Artificial intelligence can power time-saving automations across several industries

Experts estimate the intelligent document automation market value to be around $2.3 billion and predict it will grow to $11.29 billion by 2030. Much of that value comes from the diverse array of use cases. Whether you’re a software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup or an insurance enterprise, intelligent automation can help you boost efficiency. In the process, it can speed up work, save you time, and improve employee satisfaction.

Here are five proven intelligent automation use cases that show this technology’s true value.

Intelligent automation use cases

When it comes to document processing, intelligent automation generally follows the same basic formula. If you’re starting with a paper document, that formula begins by using a high-quality scanner to create a clear digital image of that document. Next, optical character recognition (OCR) transforms the image into a workable text file. Finally, natural language processing (NLP) reads the document and identifies key information, whether the data is structured or not. You’ll see this same basic formula applied in each of the intelligent automation examples below.

1. Invoice processing

Invoice processing is a critical component of financial record keeping. The faster your team can classify, authorize, and approve an invoice, the clearer your understanding of your financial health. Robotic process automation (RPA) can speed things up, but only if vendors use standardized and structured documents. In reality, businesses use a variety of templates. Some aren’t even digital and require human attention to process.

By combining OCR and NLP, intelligent automation can take that work off your employees’ shoulders. No matter the state of the invoice, simply scanning it and running OCR software will turn it into a workable document. NLP can then read through it to identify dollar values, vendor names, transaction dates, and other relevant information. It can then feed that data to your RPA bots to route and store.

Intelligent automation helps you keep headcount low by removing people from the workflow. At the same time, work accelerates, errors become rarer, and the risk of a compliance breach drops. Workers appreciate it, too. One study found that employee experiences improved with intelligent automation, leading to retention worth $4.2 million over three years.

2. Customer onboarding

Research shows that for 80% of customers, the experience your business provides is as important as its products or services. During onboarding, your customers get their first sense of what it will be like to work with you. If yours is clunky, tedious, or impersonal, customers will remember it. Conversely, the faster and smoother your onboarding, the happier customers tend to be.

Intelligent automation can help streamline your onboarding. When customers submit forms and documents, NLP can spot identifying details and send them straight to your customer relationship management (CRM) software. Your NLP software can also analyze correspondence for personal details such as birthdays and add them to the customer’s CRM profile. The result is a process that feels smooth, fast, and friendly.

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3. Loan and mortgage processing

Processing loan and mortgage applications takes careful attention. Banks need to be as sure as possible that their investment will pay off. Unfortunately, that extra care can lead to slow, convoluted processing. Collecting documents from customers, scanning them, reviewing them, extracting the data, and storing it in the proper databases takes time. Analysts also have to verify the documents, assess the applicant’s credit history, examine their previous loan performance, perform risk analysis, and send their findings through several layers of approval.

Luckily, there are intelligent automation use cases that address multiple parts of this process. Chatbots using NLP can solicit documents from customers. Automations can use NLP and computer vision to verify each document and help prevent fraud. Meanwhile, machine learning (ML) can improve fraud detection over time. After verification, NLP can feed data from the documents into your other systems and route the documents themselves. Workers can then pick up the baton with a healthy headstart.

4. Claims processing

When customers file insurance claims, they submit a wide range of paper and digital documents. Photos of receipts, screenshots of emails, and other irregular documents can demand special attention. Just as with loan applications, each of these documents has to be sorted, verified, and reviewed. When customers submit a claim, they need that money as soon as possible. Any mistakes in the process can slow down work and keep them waiting. At the same time, your employees need to ensure their claims are valid.

Chatbots can quickly collect the materials you need from your customers. Computer vision and NLP can verify the documents, spotting ID card photos, dollar values, and transaction dates. By comparing that information against your stated policies, your automations produce a preliminary decision for the loan. Humans can then check the bot’s work and decide on next steps.

5. Patient intake and medical records management

Patient intake forms are full of vital information. Providers need to know a patient’s medical history and allergies to chart a safe and effective treatment course. Medical forms also contain protected health information (PHI). To stay clear of any HIPAA violations, that information must be guarded with the utmost security.

With intelligent automation, your bots could identify and highlight past surgeries, current prescriptions, and any other information that might affect patient care. At the same time, they could flag PHI and route the information according to your data security policies. Finally, they could pull information from the patient’s insurance card to accelerate billing. All told, these automations can speed up treatment and billing while reinforcing your HIPAA compliance.

Did You Know?:Ricoh partners with several leading providers of intelligent automation, including Tungsten Automation, Laserfiche, and Automation Anywhere.

Automate with the experts

Intelligent automation is only as good as its implementation. To ensure yours reaches its full potential, consider working with the automation experts at Ricoh. Not only can our high-quality scanners serve as the on-ramp for your digitization needs, but our team of specialists can evaluate your business and find the right automation solutions for you. Contact us today to learn how you can start saving time and money.

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