What you need to know about desktop automation

Desktop automation is intended to support individual employees with their daily workload. As such, it is typically much more user-friendly than more complex automation software.

There are several ways in which you can employ desktop automation, including prebuilt automation workflows and screen recording.

Prebuilt automations

Prebuilt automations enable you to pick the automations that are appropriate to your workflows. You can arrange them in the order you need them in to help you complete your daily tasks.

Screen recording

Screen recording enables you to build more personal automations. It records you as you complete processes on your desktop, like extracting data from one app and inputting it into another. Once you’ve completed the process, the automation software can then replicate it.

Desktop automation offers a range of benefits, both for the users who employ it and their wider enterprises. For users, the benefits of desktop automation include:

Increased efficiency

With the assistance of a software robot, you no longer have to dedicate precious time to completing those tedious, time-consuming tasks on your own. Instead, you can focus on the more nuanced processes that require human knowledge. Furthermore, with more time to dedicate to higher-value tasks, you can get more done in less time.

Reduced errors

When working on boring, repetitive tasks, human workers become prone to committing errors. And while errors happen, they can cause issues further down the line. With a robot assistant handling these tasks, errors are far less likely to occur. As such, you can be confident that the duties you’re entrusting to the bot are being carried out effectively.

Improved motivation

One of the biggest benefits for employees is the increased motivation they can experience if they don’t have to spend time on tedious tasks. When they feel like they’re adding value to their organization, they can be more motivated to take on new challenges or develop new ideas.

The benefits for employees are just half of the value desktop automation can provide. For businesses‌, the benefits of desktop automation include:

Greater employee productivity

When an organization’s employees get more done in less time, commit fewer mistakes, and feel more motivated in their jobs, the enterprise benefits. Increased employee productivity means work is being done more efficiently and in less time. Therefore, desktop automation adds value at any level where it's deployed.

Scalability

One of the more challenging aspects of implementing wider RPA automations is the complexity of certain business processes. Some processes span different departments, systems, and applications, which can make automating them time-consuming. However, since desktop automation is controlled by the end user, it doesn’t require extensive resources to implement widely. Instead, every individual stakeholder has control over their own personal desktop processes that they want to automate.

Lower costs

More efficient work with fewer mistakes results in lower organizational costs. With employees throughout an organization operating more efficiently than before, the enterprise generates more value than it had previously.

Because desktop automation is personalized to the end user’s unique everyday tasks, there is no shortage of use cases. Some common use cases for desktop automation include:

Customer service management

For contact center employees, a percentage of the day involves fielding calls or responding to messages from customers. Typically, they spend much of this time retrieving information about the customer, be that their order history or other pertinent info to the call. With desktop automation, customer service reps can create automations that retrieve this information from the requisite applications on their behalf. Bots can also update customer information as needed. Meanwhile, the customer service rep can provide their undivided attention to the customer. Not only does this allow the rep to be more attentive, but it means they can field more calls than before.

Employee hiring

HR workers know just how time-consuming the hiring process can be. They need to sort through resumes, schedule interviews, develop interview questions, and conduct interviews. Instead of handling this all on their own, the HR rep could delegate some of these tasks to their robot assistant. For example, the bot could sort through incoming resumes and gather suitable candidates for the HR rep to review. When a candidate has been identified, the bot could send an email to schedule an interview. While all of this is happening, the HR rep can focus on meeting candidates, conducting interviews, and finding the right fit for the position.

Order fulfillment

Typically, fulfilling customer orders requires an employee to perform several disparate tasks, even just for a single order. They need to submit order forms, send invoices, and keep customers up-to-date with their order progress. With a robot assistant, the employee could create an automation that automatically performs one or more of these tasks on their behalf.