AIIM White Paper. Intelligent Information Improving the customer experience. Sponsored by

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1 AIIM White Paper Intelligent Information Improving the customer experience Sponsored by

2 About the White Paper As the non-profit association dedicated to nurturing, growing and supporting the user and supplier communities of ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and Social Business Systems, AIIM is proud to provide this research at no charge. In this way the entire community can take full advantage of the education thought-leadership and direction provided by our work. Our objective is to present the wisdom of the crowds based on our 80,000-strong community. We are happy to extend free use of the materials in this report to end-user companies and to independent consultants, but not to suppliers of ECM systems, products and services, other than Kodak and its subsidiaries and partners. Any use of this material must carry the attribution AIIM / Kodak Alaris Rather than redistribute a copy of this report to your colleagues, we would prefer that you direct them to for a free download of their own. Our ability to deliver such high-quality research is made possible by the financial support of our underwriting sponsor, without whom we would have to return to a paid subscription model. For that, we hope you will join us in thanking our underwriter for this support: Kodak Alaris 2400 Mt. Read Blvd. Rochester, NY USA Phone: Web: Process used and survey demographics The survey results quoted in this report are taken from a survey carried out between 07 June 2013 and 04 July 2013, with 293 responses from individual members of the AIIM community surveyed using a Web-based tool. Invitations to take the survey were sent via to a selection of AIIM s 80,000 registered individuals. 77% of the respondents are from North America and 13% from Europe. They cover a representative spread of industry and government sectors. Results from organizations of less than 10 employees have not been included, bringing the total respondents to 266. About AIIM AIIM has been an advocate and supporter of information professionals for 70 years. The association mission is to ensure that information professionals understand the current and future challenges of managing information assets in an era of social, mobile, cloud and big data. AIIM builds on a strong heritage of research and member service. Today, AIIM is a global, non-profit organization that provides independent research, education and certification programs to information professionals. AIIM represents the entire information management community: practitioners, technology suppliers, integrators and consultants. AIIM runs a series of training programs, including the ECM Master course: About the author Doug Miles is head of the AIIM Market Intelligence Division. He has over 30 years experience of working with users and vendors across a broad spectrum of IT applications. He was an early pioneer of document management systems for business and engineering applications, and has produced many AIIM survey reports on issues and drivers for Capture, ECM, Records Management, SharePoint, Big Data, Mobile and Social Business. Doug has also worked closely with other enterprise-level IT systems such as ERP, BI and CRM. He has an MSc in Communications Engineering and is a member of the IET in the UK AIIM Kodak Alaris 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite Mt. Read Blvd. Silver Spring, MD Rochester, NY (+1) (+1)

3 Table of Contents About the White Paper: About the White Paper... 1 Process used and survey demographics... 1 About AIIM... 1 About the author... 1 Introduction: Introduction...3 Key Findings...1 Business Drivers: Business Drivers...4 Input Channels and Types: Input Channels and Types...6 Automated Processes: Automated Processes...9 Positioned for the future: Positioned for the future...8 Auto-Classification...11 Process Automation...11 Intelligent/Analytic Processes: Intelligent/Analytic Processes...12 Conclusion and Recommendations: Conclusion and Recommendations Recommendations References Appendix 1: Survey Demographics Survey Demographics Survey Background Organizational Size Geography Industry Sector Job Roles Underwritten By: Kodak Alaris AIIM

