IDP: Unattended Vs. Attended Document Automation

Automation has become an integral part of modern-day businesses. From automating repetitive tasks to enhancing the overall efficiency of business processes, automation technologies have revolutionized the way businesses operate. 

Two key types of automation are attended and unattended automation. In this blog post, we will delve into the differences between attended and unattended automation in Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) use cases.

What is Unattended Automation?

Unattended automation is a form of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) that enables software robots to perform tasks without any human intervention. These tasks can be repetitive, mundane, and time-consuming, making them ideal candidates for automation.

In unattended automation, the software robot can be programmed to execute a series of tasks or a workflow automatically. This can include tasks such as data entry, data extraction, data analysis, report generation, and more. The software robot can access multiple applications and systems, perform the necessary tasks, and move on to the next task without any human intervention.

Unattended automation is typically used for tasks that can be completed without human input or decision-making, such as batch processing, data backups, or report generation. It is also used in cases where the tasks need to be performed on a scheduled basis, such as end-of-month financial reports or payroll processing.

One of the significant advantages of unattended automation is that it can operate 24/7, which means that tasks can be performed during off-hours or when employees are not available. This helps to improve the overall efficiency of the business, as tasks can be completed much faster than if they were performed manually.

Another advantage of unattended automation is that it can help to reduce errors and improve the accuracy of the process. Since the software robot is programmed to perform the same task repeatedly, there is less chance of errors compared to when humans perform the same task. 

Additionally, the software robot can be programmed to validate data and detect errors, which can be corrected automatically or flagged for human review.

In summary, unattended automation is a powerful technology that can help businesses to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and save time and money. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, businesses can focus on higher-value activities, such as innovation and customer service, which can lead to increased productivity and profitability.

Benefits of Unattended Automation

Unattended automation offers several benefits to businesses, including:

1. Improved efficiency: Unattended automation enables businesses to perform repetitive tasks quickly and accurately, which can help improve efficiency.
2. Cost savings: Unattended automation can help reduce labor costs by automating tasks that would otherwise require human intervention.
3. Increased accuracy: Software robots are less prone to errors than humans, which can help increase the accuracy of business processes.
4. Scalability: Unattended automation can be easily scaled to handle large volumes of tasks, which can help businesses grow without needing to hire additional employees.

What is Attended Automation?

Attended automation is a type of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) that works in conjunction with human employees to automate tasks that require human intervention or decision-making. 

In this approach, the software robot is designed to assist the human worker by taking over repetitive and mundane tasks, while the human worker focuses on higher-value activities that require human skills, such as problem-solving, decision-making, and customer service.

Attended automation is often used for tasks that require interaction with multiple applications or systems, where the software robot can assist the human worker in navigating and completing the task. 

For example, a customer service representative may use attended automation to help them navigate through different screens and applications to retrieve customer data, update customer records, or process transactions.

In attended automation, the software robot can be triggered by the human worker when needed. The human worker can interact with the software robot through a user interface or chatbot, instructing it to perform specific tasks or workflows. The software robot can also provide suggestions and recommendations to the human worker, based on previous interactions or patterns it has learned.

One of the significant benefits of attended automation is that it can help to improve the productivity of the human worker, by automating time-consuming and repetitive tasks. This allows the human worker to focus on higher-value tasks that require human skills, such as decision-making and problem-solving. Additionally, attended automation can help to reduce errors, as the software robot can perform tasks with a higher level of accuracy and consistency than humans.

Another benefit of attended automation is that it can be implemented without significant changes to existing systems or processes. This means that businesses can start seeing benefits quickly, without having to invest in expensive system integrations or workflow redesigns.

In summary, attended automation is a powerful tool that can help businesses to improve productivity, reduce errors, and free up human workers to focus on higher-value activities. By working in conjunction with human employees, software robots can assist with repetitive and time-consuming tasks, providing suggestions and recommendations, while the human worker retains control and decision-making capabilities.

Benefits of Attended Automation

Attended automation offers several benefits to businesses, including:

1. Increased productivity: Attended automation enables human operators to focus on more complex tasks, which can help increase their productivity.
2. Better customer service: Attended automation can help improve customer service by freeing up customer service representatives to focus on resolving customer issues.
3. Reduced errors: Software robots are less prone to errors than humans, which can help reduce errors in business processes.
4. Faster task completion: Attended automation can help speed up tasks by having software robots handle routine tasks, allowing human operators to focus on more complex tasks.

Which type of automation works better with IDP?

Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) can be both attended and unattended automation depending on the specific use case and the way it is implemented.

Most IDP tools offer an Attended Automation workflow where the human in the loop is an essential aspect of Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) as it ensures the accuracy and quality of the extracted data. 

IDP uses various technologies such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning (ML) to extract data from documents. However, these technologies are not perfect, and there is always a possibility of errors, especially when dealing with unstructured or semi-structured documents.

Therefore, the role of the human in the loop is to review, verify, and correct the extracted data. After the IDP system has extracted data from a document, the data is presented to a human operator for review and approval. The operator can then verify the extracted data and make any necessary corrections before the data is entered into the system.

