Overview of RPA
In organizations worldwide, robotics process automation (RPA) is used to accelerate everyday business activities and promote growth. RPA is a software technology that integrates custom “robots” to accomplish digital tasks.
The development of RPA platforms has significantly grown in recent years. Several companies currently offer RPA solutions alongside end-to-end services for clients. As the number of users of this technology has increased, so have the capabilities. This blog discusses common uses, capabilities, and advantages of RPA technology.
New Employees
A significant challenge of an organization hiring new employees is the need to train and guide them. RPA technology can alleviate these burdens through the use of automated functions. Examples include automatically enrolling, scheduling meetings and training sessions, and notifications of the new employee’s responsibilities. Utilizing RPA to handle new hires can help ensure that each employee undergoes the same entry process per the intended guidelines. Using RPA also saves time that senior employees would previously spend chaperoning.
An RPA company called AQL, is known to provide automated employee onboarding services to clients. Some automated services include scanning and organizing employee documents, sending documents to new employees, creating access badges for hires, connecting new employees with department databases, and scheduling orientations.
Sales Support
Employees in product sales are always building relationships with potential clients and serving as a resource for any questions. Instead of focusing on these tasks, the time often goes to complete routine administrative tasks. RPA can streamline tasks such as updating billing systems, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and collecting relevant sales performance data. Automating these processes saves employees time, and relevant data is organized into a useful format.
For businesses that sell custom products, RPA can take the customer’s order and indicate the variations requested. Humans completing these tasks are more prone to make mistakes and take longer. When order processing is automated, costs decrease, returns are less likely, and businesses experience growth of return on investment.
Companies like Hewlett-Packard Enterprises and IBM are using RPA technology for sales support and several other automation solutions. Blueprism provides an RPA platform to create more efficient sales departments.
Call Centers
Dealing with customer service in call centers can be vastly impacted by using RPA technology. A simple dashboard of common customer questions and issues can be employed, and be programmed to direct agents to the proper solution for the customer. When an issue demands contact with a human customer service agent, RPA can gather all relevant information about the customer and issue an expedited response. Customer service can be faster and more accurate by utilizing these components of RPA.
Five9, provides an automation service using RPA and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make interactions and assist human call center agents. Use of this program and others like it can reduce service costs and the number of incoming calls that require human assistance.
Personal Data
Business transactions that involve the collection of customer personal information are commonplace around the world. By utilizing automated data collection, access to confidential information can be more limited, and security from data leaks can be fortified. Automated programs used to collect and even review the accuracy of information can reduce the number of people with access to this information. RPA can then securely store this data and continuously monitor the internet for potential sensitive data breaches. Amazon’s AWS Step Functions and numerous other RPA providers can automatically collect and protect sensitive data.
Fraud Detection
Detection of fraudulent activity is a crucial factor for businesses. When activity goes unchecked, there are significant financial ramifications. Personally reviewing financial data and locating questionable transactions can be tedious and inaccurate. By utilizing RPA to complete these tasks automatically, businesses can save time and have confidence in their financial transactions. RPA can be programmed to notice aberrations and complete processes to eliminate issues. Software robots can notify administrators of fraud and even cancel fraudulent accounts where appropriate. UiPath’s RPA products are known for their demonstrated ability to detect and report risks, such as these, through intelligent software bots.
Web Scraping
Retrieving data and other content from websites is a process that takes time and resources from business. This information gathered can be used to make numerous decisions, and to keep administrators properly informed of relevant industry trends. RPA can be programmed to constantly run custom searches, and extract this data from the internet. This software is capable of performing massive download tasks and organizing the data into a useful reference database. Automation of this process can result in fewer errors, without the necessity of employees dedicated to completing it. There are methods using Python that can be used in combination with common RPA platforms to gather website data for specific needs.
Data Consolidation
Many organizations have information between different legacy systems and applications. For all relevant data to be accessed and analyzed, it is customary to distribute by hand manually. RPA has tools capable of seamlessly connecting the data between a growing list of legacy systems. Customizing a virtual dashboard to analyze the consolidated data according to specific needs is also possible. Using RPA programs to complete this task will save time and money while producing a higher level of confidence in the accuracy of data analysis.
Forms Processing
The benefit of using RPA for form processing is that it can significantly reduce manual labor and errors, increase efficiency, and improve processing speed. With RPA, forms can be processed faster, with less human intervention, reducing potential errors and inconsistencies. Additionally, RPA can be programmed to handle complex form-processing tasks, such as PDF data extraction, validation, and classification, making it a versatile tool for organizations. Using RPA for form processing can also free up employees to focus on more value-added tasks, such as customer service, strategy development, and problem-solving. UiPath, Microsoft, AWS, and many other RPA providers have developed programs to complete digital data extraction tasks.
Using RPA to handle business expenditures can automate capturing, categorizing, and approving expenses, reducing the time and effort required for manual data entry and the risk of errors. RPA can quickly extract data from receipts, invoices, and other expenditure-related documents, classify the expenses into appropriate categories, and perform compliance checks, such as verifying that the expense falls within budget guidelines. Organizations can improve their expense management and control by automating this process, freeing employees to focus on other business-critical tasks. Additionally, RPA can provide real-time visibility into expenditure data, helping organizations make informed decisions, track spending patterns, and identify areas for cost savings. In summary, RPA can bring increased efficiency, improved data accuracy, and enhanced spending visibility to handling business expenditures.
Value Created
Organizations create value by implementing RPA tools in several ways:
- Increased efficiency: RPA automates repetitive, manual tasks, allowing employees to focus on more valuable, strategic tasks. This can result in increased productivity, improved service levels, and reduced processing times.
- Improved accuracy: RPA eliminates human error and reduces the risk of data inconsistencies, improving data quality and reducing the likelihood of errors and miscommunications.
- Cost savings: By automating routine tasks, RPA can reduce the need for manual labor and decrease operational costs, enabling businesses to allocate resources more efficiently.
- Scalability: RPA can quickly adapt to changing business needs and can be scaled up or down as required, helping organizations maintain efficiency even as their operations grow.
- Increased agility: RPA can quickly respond to changing business conditions and provide real-time information, helping organizations make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition.
- Enhanced customer experience: By automating routine tasks and freeing up employees to focus on more complex, value-adding tasks, RPA can help organizations improve the customer experience and build stronger, more loyal customer relationships.
Overall, value is created by implementing RPA tools by improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing competitiveness, all while freeing up employees to focus on higher-value tasks.
Dura Digital Takeaway
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a powerful tool that can help organizations streamline their business processes, save time, and reduce costs. By automating repetitive tasks, RPA frees employees to focus on more important work, increasing productivity and growth. Companies like AQL, Hewlett-Packard Enterprises, IBM, and Five9 already use RPA technology to improve their operations. Don’t get left behind in the race to automate your business processes. Contact us today to learn more about how RPA can help your organization grow and thrive.