How robotics impacts BPM, contact centre automation

Frost & Sullivan describes robotic process automation (RPA) as software that incorporates technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate routine, high-volume tasks that are sensitive to human error. While RPA can boost business efficiencies and ROI without increasing costs, it should not be seen as a replacement for existing business process management (BPM) systems. Jamison who was commenting on the company's recently published whitepaper Robotic Process Automation: A New Era of Agent Engagement, which examined the increasingly important role RPA is playing in contact centres. Across all industries, RPA acts as hidden glue that ties together many business processes, with RPA workforces improving organisational efficiency by offloading live resources, improving accuracy, maintaining compliance, and reducing costs. The whitepaper notes that the focus of the contact centre has shifted from its early days as a customer service cost centre to a customer engagement hub that utilises advanced analytic applications to provide insights into agent performance and workforce management.