04 Apr, 2021 | Blogs
If you’re following the latest trends in the digital transformation ecosystem, you’re most likely aware of technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA), chatbots, and artificial intelligence. The adoption of these popular technologies has accelerated as companies try to find new ways to boost efficiency and productivity. According to the 2019 Gartner CIO survey, a majority of CIOs said that chatbots were the main AI-based applications in their companies. But what happens when RPA and chatbots are integrated? Is there a possibility to achieve that? What is required to create such an advanced technological powerhouse? These are some of the questions we’ll try to answer in this article.
Before we begin explaining RPA chatbot integration, let’s understand the difference between RPA and chatbots.
What is a chatbot?
Chatbots are special bots that communicate with humans through a messaging interface. Slack, Facebook Messenger, or chats windows on almost all websites are examples of chatbots. This technology leverages artificial intelligence to understand the user’s question, access the underlying logic model, and send the most accurate response on the chat window.
Some modern chatbots are designed to interface with third-party systems and access and retrieve all the required information to provide an answer.
Know the difference between virtual assistants and chatbots
What is RPA?
RPA is a computer-coded bot that is used to automate highly repetitive, manual tasks. RPA bots can mimic human actions and access multiple applications to retrieve information. They are highly accurate, reliable, and scalable and help businesses increase efficiency, customer satisfaction, and productivity. A simple example of RPA is filling forms in a legacy system.
RPA Chatbot Integration
Both RPA bots and chatbots use artificial intelligence to get the job done. They can work 24/7/365 and are a virtual workforce that complements the work of a human process owner. RPA chatbot integration has come to the fore recently, with many companies using chatbots as the frontend for RPA bots.
The logic appears to be simple: the chatbot is triggered by a question, after which it collects all the information needed to execute the task for an RPA bot. If the user’s question is unclear, the chatbot can reconfirm its understanding of the task before assigning it to the RPA bot. In the back end, the RPA bot starts the process to ensure the user gets all the necessary information via the chatbot interface.
Watch the RPA Chatbot Integration Work
For instance, the chatbot starts a conversation with customers or employees to complete tasks, collect information, or capture requests. For completing these tasks, it needs to be integrated with, and have access to, different ERPs or other systems. In case the enterprise systems have modern APIs, then the chatbot can get the required information without any issue. However, if there are no APIs available, then the chatbot cannot access the required data and retrieve data.
Read 5 situations where RPA is better than APIs
This is where RPA comes into the picture. RPA chatbot integrations are effective and can seamlessly retrieve information from legacy enterprise systems that lack modern APIs. It is a game-changer for two main reasons:
- An RPA-enabled chatbot can integrate with almost all legacy systems, as well as disparate back-end enterprise systems. RPA allows chatbots to access information from these systems and quickly handle more complex customer/employee problems.
- RPA chatbot integration means that chatbots can trigger RPA to perform a specific task based on a user’s request. It requires humans to only manage exceptions on a need basis.
Business Benefits of RPA Chatbot integrations
- Higher employee and customer satisfaction
- Lower business costs
- Decreased time to finish tasks
- Increased employee productivity
- Increased competitive advantage
Application of RPA Chatbot Integration
The possibility of using RPA powered chatbots in an organization is endless. From using it for internal purposes such as HR, IT helpdesk, finance, and procurement to deploying it for client-facing processes like customer service, support, and marketing, chatbots and RPA are a match made in heaven. The integration between the two can further improve your service and offer even better employee and customer experiences.
To know more about RPA-enabled chatbots, contact us today!