Claims:We Claim:
1. The process for workplace automation comprising of:
a. problem reporting where employees can report their issues through the virtual assistant; and
b. problem resolution where the employees can receive assistance from the virtual assistant in issue resolution.
wherein, the said virtual assistant can provide step-by-step instructions in resolving the issues arising at a workplace, without requiring a technician to complete the process.
2. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the said virtual assistant provides simpler query resolution which are pre-programmed in the automation system, which can be followed by any employee to resolve the issue in minimum time.
3. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the said virtual assistant can assist plurality of employees at a time, with zero wait time.
4. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the said virtual assistant can solve the issues in a two-step process with only user and the said digital assistant as stakeholders for problem logging, resolution and closing the issue.
, Description:Technical field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automation systems and more particularly to the workplace IT operation issues which would be automated by automation systems. It substantially increase the productivity of the working personnel by reducing the time required to resolve the issues which are reported by the employees at the workplace.
Background of the invention
Use of computer systems at workplaces often requires assistance in issue resolution as large number of employees work at a workplace and each employee’s time is important which can often be wasted if the completer system is not working properly due to any issue. There are several challenges for end user in the current IT process of which are faced in the IT operations in the current scenario which are as follows:
1. Problem Reporting: There are various modes of logging a ticket like Self Service portal, Call Center to connect on call or email address to log call via email. In all the mentioned processes there is delay in connecting and being able to log a service/incident request with in the systems. There is some degree of non-productiveness which is inculcated in the system before of the current processes administered.
2. Ticket Logging: Once the technician on the call or email validates it as an actual incident, they begin the process of logging the incident and generates an incident ticket or service request. This process can be skipped in case the organization has a self-service portal.
3. Triaging: The technician attempts to verify whether it is a valid incident and its severity that the IT Support should address, or if the call should be referred elsewhere. The allocation of the ticket to the right category and sub category is important as engineer allocation to that ticket shall be based on the same.
4. Allocation & Response: The ticket is now in the queue and gets allocated to a technician based on the availability. Once the ticket is assigned to the technician, he/she will acknowledge and start the response process
5. Troubleshooting: The technician starts the troubleshooting of the issue reported by the user based on the organization’s SOP’s following the step by the step process
6. Problem Resolution: The reported problem by the user has been resolved and confirmed with the user and the ticket status is changed to resolved state.
This whole process is time consuming, and requires more than one personnel to work on one issue, which leads to loss of productivity. Even the smaller issues which are reported might take around several minutes to hours to be resolved, which accounts for time consumed by the technician and the time lost by the employee waiting for the issue to be resolved so that they can resume their work.
There are several more issues which can arise when a computer system with several programs installed for carrying out a specific task is installed. Above mentioned issues are the common issues, but several other issues might also rise. As every second of the employee is accounted for when working at a workplace, the employees cannot spend their time in resolving these issues.
In order to overcome all these drawbacks, there a need for a system equipped with artificial intelligence technology along with automated issue resolution, to help resolve the issues with much lesser time without need of any technician. The system can help the employees to resolve the issues at ease by taking all the required information from the employees and then providing the solution immediately which can be followed by them to resolve the issue.
Objects of the Invention
The primary object of the present invention is to create a new process and enable user to cut short the current process using technology.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system aiming automated issue resolution at workplaces with the help of a virtual assistant.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system which helps in workplace automation where any issue related with the operation of the computer system and the programs can be resolved by the artificial intelligence technology powered virtual assistant.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system which eliminates the ticket logging process and helps to resolve the issues, helping in saving the time lost during the whole process.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system which can provide instant response to multiple users at a time, without any wait time for any of the users.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention discloses a workplace automation system which helps in resolving issues related to the electronic items used in the workplace environment. The workplace automation system includes a virtual assistant equipped with artificial intelligence technology which enables assisting the employees to resolve the issues related to the computer systems which they operate.
According to the present invention, the process involved in the workspace automation includes Problem reporting, where the employees reporting the problems they are having through the workplace automation system; and problem resolution, where the system helps the employees who reported the problem in resolving the issue, and once the reported issue is resolved and confirmed with the user, the ticket status is automatically changed to ‘resolved’. The virtual assistant helps in automated issue resolution where most of the issues can be resolved by automation without need of technician. The virtual assistant also assists in user engagement where it provides support for troubleshooting, answers FAQs about IT policies, and also provides guidance for issue remediation whenever user raises a request through the virtual assistant. The main difference between the existing system and the present invention being in technology is that a single bot at user’s system is able to manage multiple issue resolution. The system reduces the processing time from few hours to few minutes in most of the cases. This shall help in increasing the productivity of the employee and organization as a whole.
Brief Description of the Drawings
FIG 1 discloses the virtual assistant which enables workplace automation
FIG 2 discloses the current process involved in workplaces.
FIG 3 discloses the process involved in the workplace automation.
FIG 4 discloses one bot at client end managing multiple process flow coming dynamically from their central server
Detailed Description of the Invention
The present invention discloses a workplace automation system which helps in resolving issues related to the electronic items used in the workplace environment. The workplace automation system includes a virtual assistant equipped with artificial intelligence technology which enables assisting the employees to resolve the issues related to the computer systems which they operate.
