What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation is a software-based technology utilising software robots to emulate human execution of a business process. This means that it performs the task on a computer, uses the same interface a human worker would, clicks, types, opens applications and uses keyboard shortcuts.

software robots that mimic and integrate human actions within digital systems to optimize business processes. RPA captures data, runs applications, triggers responses, and communicates with other systems to perform a variety of tasks – UiPath and Automation Anywhere.

It is predominantly used to automate business processes and tasks, resulting in reductions in spending and giving businesses a competitive edge, all considered of which are proving crucial during the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic.

RPA is versatile and flexible enough to be used in a business of all sizes, from start-ups to enterprise organizations. Here is a rundown of the two common types available in the market:

1. Programmable bots – A programmable robot is defined by set rules and instructions. Parameters need to be defined by programmers before the bot can get to work. Ultimately, this involves mapping out a process – step-by-step – which can be very time consuming for more complex tasks.

2. Intelligent bots – Bots with artificial intelligence can analyse data – both historical and current – to learn how employees perform a process. The robot will follow your clicks, mouse movements and actions. After a period of time when enough data has been analysed, the bot will have enough data to complete the process itself. Intelligent and self-learning bots are better suited to perform processes involving unstructured data and processes that involve fluctuating parameters.

How does RPA work?

Automation technology has been a staple of business for the last decade, but in recent years, RPA technology has reached an impressive level of sophistication while retaining ease-of-use and its benefits have taken an stronger significance during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is no longer a tool that is solely used to facilitate the automation of simple and repetitive IT tasks. RPA is maturing, and with the convergence of other technologies – such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) – we are beginning to explore new possibilities.

Top 3 benefits of Robotic Process Automation

1. Automatable work

One of the predominant draws of RPA is that it enables automatable work – relieving human workers from repetitive clerical processes such as data entry and data manipulation, allowing human workers to focus on complex value-adding tasks that elevate a business.

2. Reduction in human error and costs

Foibles to which human workers are prone – particularly during long repetitive tasks – caused by tiredness and boredom are completely mitigated with RPA. This results in work that is more accurate, timely and consistent, ensuring that time and money isn’t lost correcting old work or creating duplicates.

3. It works on existing IT infrastructure and is non-invasive

RPA works alongside existing IT infrastructure; it just needs to be trained on how to use it. This is a major benefit for organisations using legacy systems. It interfaces with front-end infrastructure and uses the same graphic user interface (GUI) that human workers would use to complete a task, ensuring that the IT landscape doesn’t have to be changed to accommodate RPA – keeping costs to a minimum.

Summary: RPA is the application of software as a virtual workforce. It is governed by set rules and business logic set by the RPA developers. It can perform complex tasks just as a human worker would, emulating interaction within a GUI, giving developers the opportunity to create a workforce that mimics the same manual path that a human would take at a fraction of the cost.

RPA and COVID-19

Many organizations are turning to software robots for assistance. Robotic process automation (RPA) in the back-office and virtual assistants (attended automation) on employees desktops are helping enterprises to keep pace with growing service demands, support colleagues working from home, and ensure business continuity during these challenging times.

For companies wrestling with the challenges of COVID-19, RPA offers wide-ranging benefits. Every organization has clerical, time-consuming tasks that demand accuracy and speed, but don’t require decision-making to accomplish. Companies that have needed to downscale or even shut down normal contact center and back-office operations will have experienced a backlog in service requests such as changes of address or new account applications, for instance.

Unattended robots are a perfect fit for tasks like those, which involve searching, cutting and pasting, updating the same data in multiple places, moving data around, collating, and executing simple and repetitive. Unattended bots, running on servers in the back-end, can perform just about any rule-based work by interacting with applications.

With the escalating call volumes and back-office backlogs companies face due to COVID-19, unattended robots can power through high volumes of many admin driven tasks, such as: address changes, claims for refund, orders, generation of customer letters and other tasks without any manual intervention required. Everyone wins in this scenario: the customer gets a convenient experience and a quick response, employees can focus on complex, more personal interactions rather than on tedious manual work, and the company benefits from optimized efficiency and productivity.

Attended automation, RPA and COVID-19 efficiencies

In the context of COVID-19, RPA really comes into its own when it is combined with an attended automation solution. Attended and unattended solutions working together can help organizations scale up and improve responsiveness at a time when contact centers are under enormous pressure because physical channels are closed for business.

At this time, employees may be facing a growing pile of paperwork and manual data capture requirements as national lockdowns begin to ease. A virtual assistant can help them catch up with the backlog. But it also improves engagement by helping them work efficiently to help each customer and freeing them from tedious work which machines can handle better.

This attended automation solution can capture data from scanned claim forms or faxes by using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and then update back-office systems with the new date. The employee does not need to expend energy on this type of tedious, low-value task, allowing them to get more done and to focus on the human side rather than on data capture.

One common frustration for customer service employees is the requirement to cut and paste customer information from one system to another, or even to recapture data that exists in one corporate system in a different application. An attended automation solution can auto-populate forms in a blink of an eye, then allow the agent to add or change details as necessary, in real-time. Attended automation is also a boon when front office employees need to work across multiple applications and systems. It can streamline laborious processes such as collecting data from numerous disparate systems, and present it all in a single view for the agent. It can also perform real-time calculations for the agent and present a view of summarized customer data.

Challenges of remote work and automation

Since many employees are working remotely due to COVID-19, they are unable to turn directly to colleagues or supervisors for help and support. Virtual assistants have a valuable potential role to play in supporting remote employees – keeping them engaged, informed and connected. They can also prompt employees to follow company guidelines, policies and procedures – all in real-time.

This helps the organization to ensure regulatory compliance and maintain consistency of the customer experience. When a company changes processes or policies, the employee virtual assistant can help to quickly align staff to any changes. It can also enable front- line agents to speak in a coherent voice by providing them with contextually relevant guidance scripts in real-time.

When there are both attended and unattended RPA bots at work, in the event of a process exception or error, an attended (or desktop) bot can refer a request to a human worker for intervention when it cannot complete a task. The human worker can then ‘collaborate’ with their desktop bot to resolve a process error or complication, in real-time. The automated flow can then resume without any downtime.