4 Introduction A recent consumer magazine survey showed that over 25% of the general public has had cause for complaint about their interactions with a product or service provider in the last year, and 64% would be put off switching their business to a company that had a poor reputation for customer service. How satisfied are you with the service you received? is no longer the key question for customer satisfaction measures. How easy was the company to deal with? and How well did they understand your needs? provide much better indicators. Knowing your customer and interacting with them smoothly, consistently and promptly is the best recipe for acquiring, and most of all, retaining your customer in today s world. Of course, this requires an integrated approach between front-office and back office processes, and no organization has an unlimited staffing budget in either of these areas. The first productivity revolution in back-office processes has been the concept of straight-through transactional processing, establishing an electronic workflow starting with digitalization and data capture. However, knowledge workers increasingly spend their time dealing with exceptions that don t have a fixed workflow, or a defined outcome, or require more specific interaction with the customer. Plenty of business processes do not even have a basic set of rules that can be automated. To achieve the next level of productivity we need a more intelligent application of automation, using the technology to learn as much as possible about the customer and the nature of their interactions with the business. We can then automate things like multi-source capture, transaction matching, exception analysis, portfolio assessment, and sentiment analysis. In this way, when the knowledge worker does become involved, whether they are front-desk, back-office, case-management, or sales staff, they can much more quickly assess priorities and set actions. With our modern technology, we are able to know our customers much better, individually as well as collectively. However, in order to do so we must have the ability to gather together all of the information that we have that relates to the customer, all of their letters and correspondence with us, all of their s or faxes, text messages and voice calls - and even what they may have been saying about us on social networks. We may need details from our other systems about delivery issues or the customer s spend trends, and we may also need local information relating to the customer s new address or changes in their business. The challenge for our information management systems is to pull together this information, without needing multiple sign-ons, or complicated searches, or manual ad-hoc processing, and to respond to the customer request quickly and accurately - whether that process involves the service center, or the back office, or both. Key Findings Business Drivers: As a factor for future business success, improving customer experience is considered more important than transactional refinements. Accurate, consistent and compliant communication is highlighted as the most important factor. Meeting increased customer expectations for faster responses across multiple channels of unstructured input is a major business pain point. And all this has to be achieved whilst cutting costs. The biggest disruptions to smooth flowing processes are incomplete documentation from the customer and exceptions to the standard workflow. Customers are also prone to use different communications channels for the same case, and/or send repeated communications on the same topic. Inbound Channels: Most organizations receive inbound communications over at least 4 channels (plus telephone) with multiple content types per channel. s, PDFs and scanned documents are now more prevalent than paper documents. Web forms are significant for 52% and faxes are still relevant for 46%. Social media is growing as a key input source. Inbound channels are mostly not integrated between paper and electronic content, nor between different departments. In 26% of organizations, inbound content is likely to be fed to entirely manual processes. Only 23% handle structured forms automatically. The majority feel their speed of response to customers could generally be improved overall, and 30% feel their speed of response on paper documents, forms and faxes is too slow or much too slow (12%). Handwritten correspondence is the most challenging. Response to s and web forms is generally better, although could be improved, as could Facebook and Twitter response. 3

5 A third of respondents have a big challenge when it comes to coordinating a consistent response across multiple channels for the same inquiry thread, and for a further third it involves a considerable amount of manual information swapping. Only 7% consider that their customer-facing staff have ready access to all customer communications. SMS texts, social messages and handwritten correspondence are often dealt with in a chaotic or ad hoc manner (55%) although 33% admit that even documents and forms are not handled in a pre-determined way. Web forms are the most likely to be handled through an automated process (55%). Automated Processes: 50% of respondents have no integration between their systems. CRM and ERP are the likely first candidates for integration, especially in larger organizations, but only 11% have customer, transactional and content systems fully connected. Just under half of respondents (44%) are not using any recognition for routing, processing or archiving. 37% are using it for routing and processing, with fairly broad take up across invoices, forms, PDFs and electronic documents. Two thirds are not attempting any form of auto-classification for routing or indexing. Of those that are, most are using barcodes or basic rules-based classification. The adoption of advanced classification techniques is still in its infancy. Citizen-related government processes are the least likely to be automated, followed by insurance claims and health records. HR and finance processes are the most likely. Intelligent Processes: 55% of our respondents felt that it would be very useful to dynamically update standard workflows based on experience, or to leverage past case characteristics and exception outcomes. Only 12% feel they already have this kind of knowledge-assisted system. User concern revolves around processes that are considered too variable (28%) or even a perception that it might damage their reputation for personalized customer interaction (15%), but for 11%, existing systems are simply too old or too basic. Business Drivers The customer has always been king, but on-line reviews and social media exchanges have produced a situation where few businesses can afford to ignore customer opinion, and customer experience management has come to be recognized as one of the major elements for business success. No matter if the customer interface is a huge dedicated service-center, or a single salesperson answering the phone, the customer will take away a view of the business that is based on how well that person dealt with their call and that is likely to reflect the accuracy and completeness of the IT data available to them. Add to this a likely overlay of web forms, s, web chat, and so on, and we can see why accurate, consistent and compliant response to customer communication is a major challenge for most businesses. Transactional improvements such as better process automation to speed up processes and reduce costs are also considered important, but a coordinated and consistent customer experience is seen as a major competitive factor. 4