FIG 1 discloses the virtual assistant which enables workplace automation. With respect to FIG 1, the virtual assistant is disclosed which can be used at workplace for resolving issues which arrive on day to day basis at a workplace which mainly involves use of computer systems and programs. The virtual assistant makes use of artificial intelligence technology (AI) which is a variation in Neural Network that can replace Human Interaction through Natural language processing (NLP).

According to the present invention, the virtual assistant leverages natural language processing and AI to assist employees in the form of chatbot. The system can adapt with existing systems and can offer the employees enormous benefits ranging from greater productivity to more personalized experiences. The virtual assistant can help plurality of employees at a time by providing them assistance in resolving their issues. The issues which are repeatedly arriving of plurality of employees, the instructions to resolve the said issue is saved in the system, and the employees can get immediate assistance from the virtual assistant when they face a similar issue. FIG 2 is the current IT operation process which is described in the background art and FIG 3 discloses the new process involved in the workplace automation.
With respect to FIG 3, the method involved in the workspace automation system includes:
a. Problem reporting, where the employees reporting the problems they are having through the workplace automation system;
b. Problem resolution, where the system helps the employees who reported the problem in resolving the issue, and once the reported issue is resolved and confirmed with the user, the ticket status is automatically changed to ‘resolved’. The process of workplace automation where the problem reporting is done by the employees who work at the organization, the resolution of the problem is through the virtual assistant which helps the individual who has reported the problem in problem resolution.
FIG 4 discloses one bot at client end managing multiple process flow coming dynamically from their central server. The virtual assistant helps in automated issue resolution where most of the issues can be resolved by automation which will bring down the issue impacting time from number of hours to few minutes. The virtual assistant saves 80% of the time and if 20% of the problem resurfaces, the 20% of repeated issues can be automated so that productivity increases multi-fold. The virtual assistant also assists in user engagement where it provides support for troubleshooting, answers FAQs about IT policies, and also provides guidance for issue remediation whenever user raises a request through the virtual assistant.
The virtual assistant also updates the status of the issues being reported and resolved, which is displayed on a dashboard. The workplace automation station includes single dashboard with the operational and business data display that matters most, and also has at-a-glance visibility into the IT issues impacting employee work spaces.
There are several advantages of the present invention, which includes
a. Simplifying query resolution
b. Round the clock availability for all the users
c. Makes service process less complicated
d. Reduces operational cost by undertaking ticket logging activities
e. Can provide instant response on multiple windows with 0 wait time as seen in email, phone or manual chat responses
f. Less labour intensive
g. More cost effective
h. Higher level of customer service for end users.
Additionally, the workspace automation system can improve IT Service Management experience in different ways, where a basic one being by integrating AI-driven chatbot to handle low value IT support calls. Also the workspace automation platform has the capability to integrate with many of the legacy IT Service Management tools.
According to the present invention, the currently used method of issue resolution in IT Operation process, there are few engineers to many employees and the ratio is always less as it is a call centre. Due to this the following issues prevail, which includes high MTTR (Mean time to resolution), not addressing and solving the issues on time, unproductive time with respect to the issue in hand till the problem is resolved, long queue for the technician or engineer to solve the issues and so forth.
The advantages of the present invention include:
1. Use of a single bot for multiple processes which simplifies the process unlike the existing systems which uses multiple bots for multiple processes.
2. The system uses client server architecture for automation unlike the existing systems using application installed on the desktop
3. Decision making based on user’s desktop setup, which checks the version and running appropriate code to solve the issues.
4. Focus only on IT Ops and not on general process automation
5. Low MTTR (Mean time to resolution).
6. Meeting the service level agreements with low turn-around time
7. Address the end user problems as soon as the user reports the issue.
8. Since the tickets/issues are solved as soon as they come, no waiting time with priorities.
The present invention has a big impact on the end users productivity. The digital engineer (SupportBot) to employee ratio helps to solve the issues and treat all the issues equally and the end user gets attention and issue resolution as soon as they inform the problem exists in their computer system. With the help of the present invention, the issues which generally take around 4-5 hours to solve, can be solved within 10 minutes of time.
According to the present invention, the virtual assistants can improve productivity by cutting down on context-switching. The employees at the workstation can quickly resolve the issues in the background without halting the work they are doing, increasing the efficiency of their workday. Such user communication with the virtual assistant enables a much more contextual experience that can leverage existing user data to get better at performing tasks for the specific employee.
The present invention can be better understood with the help of examples.
Example 1: In case the email account or the Outlook account of an employee is not working where the employee cannot send or receive emails, the employee can raise the issue with the virtual assistant and the virtual assistant logs a ticket and provides step-by-step execution to resolve the issue also closing the ticket automatically, which saves time spent in raising ticket, reporting issue and resolving the issue with the help of technician.
Example 2: In case the employee is facing issue with any hardware driver issues such as printer drivers, then the employee can raise the issue with the virtual assistant and the virtual assistant identifies the version of the operating system and users current location and basis which installs by executing step-by-step action to resolve the printer driver issue there by saving time. Hardware issues could be related to the drivers or firmware for the printers that are installed on the computer.