Verint Systems yesterday launched Verint Robotic Process Automation, a set of advanced capabilities to automate, manage, and execute time-consuming, manual, and repetitive business processes, such as customer address changes, claims processing, billing, underwriting, and other high-volume tasks.
Leveraging the software, organizations can significantly reduce the need to manually process routine tasks or entire multistep processes to improve the quality and consistency of transactions.
Verint Robotic Process Automation is “pretty wide open as far as what it can do,” says Jenni Palocsik, director of solutions marketing at Verint. “Anything that is very repetitive, time-consuming, and manual can be automated.”
The solutions are well suited for contact center work, according to Palocsik. “Think of it for operational or customer service functions,” she says. “A lot of contact centers have a lot of manual, repetitive work that this would be good for.”
Ease of use was a key consideration in the design of Robotic Process Automation. Using the solution’s authoring studio, a single administrator can create new scripts, modify existing scripts, start or stop processes as needed, or discontinue processes entirely. They can also scale to periods of peak or unexpected volume by bringing additional robots online as needed.
“It’s similar to how we used to create macros for some processes, but with a lot more computing power behind it,” Palocsik says.
“And it works side by side with a lot of the other apps a business is using,” she adds. “It sits on the side on a virtual desktop.”
Using Verint Robotic Process Automation, companies can eliminate human error by offloading processes that require data to be rekeyed manually into multiple systems.
As an added benefit, companies can address regulatory compliance needs to help manage risk and maintain a secure environment, leveraging robots rather than employees to process sensitive tasks or handle confidential information.
“And where there are strict regulations around how processes need to be completed, you can make sure that all the steps that are needed are taken,” Palocsik says. “You can also ensure that employees are saying all the things they need to during certain transactions.”
Using patented visual recognition technologies, Verint Robotic Process Automation can run business processes across multiple applications and enable step-by-step process recording using clicks of a mouse and navigation within the existing user interfaces of those applications. A centralized administrator can also manage and monitor the productivity of robots using the Robotic Process Automation solution’s web-based dashboard.
In addition, this same technology can be deployed to work side by side with employees, providing show-me functionality that guides them through new or infrequently used processes, or to assist with training new employees during on-boarding.
Leveraging the new Verint Process Assistant solution, the same web studio and dashboard for recording tasks and monitoring usage can be leveraged using scripts created to automate portions of tasks on the desktop that employees pick up and complete.
When some processes are automated, businesses can save money by not having to pay employees to do manual tasks, freeing them to handle other more customer-facing tasks that have real business benefits.
But Palocsik is quick to point out the Robotic Process Automation is not meant to replace employees. “We don’t see companies laying people off, but paying less in overtime, not having to bring on new people, and not needing to outsource some functions,” she says.
“To keep pace with competitive global market demands, organizations are often charged with doing more in less time. That’s where software like our Robotic Process Automation and Process Assistant can help,” Kristyn Emenecker, global vice president of the product strategy group at Verint Enterprise Intelligence Solutions, said in a statement.
According to Transparency Market Research, the global IT robotic automation market is expected to take a significant leap at a compound annual growth rate of 60.5 percent through 2020, when the firm estimates the market will reach $4.98 billion.
Though not limited to any specific industries, Palocsik sees the technology being a good fit for the financial services, insurance, healthcare, telecom, and hospitality industries.