As the year ends, conversational interfaces have become mainstream. As a disruptive technology, it has taken over many tasks in different businesses. Robotic Process Automation is only a small part of this transformation and the disruption. Call centers and insurance industries already appreciate the change with improvised virtual agents with conversational interfaces. Other industries are also experimenting with the help of software robotics for a better employee experience. But can this be the only answer to accelerate the business processes internally and in the marketplace?
This post tries to examine the efficiencies and challenges that an enterprise may face while using RPA for internal processes and choice of conversational interfaces for end users outside.
Conversational Interfaces are UI of the future
Being proactive is one key to success
If you are thinking of adding RPA in your enterprise, it is not the only game changer that will make the difference. There are challenges ahead of many smart tools users that will have to be accepted. No matter which organization is deploying it, to succeed it will require well-defined goals and intents for better responses. For anyone working within an organization, it is important to get any piece of information and also check on the status of the task being assigned with it. As the number of machines and devices have increased, many people deal with them with limited knowledge. Machines and devices have been dumb in the past (i.e. reactive), but now they can ‘speak up’, ‘answer queries’, or even ‘hold conversations’ and perform tasks that humans assign them. They have become proactive in nature and prompt answers for the users. It is a great step forward and now the focus is on enhancing the user experience. In any industry the user experience is very important. Is the user happy with a service? Keeping this in mind the interaction between the human and computers conversational interfaces are constantly being re-designed. They are the latest improvement of UI designs as they form the current generation of trends that have dominated 2018. The designs have come a long way from the simple commands that the earlier generation of users fed in the operating systems. The user had to even remember the commands and memorize the syntax. With the advent of graphical interface, things are easier. The idea was to tap recognition rather than recall. And it worked with the graphic UI designs. Being proactive has added a new dimension to the conversational interface.
New designs combine RPA with virtual agents
The emergence of a digital marriage
As people are getting used to Siri, Alexa and Echo, there is more recognition of such talkative devices which respond to human interaction. They seem to be doing much more as Robotic Process Automation becomes powerful to have a productive day for every employee. Humans seem to even fall in love with the virtual agents, and the Chinese bot Xiaoice is just a recent example of its success in the digital world. Several businesses now use these virtual agents as their frontline or reception to deal with customers while the employees deal with automated software internally. They are now capable of providing every information that the customer requires without employees being disturbed or distracted with other core jobs. The advent of software robots allows companies to automate their processes. The RPAs have fuelled the internal functionalities of the company. The insurance companies, mortgage firms, and healthcare industry look at them as a valuable asset. With the deployment of virtual agents, the staff at call centers is reduced. Several companies have already done away with excessive staff.
Virtual agents collect rich data
Deep insight and analysis available constantly
Conversations that the virtual agents have with users gather premium data which can be used for operational efficiencies internally. This is one reason why personalized experiences have become possible for better user experience. Every company needs to adopt a combination of various smart tools like RPA and VAs to communicate with the people who matter to the organization. Virtual agents can be used round the clock and live agents could be used for other functions in the organization. RPA and chatbots are different from each other but both are automation forces. RPA can be used more for the employees working inside the organization while chatbots could be the conversational interface with the end user outside. The robotic software is already being used by bank employees in credit cards division. The insurance industry uses it in a big way for claims processes with no room for errors. They provide the best answers for internal and external functions.
