AUTOMATION IN THE

CONTACT CENTER:
THE RISE OF
CUSTOMER
SERVICE ROBOTIC
AUTOMATION
By Nicolas De Kouchkovsky
October, 2018

1
THE EARLY 2010S SAW THE RAPID RISE OF THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (CX) AS A STRATEGIC
ISSUE FOR ENTERPRISES. WE LIVE IN THE AGE OF THE CUSTOMER. THE ABILITY TO DEFINE
AND DELIVER GREAT EXPERIENCES HAS BECOME AN ESSENTIAL DRIVER FOR ACQUIRING AND
RETAINING CUSTOMERS. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS NOW MAKING CX CRITICAL TO BUILDING
A SUSTAINABLE DIFFERENTIATION OVER THE COMPETITION.

THE EXPERIENCE IMPERATIVE AUTOMATION AT THE RESCUE

With customer service accounting for 75% of all interactions a
company has with its customers1, support organizations are on
the front line. Customer care must create better experiences
across an ever-increasing number of channels. It needs, in
particular, to better tackle the most important dimension of
good service, valuing customer time2.
THE ENGAGEMENT CHALLENGE
In order to step up to this seemingly impossible challenge of
enabling deeper customer engagements, support organizations
are turning to automation. It expands self-service from responding
to questions to actually completing customer requests such as
returning a product or changing a flight. Automation can also
assist agents who deal with a common contact center problem
of having to juggle multiple systems and applications during
live customer interactions. Thankfully, robotic automation has
come of age. Let’s explore this critical technology and how it
can help customer service.

Customer service organizations have been actively developing

self-service, harnessing the possibilities of artificial intelligence
(AI). Self-service offers fast and convenient ways to deal with
simple inquiries. It also addresses consumers’ desire to
look for information on their terms and by themselves. It is,
however, changing the role of associates. Agents need to pick
up interactions when self-service is no longer able to cope with
customers’ requests. They also must be available for important
questions that customers want to discuss in person. Customer
service representatives might have fewer interactions to deal
with but the remaining ones are getting more complex and
critical to the customer experience.