This approach ensures that the extracted data is accurate and of high quality, which is essential for making informed business decisions. The human in the loop can also provide feedback to the IDP system, which can be used to improve the accuracy of the system over time.

In addition to ensuring data accuracy, the human in the loop also plays a critical role in handling exceptions. There may be cases where the IDP system is unable to extract data from a document correctly, such as when dealing with handwritten or poorly scanned documents. 

In such cases, the document is routed to a human operator who can manually extract the data and enter it into the system. This approach ensures that all data is captured, even in cases where the IDP system is unable to extract the data automatically.

Examples of Attended IDP tools are: ABBYY, Hyperscience, Document Understanding, IQBOT, and KOFAX.

The cost of Attended IDP

The cost of human in the loop on an Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) implementation can vary depending on several factors, such as the volume of documents processed, the complexity of the documents, the level of automation achieved, and the number of human workers involved.

In IDP, the human in the loop refers to the human workers who are responsible for reviewing and verifying the output of the software robots. This is necessary because even the most advanced IDP technologies can make errors, and some documents may require human expertise or judgment to process accurately.

The cost of human in the loop on an IDP implementation can include several factors, such as:

1. Labor Costs: The cost of hiring and training human workers to review and verify the output of the software robots can be significant. The number of workers required can depend on the volume of documents processed and the level of automation achieved. The cost of labor can be further increased if specialized skills or knowledge are required, such as legal or medical expertise.
2. Infrastructure Costs: The cost of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure required for the human workers to review and verify the output can also add to the overall cost. This can include the cost of hardware, software, and communication systems needed to support the human workers.
3. Time: The time required for the human workers to review and verify the output can also add to the overall cost. This can impact the speed and efficiency of the process, which can impact the overall productivity of the business.
4. Error Rate: The error rate of the IDP process can also impact the cost of the human in the loop. If the software robots are making too many errors, it may require additional human workers or increased review time to ensure that the output is accurate.

Unattended IDP

With regards to document automation, often the goal is to process documents with no human intervention, which is often called Straight Through Processing (STP) or Unattended Automation.

The goal of using Unattended Automation is to reduce document processing times, minimize errors, and reduce expenses, therefore reaching automation rates of 100%.

Here are some of the key advantages of using STP when implementing IDP:

1. Faster Processing: STP can significantly increase the speed at which documents are processed, as it eliminates the need for manual intervention. This can help businesses meet tight processing deadlines, improve customer satisfaction, and increase overall productivity.
2. Improved Accuracy: STP can also improve the accuracy of the document processing workflow by reducing the risk of errors that can occur during manual data entry or document processing. This can help ensure that the processed data is reliable and can be used confidently for downstream processing and analysis.
3. Cost Savings: By automating the document processing workflow using STP, businesses can reduce the labor costs associated with manual document processing. This can help improve efficiency and reduce overall costs.
4. Scalability: STP can be easily scaled to handle large volumes of documents, which can be particularly useful for businesses with high document processing volumes or those that experience spikes in document volumes.
5. Flexibility: STP can be configured to process different types of documents, including structured and unstructured documents, and can be customized to meet the specific needs of different business processes.

To support Unattended Automation and STP, the IDP tool must provide a built-in human-in-the-loop and a data quality SLA so that you can be completely comfortable skipping any form of data validation on your end.

At DocDigitizer, we believe in an outcome-driven Intelligent Document Processing model where our customers don’t need to worry about the complexities of implementing and maintaining their IDP implementation.

Our unique All-Inclusive Unattended model allows organizations to benefit from straight throughput document automation, with built-in training on the fly providing 6x faster time to value compared to traditional IDP. 

On top of our pre-built models, we take care of any fine-tuning required to handle any document format on the fly when needed, if needed. By not requiring any warm-up, we avoid spending weeks on setup and model training, enabling organizations to process any document immediately.

We also built-in to DocDigitizer, a Human-in-the-loop verification process that allows our customers to remove any manual step on their end entirely and always receive nearly 100% accurate data, backed up by SLA and a refund policy. 

Our built-in HITL, allows customers to use our data output to make decisions and reduce their lead times from hours (that often is what they take to review the IDP outcome) to a few minutes.

Book a meeting and learn more about how you can start your all-inclusive journey.

Conclusion

Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) can be both attended and unattended automation depending on the specific use case and the way it is implemented.

In unattended automation, IDP can be used to automatically extract data from a large number of documents such as invoices, purchase orders, receipts, and other business documents. The software robot can be trained to recognize the structure and content of the document, extract the relevant information, and then enter it into the appropriate fields in a database or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This entire process can be performed without any human intervention and can run on a scheduled basis or triggered by specific events such as receiving a document via email.

In attended automation, IDP can be used to assist human operators in processing and verifying documents. In this scenario, a software robot can be used to extract the data from the document and then present it to a human operator for review and approval. The operator can then verify the extracted data and make any necessary corrections before the data is entered into the system. This approach can help to reduce errors and improve efficiency by automating the tedious and time-consuming aspects of the document processing workflow.

In summary, IDP can be implemented as either unattended or attended automation, depending on the specific use case and the desired outcomes. Both approaches can provide significant benefits to businesses, including increased efficiency, reduced errors, and improved data accuracy.