features to their contact center without the need for extensive coding or third-party integrations. However, this tight integration with the AWS ecosystem can also be a drawback for businesses that use other cloud platforms or have existing investments in third-party contact center solutions. Overall, Amazon Connect is a solid choice for businesses seeking a user-friendly and cost-effective cloud contact center solution, especially those already invested in the AWS ecosystem. However, businesses with complex requirements or those seeking top-tier customer support may want to explore other options.

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Sharpen seems to be a bit of a mixed bag, with users highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, many appreciate its user-friendly interface and intuitive design, making it easy for agents to navigate and find the information they need quickly. The platform's robust reporting and analytics capabilities also receive praise, allowing managers to track key metrics and identify areas for improvement. Additionally, Sharpen's omnichannel functionality is a major plus, enabling seamless communication across various channels like voice, email, and chat. However, some users point out that Sharpen can be a bit pricey compared to other call center software options. There are also occasional complaints about technical glitches and a lack of certain advanced features found in competing products. Some users mention that customer support can be slow to respond at times. So, who is Sharpen best suited for? It appears to be a good fit for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a user-friendly and comprehensive call center solution. Larger enterprises with more complex needs and higher call volumes might want to explore alternatives with more advanced features and scalability.

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