1
Gartner, 2012 https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1929014
2
Forrester, 2016 https://go.forrester.com/blogs/16-03-03-your_customers_dont_want_to_call_you_for_support/
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AUTOMATION
INTRODUCING ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION
Introducing Robotic
Process Automation
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software robots to mimic
humans interacting with applications and automate steps of the
process. The concept is not new. It started decades ago with
macros, scripts, and screen scraping. The underlying technology
has completely changed. Today’s robotic automation interacts
directly with the operating system, a technique known as surface
automation. It made the technology much more robust, ready to
be deployed at scale on a desktop, either physical or virtualized,
or in the cloud.
Application
integration
Sequences can be recorded or programmed and then assembled
using logic to handle the different scenarios. Robotic automation
is particularly relevant when a process requires simultaneous
steps with several applications. One often underlooked use case
for the technology is for integrating with legacy applications.
Because it simulates a human, robotic automation can integrate
with any application, in particular, those with no APIs or mainframe
applications. Even when APIs are available, many organizations
prefer to use robotic automation because it makes integrations
simpler to build and test, and, more importantly, transparent
to the target application.
Deployment
models
RPA Robots can be deployed on a desktop or in the cloud. They
can run under the control of a person triggering its actions
(attended RPA) or with minimal human intervention (unattended
RPA). In the latter case, you can have a large number of robots
doing the redundant and repetitive back-office work. This scenario
is sometimes referred to as a “digital workforce.” It requires
additional monitoring and control software to oversee the
work of the robots and manage exceptions. In an attended RPA
scenario, the robot acts as a personal assistant to the agent,
coexisting on the same desktop.
Automation helps
people
Today, robotic automation is not yet well suited for complicated
scenarios with exceptions. It shines when the logic can be kept
simple, combined with applications and people to handle the
more complex situations. It can be used to automate not only
tasks but also activities and even entire processes. Robotic
automation is best deployed using an iterative approach.
You can start by automating a few steps and progressively
expand the scope of automation. This continuous improvement
model is very similar to the Kaizen system that transformed the
manufacturing industry in the 1980s. Lean manufacturing makes
use of automation side by side with humans, transforming their
efficiency and effectiveness. In the context of customer service,
robotic automation can assist agents with repetitive tasks and
give them time to take care of the important moments with
customers. It also improves their job satisfaction with a direct
impact on the experience they provide to customers.
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CUSTOMER
ROBOTIC AUTOMATION IS BECOMING CRITICAL
FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Reduced costs
Although robotic automation is still in the early stages of its
adoption for customer service, its impact has been widely
acknowledged. First, it takes costs out of servicing customers.
Customer support organizations are not only expected to improve
the customer experience. They also must reduce their costs.
Savings come from shorter handling time and automation of
after call work. These productivity improvements are similar to
screen-pop. The magnitude of the savings is higher, measured in
minutes per interaction instead of seconds. Robotic automation
allowed one of Europe largest mobile network provider to
repatriate its customer service operations. Assisted with robots,
local employees reached productivity levels that offset their
higher salary levels compared to workers in low-cost locations.
Better processes
Robotic automation also improves process predictability. It
reduces errors and helps enforce compliance and adhere to
regulations. Jacada reported the example of a leading US insurer
needing to summarize every customer interaction and record
policy changes. It uses robots to ensure all modifications are
flawlessly recorded. It could also enforce additional levels of
compliance by having robots perform checks in the background.
Robotic automation enables customer service representatives
to no longer put clients on hold or ask them to wait. It makes
customer service more human, freeing agents from tedious tasks
and having to juggle applications. One of the most important
benefits of robotic automation besides cost reduction is that
agents get time back to take care of their customers.
Simpler desktops
Agents having to deal with numerous applications is a huge
issue in contact centers. They need to switch from one to
another, copying and pasting the same information between
several systems. Jacada shared the example of a Mobile Virtual
Network Operator (MVNO) customer service representatives
having to use 15 different applications because these were
systems from different third-party providers. Integration was
not even an option. Using robotic automation, it was possible to
preload transparently the customer context, pulling its different
elements from the various applications as needed.
Better experiences
By enabling expedited resolution and removing hold times
while the agent is doing work, robotic automation improves the
customer satisfaction (CSat). One of the top-ten big-box retailers
in the USA was confronted with the issue of customers calling
about an order without its reference. This actually happens
quite often. Agents had to find the order number using either
a name, a phone number or an email address by checking 8
different systems. The automation of the lookup cut the process
from 150 seconds to less than 30. Because time is a currency,
such reductions have an immediate effect on the customer
experience. By reducing lead times and chaining together
what used to be a series of discrete steps, robotic automation
can provide the first step in the digital transformation of the
support experience.
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 Better Employee one another. Compounded by 200 different services, training
Experience associates on these small differences became a daunting

Companies are also finding that robotic automation helps meet task. With robotic automation, it became possible to have

the expectation of today’s workforce. Millennials and Generation these variants taken care of by robots. Robotic automation

Z employees care more about their working environments. Fully simplifies training and shortens onboarding. It helps rebalance

aware of the possibilities of technology, they have little tolerance the curriculum with less time spent memorizing the intricacies

for boring and repetitive tasks. They need to feel connected to of systems and processes and more spent learning how to

the mission of their company and get frustrated by anything that better serve customers

hinders their ability to provide good service. Robotic automation

delivers on the promise of "taking the robot out of the human.
”It is not just an automation technology. It is a tool to attract,
retain, and engage agents, reducing turnover.
Faster onboarding
Robotic automation also improves process Employee churn in
customer support organizations has remained high. Training
new agents on the myriad of little things they need to know is
a huge challenge. A provider of back-office processing services
for financial institutions found each of the banks it was assisting
required to handle service requests with slight variations from
Easy addition
Customer Service organizations have access to a plethora of
technologies. There are three reasons why robotic automation
should be prioritized. First, the solution can be layered on top
of existing investments. There is no need to rip or replace
the assets already in place and robotic automation can be
considered a way to maximize their value. Second, projects
are not required to mobilize many resources. Third, deployed
in weeks or months, its time-to-value is a matter of months or
quarters. Robotic automation is eventually a strategic enabler
of the emerging assisted service model, upholding in-person
service to take care of interactions left over by self-service

ASSISTED-SERVICE MODEL

Complex/
Inquiry
Routine/Simple Important
Deflection

SELF LIVE
SERVICE Escalations SERVICE

Off loading

Automated processing Exceptions Manual processing

(Fulfillment) (Fulfillment)

