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Deploy the Heartbeat Virtual Agent — a containerized Amazon ECS Fargate service — into your AWS account so it logs in to Amazon Connect under a dedicated user and answers synthetic Heartbeat calls.

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Before you start

  • Cloud Orchestrator installed in the same AWS region as your Amazon Connect instance.
  • Heartbeat set up — routing profile, contact flow, and dedicated phone number all in place.
  • An Operata account with Admin role and your Operata Group ID.
  • An Operata-supplied Virtual Agent CloudFormation template URL. Contact Operata Support for the link.
  • Amazon Connect administrator access — you create a dedicated user for the Virtual Agent in step 2.
  • If your Amazon Connect instance uses Single Sign-On (SSO), confirm the IDP provider with Operata (Azure is common) and have a Virtual Agent login provisioned in that IDP. Including operata-virtual-agent in the username helps identify the user later.
The Virtual Agent does not support agent login with MFA.Create the agent without MFA. Any configuration that later enforces MFA — for example, Azure Security Defaults — must exclude this user. Heartbeat calls fail as soon as MFA is enforced on the Virtual Agent login.

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Steps

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1. Confirm SSO details with Operata (SSO only)

If your agents sign in via SSO, send Operata your IDP provider name and the Virtual Agent username you provisioned. Skip this step for non-SSO instances. You can run more than one Virtual Agent — each one needs its own unique login.

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2. Create the Virtual Agent user in Amazon Connect

Sign in to the Amazon Connect console and open User Management, then Add new users → Create and set up a new user. Configure the user:
  • Non-SSO: set the login name operata-virtual-agent and a password — you paste this password into the CloudFormation parameters in step 4.
  • SSO: create an agent login that meets your IDP’s requirements.
Do not assign the Operata_Heartbeat_RP routing profile to this user.The Virtual Agent receives calls outside the routing profile system. Assigning Operata_Heartbeat_RP to the Virtual Agent prevents the agent from logging in and breaks Heartbeat.
Save the user. Verify the user details on the confirmation screen, then Create users.

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3. Open the Virtual Agent CloudFormation template

In the AWS console, open CloudFormation in the same region as your Amazon Connect instance, then choose Create stack → With new resources (standard). Select Amazon S3 URL, paste the template URL Operata supplied, and click Next.

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4. Enter the stack parameters

Provide: Click Next.

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5. Review and create the stack

Click through Next on the stack-options screen. On the Review and create screen, acknowledge IAM resource creation and click Create stack. The stack reaches CREATE_COMPLETE in around 10 minutes.

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6. (SSO only) Confirm the SSO provider on the Operata side

The SSO provider on your Operata account must match the IDP the Virtual Agent signs in to. Operata configures this — contact Operata Support if you set up SSO for the first time. You can confirm the current setting at Settings → Config → SSO in the Operata console.

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7. (Optional) Tag the new resources

Apply your cost-allocation and ownership tags. See Tag your AWS resources for the tag set Operata expects.

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Verify

In the Amazon Connect console, open Real-time metrics → Agents. The Virtual Agent user appears as logged in within five minutes of the ECS task starting. Run a Heartbeat test from the Operata console — the test call dials the Heartbeat phone number, the Virtual Agent answers, and the run result appears on the Operata console and on your EventBridge bus. If the Virtual Agent does not appear logged in, see Virtual Agent troubleshooting.