Amazon Connect Tools
SSML Prompt Builder
for Amazon Connect
Visually craft, validate and copy production-ready SSML prompts for Amazon Connect contact flows — all tags supported, zero server calls.
<break>
<prosody>
<say-as>
<phoneme>
<sub>
<whisper>
<lang>
<mark>
<p> <s>
<w>
0
Characters
0
Tags Used
—
Valid SSML
Quick-Start Templates
Welcome Greeting
Standard IVR welcome with pause and slow intro
Queue Hold Message
On-hold message with wait time and reassurance
Business Hours
Closed / out-of-hours announcement prompt
Transfer to Agent
Warm transfer with whisper-effect caller info
Read Digits / Ref No
Read a reference number digit-by-digit
Emergency / Alert
High-urgency announcement with fast rate
SSML Editor
Text Editor
SSML Tag Palette — Click to Configure & Insert
⏸ break
🎚 prosody
🔤 say-as
🗣 phoneme
↔ sub
🤫 whisper
🌐 lang
¶ paragraph
§ sentence
📍 mark
W word (w)
📰 newscaster
🔗 contact attribute
Insert Contact Flow Attribute
Resolves at runtime in the actual contact flow — this tool can't preview its real value, and it isn't counted toward the character estimates below.
Configure <break> — Add Pause
500ms
Max: 10000ms (10 seconds)
Configure <prosody> — Volume, Rate, Pitch
Configure <say-as> — How to Speak Text
Each digit is spoken individually.
Configure <phoneme> — Phonetic Pronunciation
IPA examples: /pɪˈkɑːn/ for "pecan", /ˈtʊˌdʒɔɹ/ for "Tudor"
Configure <sub> — Substitute / Alias
Configure <amazon:effect name="whispered">
Note: Whisper effect is only available in Standard (non-neural) Amazon Polly voices.
Configure <lang> — Specify Language
Configure <mark> — Custom Marker
Used to identify a position in the text; useful for speech marks and callbacks.
Configure <w> — Word Role / Part of Speech
Live SSML Preview
Highlighted SSML Output
Your highlighted SSML will appear here.
Type in the editor and click Validate & Preview
Type in the editor and click Validate & Preview
SSML Analysis
Validate your SSML to see analysis.
Use in Amazon Connect
To use this SSML in Amazon Connect:
- In your Contact Flow, add a Play Prompt block.
- Set Type to Text to speech or chat text.
- Select SSML as the interpret as option.
- Paste your SSML (including the
<speak>...</speak>wrapper). - Or use in a Get customer input block's prompt field.
Amazon Connect SSML Tag Reference
| Tag | Purpose | Example | Neural | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <speak> | Root wrapper — all SSML must be enclosed here | <speak>Hello!</speak> |
Full | Full |
| <break> | Add a pause (max 10s). Use time or strength attribute | <break time="1s"/> |
Full | Full |
| <prosody> | Control volume, rate, and pitch of speech | <prosody rate="slow">...</prosody> |
Partial | Full |
| <say-as> | Control how text is spoken: digits, dates, phone numbers, spell-out | <say-as interpret-as="digits">1234</say-as> |
Partial | Full |
| <phoneme> | Phonetic pronunciation using IPA or x-sampa | <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="pɪˈkɑːn">pecan</phoneme> |
Full | Full |
| <sub> | Substitute alias — read alias text instead of written text | <sub alias="Amazon Web Services">AWS</sub> |
Full | Full |
| <lang> | Switch language for a word or phrase | <lang xml:lang="fr-FR">Bonjour</lang> |
Full | Full |
| <p> | Paragraph pause — longer natural break between paragraphs | <p>Paragraph text.</p> |
Full | Full |
| <s> | Sentence pause — short natural break between sentences | <s>Sentence text.</s> |
Full | Full |
| <mark> | Custom named marker in the text stream | <mark name="menu-start"/> |
Full | Full |
| <w> | Word customization — specify part of speech role | <w role="amazon:VB">read</w> |
Full | Full |
| <amazon:effect whispered> | Whispered voice effect (standard voices only) | <amazon:effect name="whispered">...</amazon:effect> |
N/A | Full |
| <amazon:domain news> | Newscaster speaking style (Joanna, Matthew neural only) | <amazon:domain name="news">...</amazon:domain> |
Select only | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What SSML tags does Amazon Connect support?
Amazon Connect supports the following SSML tags via Amazon Polly:
<speak>, <break>, <lang>, <mark>, <p>, <phoneme>, <prosody>, <s>, <say-as>, <sub>, <w>, and <amazon:effect name="whispered">. Any unsupported tags are silently ignored by the engine.How do I add a pause in an Amazon Connect prompt?
Use the
<break> tag with either a time attribute (e.g., <break time="500ms"/> or <break time="2s"/>) or a strength attribute (x-weak, weak, medium, strong, x-strong). The maximum pause duration supported in Amazon Connect is 10 seconds.How do I make Amazon Connect read a number digit by digit?
Use
<say-as interpret-as="digits">12345</say-as>. Each digit will be read individually. For phone numbers, use interpret-as="telephone". For regular numbers use interpret-as="cardinal".Can I control the speed and volume of Amazon Connect TTS?
Yes. Use the
<prosody> tag. Rate options: x-slow, slow, medium, fast, x-fast, or a percentage like 75%. Volume options: silent, x-soft, soft, medium, loud, x-loud. Pitch options: x-low, low, medium, high, x-high. Note: Prosody has partial availability for neural voices.How do I make Amazon Connect pronounce an acronym correctly?
Use the
<sub> tag: <sub alias="Amazon Web Services">AWS</sub>. The alias text is what gets spoken. Alternatively, use <say-as interpret-as="spell-out">AWS</say-as> to have each letter spoken individually.What is the actual character limit for Amazon Connect text-to-speech prompts?
Amazon Connect / Polly allows up to 3,000 billed characters (the text that's actually spoken — SSML tags are free) and up to 6,000 total characters including markup. This tool tracks both counts separately in the editor toolbar so you can see your real margin, not just raw text length.
Is the SSML tool free and private? Is my data sent to any server?
This tool runs 100% in your browser. No SSML, prompt text, or any other data is ever transmitted to any server. It is completely safe to use with production prompt content. The optional browser-voice preview also runs locally using your browser's built-in speech engine — it is a rough approximation, not real Amazon Polly output.