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SERVICE
CUSTOMER SERVICE ROBOTIC AUTOMATION
01
Growing adoption
Robotic Automation is not specific to customer service. Actually,
it has been widely adopted in back-offices. If the underlying
technologies are the same, solutions for customer service
are quite different. There are several nuances that need to be
considered before deploying robotic automation for customer
service and contact centers.
02
A chaotic environment
Customer Service Robotic Process Automation (CS RPA) needs
to not just work with a person but for a person. The software
robots share the desktop environment. They must carry out
their tasks without interfering with the work of the agent. A
customer service representative desktop can be quite chaotic.
Numerous applications are running in parallel and agents will
move them around and change the windows’ size. It is critical that
interaction technology is robust to handle such non-controlled
conditions. This is in a sharp contrast with Back-Office Robotic
Process Automation (BO RPA) where robots enjoy dedicated
and stable computing resources
03
Real-time
Customer Service Robotic Automation has to be real-time. Robots
need to execute their tasks in seconds. There is a customer
waiting in line and a few seconds delay feels like an interruption
or being put back on hold! Back-Office Robotic Automation is
tuned for off-line batch processing
04
Application integration
In a customer support environment, the number of applications
can be staggering. Moreover, the type of systems to integrate
with will range from web to mainframes through client-server
applications using different clients, Java, .NET, or windows.
Customer Service Robotic Automation needs to support all
these connectivity options.
05
Orchestration
The resolution of a customer service request often entails several
tasks running in parallel. Customer Service Robotic Automation
needs to be able to orchestrate several activities to complete
the customer service request.
06
Agility
Finally, Customer Service Robotic Automation needs to cope
with the frequent changes happening in customer support.
Small modifications need to be carried out both quickly and
with little if any IT support. Back-Office Robotic Automation
platforms are geared towards managing large pools of robots.
They are supported by dedicated IT personnel, a luxury many
contact centers cannot afford
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POSSIBLE
THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE
01
THREE USE CASES
If most people know the use case of an agent being assisted by
a robot, few are aware of the two other deployment scenarios of
Customer Service Robotic Automation. Robots can be harnessed
to help a chatbot fulfill customer service requests and make
the chatbot transactional. After uncovering the intent of the
customer, the chatbot can use automation to complete the
request instead of having to pass the interaction to an agent.
Robots can also augment self-service by giving access to a wide
range of back-end applications and push the envelope of what
customers can do by themselves .
02
INFORMATION LOOKUP
Exploring the activities that can be handled by Customer Service
Robotic Automation provides also an interesting angle to visualize
the art of the possible. A software robot can be used to look up
information and assemble the customer context. It not only saves
agent time but avoids the embarrassing “bear with me a second
while I access your information”. Any application integration can
be handled by a robot. Because it is a “no-code” integration style,
the approach can be very compelling to organizations reluctant
or unable to modify existing applications
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ASSISTED SIGN-IN
Software robots can also be used as a proxy to sign-in into
multiple applications. Assisted sign-in has been a key benefit
of robotic automation for the financial service provider we
discussed earlier. The company needed to give its agents access
to numerous applications that belong to different companies.
Robots handle the sign in process using a password vault that
contains the encrypted agent credentials. The agent has to only
sign into their working environment once at the beginning of
their session.
04
AFTER CALL WORK
The automation of after call work is also an activity easy to
automate. It has been saving minutes of agent time for the
Insurance company we explored. After call work can include
the disposition of the interaction, pre-populating the summary
notes with the information the agent already typed. It can also
include the automatic creation of a case in the CRM system or
sending a confirmation message to the customer
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FEWER ERRORS, MORE SECURITY
This overview of the activities that can be automated shows that
Customer Service Robotic Automation does much more than
just doing things on behalf of humans. It does things better. It
can handle security in a safer way than having agents making
notes of their various credentials. It reduces errors, improves
data quality, and enforces both consistency and compliance.
Robotic automation can reinforce process standardization and
consistency across channels. With so many illegal activities using
human engineering to trick agents, robots can also provide a way
to secure certain interactions and reduce fraud. The breadth
of activities that can benefit from Customer Service Robotic
Automation makes orchestration capabilities essential.
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GETTING STARTED
Agile method
Robotic automation projects are best approached using an agile
methodology. Their success can be secured with a few simple
steps. While robotic automation falls in the low-code solution
