Getting started - Amazon Chime

You must be an Amazon Chime system administrator to complete the steps in this guide. If you need help with the Amazon Chime desktop client, web app, or mobile app, see Getting support in the Amazon Chime User Guide.

Getting started

The easiest way for your users to get started with Amazon Chime is to download and use the Amazon Chime Pro version for free for 30 days. For more information, see Download Amazon Chime.

Purchasing Amazon Chime

To continue using the Amazon Chime Pro version after the 30-day free trial period, you must create an Amazon Chime administrator account and add your users to it. To get started, you must first complete the Prerequisites for Amazon Chime system administrators, which include creating an AWS account. Then, you can create and configure an Amazon Chime administrator account and add users to it by completing the following tasks.

Step 1: Creating an Amazon Chime administrator account

After you complete the Prerequisites for Amazon Chime system administrators, you can create an Amazon Chime administrator account.

To create an Amazon Chime administrator account
  1. Open the Amazon Chime console at https://chime.aws.amazon.com/.

  2. On the Accounts page, choose New account.

  3. For Account Name, enter a name for the account and choose Create account.

  4. (Optional) Choose whether to let Amazon Chime select the optimal AWS Region for your meetings from all available Regions, or to use only the Regions that you select. For more information, see Managing meeting settings.

Step 2 (optional): Configuring account settings

By default, new accounts are created as Team accounts. If you prefer to claim a domain and connect to your own identity provider, or Okta SSO, you can convert to an Enterprise account. For more information about Team and Enterprise account types, see Choosing between an Amazon Chime Team account or Enterprise account.

To convert a Team account to an Enterprise account
  1. Open the Amazon Chime console at https://chime.aws.amazon.com/.

  2. For Accounts, choose the name of the account.

  3. For Identity, choose Getting Started.

  4. Follow the steps in the console to claim your domain.

  5. (Optional) Follow the steps in the console to set up your identity provider and configure your directory group.

For more information about claiming domains, see Claiming a domain. For more information about setting up identity providers, see Connecting to your Active Directory and Connecting to Okta SSO.

You can also allow or stop allowing account policies for options, such as remote control of shared screens and the Amazon Chime call me feature.

To configure account policies
  1. Open the Amazon Chime console at https://chime.aws.amazon.com/.

  2. On the Accounts page, choose the name of the account to configure.

  3. For Settings, choose Meetings.

  4. For Policies, select or clear the account policy options you want to allow or stop allowing.

  5. Choose Change.

For more information, see Managing meeting settings.

Step 3: Adding users to your account

After your Amazon Chime Team account is created, invite yourself and your users to join it. If you are upgrading your account to an Enterprise account, you do not need to invite your users. Instead, upgrade to an Enterprise account and claim your domain. For more information, see Step 2 (optional): Configuring account settings.

To add users to your Amazon Chime account
  1. Open the Amazon Chime console at https://chime.aws.amazon.com/.

  2. On the Accounts page, choose the name of your account.

  3. On the Users page, choose Invite users.

  4. Enter the email addresses of the users to invite, including yourself, and choose Invite users.

The invited users receive email invitations to join the Amazon Chime Team account that you created. When they register their Amazon Chime user accounts, they receive Pro permissions by default, and their 30-day trial ends. If they have already signed up for an Amazon Chime user account with their work email address, they can continue to use that account. They can also download the Amazon Chime client app at any time by choosing Download Amazon Chime and signing in to their user account.

You are only charged for a user with Pro permissions when they host a meeting. There is no charge for users with Basic permissions. Basic users cannot host meetings, but they can attend meetings and use chat. For more information about pricing and the features that users with Pro and Basic permissions can access, see Plans and pricing.

To change user permissions
  1. Open the Amazon Chime console at https://chime.aws.amazon.com/.

  2. On the Accounts page, choose the name of your account.

  3. On the Users page, select the user or users to change permissions for.

  4. Choose User actions, Assign user permission.

  5. For Permissions, select Pro or Basic.

  6. Choose Assign.

You can provide other users with administrator permissions, and also control their access to the Amazon Chime console for your account. For more information, see Identity and access management for Amazon Chime.

(Optional) Setting up phone numbers for your Amazon Chime account

The following phone options are available for Amazon Chime administrative accounts:

Amazon Chime Business Calling

Lets your users send and receive phone calls and text messages directly from Amazon Chime. Provision your phone numbers in the Amazon Chime console or port in existing phone numbers. Assign the phone numbers to your Amazon Chime users and grant them permissions to send and receive phone calls and text messages using Amazon Chime. For more information, see Managing phone numbers in Amazon Chime and Porting existing phone numbers.

Amazon Chime Voice Connector

Provides SIP trunking service for an existing phone system. Port in existing phone numbers or provision new phone numbers in the Amazon Chime console. For more information, see Managing Amazon Chime Voice Connectors in the Amazon Chime SDK Administration Guide.