Convergys, a global leader in customer management, has announced that it has achieved an important milestone with more than one-third of its workforce utilizing Robotic Process Automation (RPA), reducing customer handle times up to 45 percent and transaction error rates up to 98 percent. RPA uses software “robots” to perform tasks within existing applications, such as data entry or cut and paste of data across systems, to quickly respond to commonly asked questions, freeing representatives to focus on resolving customer issues more efficiently.
As companies respond to consumer demands for faster, easier, more convenient and personalized service via the channel and device of their choice, demand is predicted to increase for robotic process automation. Analyst firm HfS estimates the global RPA market will reach will reach $898 million in 2018 and is expected to grow to $2.2 billion by 20211. The ability of RPA to augment human staff in completion of repetitive tasks and processes, to follow business rules and interact with existing applications and structured data, combined with the ability to scale up or down to meet business demands will be the driving factor in market growth.
Tedious and time-consuming tasks such as data collection, cut and paste, comparisons, and validating information across systems – all performed while customers wait on hold – can be automated so agents can focus on customer engagement and higher value add activities such as sales which leads to better customer and business outcomes. In addition, RPA can make use of existing legacy systems, avoiding complex and expensive upgrades that may not accomplish desired improvements in customer experience.
As a result of automating many internal tasks and processes, Convergys has seen customer sticking points reduced by double-digit percentages across all industries:
- For one US-based cable TV provider, Convergys Personalized Selling RPA achieved a 69 percent increase in service to sales close rates and fully automated back office compliance reporting saving hundreds of hours a week
- In one large US-based healthcare provider, Convergys Compliance RPA automated data entry achieving 98% accuracy on HIPAA verifications
- And for a global financial services company, Convergys Desktop RPA fully automated a debt re-aging eligibility process reducing on call verification time from up to 7 minutes down to 24 seconds
RPA is one of several solutions Convergys offers clients who are seeking ways to accelerate digital transformation and apply competitive customer satisfaction strategies. “We’re seeing expanding use of RPA across all industries and organizations as our clients look to eliminate complexity in customer facing processes and deliver more meaningful customer interactions,” said Kathy Juve, SVP Convergys Digital.
“RPA is a breath of fresh air for our agents helping them address caller needs faster and more accurately. We see it as a key pillar for digital change and business transformation. We evaluate its use in every client engagement as a potential way to streamline care, sales and support outstanding performance,“ said Kathy.
As a key enabling technology, RPA can deliver significant impact on handle time, work accuracy, security, compliance, customer satisfaction performance, agent effort, cost savings, and sales revenue.