category, it is important to include IT in the project from the get-
go. A governance framework is required for the testing, ongoing
evolution, and application integrations. The toolkit selection
should carefully factor the specificities of Customer Service
Robotic Automation we discussed. Many companies start with
a pilot process. Forrester’s Craig Le Clair ‘rule of 5’5 provides
useful guidelines to select it. He recommends to choose one
with no more than five decisions to keep the logic simple, no
more than five applications to integrate with, and no more than
500 clicks. Software robots can be deployed on the desktops of
workers or virtualized. By working hand-in-hand with the agent,
robotic automation provides the instrumentation to identify new
tasks and processes candidate for automation.
MEASURING SUCCESS
Reduced costs
Robotic automation enjoys multiple measures of success . The
reduction of handle time and after call work can be in minutes
and often provide a return on investment in a matter of a few
quarters. Cost savings will also come from reduced training
times. The reduction of errors and escalations should also
be tracked. An important benefit of robotic automation is the
standardization of processes. It makes them more predictable
and enforces compliance.
Faster resolutions
These improvements compound into a faster resolution of
customer issues. This is why robotic automation is important to
better the customer experience and improve satisfaction. We live
in a world where time is a currency. Robotic automation gives
their time back to both customers and agents. Most projects
are actually looking at the hours recovered rather than full-time
equivalents (FTE) taken out of customer service.
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THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF ROBOTIC AUTOMATION
You must consider robotic automation in the broader context of
the evolving customer service. You want in particular to understand
its interaction with digital transformation, artificial intelligence,
and self-service.
A step towards digital transformation
Enterprises are actively exploring how to leverage digital
technologies to transform customer-facing processes and make
them fluid and effortless. Many are looking at retooling their IT
infrastructure using cloud applications, low-code platforms, and
APIs. Robotic automation should be considered as part of this
toolkit, enabling a component-based approach to automation. It
delivers compelling first steps for such transformation journeys.
Robotic automation also augments these new technologies. In
particular, it accelerates their deployment by simplifying how
they can integrate with legacy applications.
Artificial Intelligence
Robotic automation is often mentioned in conjunction with
artificial intelligence. With AI at the peak of its hype cycle, the
relationship can be confusing. It is fundamental to understand
that robotic automation doesn’t need AI. This should be
considered as a positive aspect of robotic automation. AI is
harder than most people think and avoiding it as a prerequisite
does simplify what a project requires. Robotic automation and
AI can be combined. For example, AI can help identify processes
to automate. In this context, it is important to stress that robotic
automation provides an instrumentation to collect the data about
process execution that will be needed by any AI applications.
About the Author
Nicolas De Kouchkovsky is a recognized
industry expert in customer engagement
and customer service. He is an advisor
and fractional CMO for B2B software
companies, helping them with all aspects of marketing
and market development. Nicolas was previously CMO
at Genesys, driving the company’s expansion into the
broader multi-channel contact center market.
Expanding self-service
With many companies looking at using self-service to scale
their customer service operations, one might wonder why to
consider robotic automation. Both work hand in hand. The two
technologies are not only complementary but their combination
is greater than their addition. Self-service hinges on human
backup for exceptions and complicated inquiries. Robotic
automation plays a critical role in assisting agents dealing with
them. Self-service experiences that cannot be flawless tend to
harm significantly the customer satisfaction. Businesses are
finding that automation can be a less risky alternative to using
a chatbot. Indeed, having access to the two technologies let
you choose between the two depending on the use case and
find the optimal balance.
It’s time to act
It is unfortunate that the level of awareness on the possibilities
of robotic automation for customer service has remained
low. It is a great technology to give back time to both support
associates and customers. The technology is mature and
solutions geared to the specificities of customer care are
available. Customer Service Robotic Process Automation has
become an essential application for your customer service
toolbox.
ABOUT JACADA

Jacada Inc. helps enterprises to significantly reduce costs of their customer service
operations by deploying automation solutions and contextual bots. From guiding the
contact center agents and automating their manual tasks to fully automated self-
service solutions, Jacada automates interactions while improving customer experience.
Our 27 years of experience in automating customer service processes for global
enterprises, together with proven outcome-focused integration capabilities, enable worry-
free deployments with lower Total Cost of Ownership. Founded in 1990, Jacada operates
globally with offices in Atlanta, USA; London, England; Munich, Germany; and Herzliya, Israel.

More information is available at www.Jacada.com

www.jacada.com