6 Figure 1: Which of two of the following would you consider to be the most important factors for the future success of your business? (N=248) Accurate, consistent and compliant customer communica on Fast response to customers on all fronts Providing a customer experience to match the best in our industry Accurate, Process consistent automa on and compliant to unify customer transac on communica on processes Scaling the business without greatly Fast response to increasing customers overheads on all fronts Coordinated Providing a customer response experience across to match all the best in our channels industry Using Process the customer/transac on automa on unify data customer we have to transac on target new business processes Connec ng Scaling with the business the customer without on greatly their device and at their increasing loca on of overheads choice 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Coordinated customer response across all channels Looking from the other direction (Figure 2), the pain points facing the organizations in our survey can best Using the customer/transac on data we be summed up by: meeting increasing customer expectations 0% 5% 10% for fast 15% response 20% 25% across 30% multi-channel 35% 40% have to target new business communications, which frequently involve unstructured input, whilst facing increased pressure to reduce costs. Connec ng Increasing pressure with the customer reduce on costs their device and at their loca on of choice Figure 2: Which of the following do you feel are the biggest pain points to your business? Processing unstructured (non-forms)(max input TWO) (N=248) Mee ng increasing customer expecta ons for faster responses Integra on Increasing of inbound pressure and to reduce outbound costs communica on with key business systems Processing Handling unstructured diversity (non-forms) of customer input communica on channels Mee ng Dealing increasing with increasing customer frequency expecta ons of customer for communica on faster responses Integra on Integra on of social of media inbound into and a cohesive outbound communica on communica on with key business strategy systems Handling diversity of customer Customer expecta on for 24/7 self-service communica on channels input Dealing with increasing frequency of customer communica on 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Integra on of social media into a cohesive communica on strategy0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Incomplete Customer expecta on documenta on for 24/7 from self-service customer input Excep ons to standard workflows Different comms channels used for same case Repe ve comunica ons on the same topic 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% AIIM Constant 2013 changes to regula ons / Kodak and/or Alaris workflows Incomplete documenta on from customer 5

7 Mee ng increasing customer expecta ons for faster responses Integra on of inbound and outbound communica on with key business systems When it comes to disruptions to the smooth flow of business processes, a picture emerges of what appear to be relatively minor issues Handling that can diversity de-rail of many customer conventional process workflows. Incomplete documentation from the customer, different communica on communications channels channels for the same case and repetitive communications on the same topic increase Dealing with the complexity increasing frequency of the workflow of and have to be manually handled, increasing costs, creating potential discontinuities, customer and communica on risking customer dissatisfaction. Figure 3 also lists other issues such as constant changes in regulations, handling peaks, and the extended Integra on of social media into a cohesive consultation loops that are characteristic communica on of many strategy case-based situations. It is also likely in some overloaded processes, especially between government and citizen, that dealing with inquiries about the progress of a claim or approval Customer actually expecta on becomes for 24/7 the process, self-service rather than clearing the backlog. input Figure 3: What are the three biggest disruptions to the smooth flowing of your processes? (N=246) Incomplete documenta on from customer Excep ons to standard workflows Different comms channels used for same case Repe ve comunica ons on the same topic Constant changes to regula ons and/or workflows Dealing with peaks in input Consul ng 3rd-party agents or professionals Staff consulta ons with supervisor for answers Re-keying errors Handling inbound customer progress inquiries Monitoring for overloads and overdues 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Input Channels and Types The days when your personal workload arrived in the mail tray are gone, and the same is largely true of organizations as a whole. Only 60% would rate documents or forms on paper as a significant communications channel for their customers. Basic s, and attachments in PDF, office document or scanned formats are more prevalent although not necessarily greater in number. Then we have web forms, faxes, text messages and social media, not forgetting hand written correspondence that is still significant for 35% of organizations and as we will see later, creates more than its fair share of difficulties. 6

8 Figure 4: Which of the following channels do your customers use to communicate with you? (Check all that are significant) (N=263) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Basic s PDF files Office document a achments Scanned document a achments Documents on paper Forms on paper Web forms Basic s Faxes Hand wri en correspondence PDF files Office document Text/SMS a achments messages Scanned document Facebook a achments messages Documents Web agent on paper chat Twi er Forms messages on paper Web forms When it comes to the handling of these inbound content types, we begin to see the result of bolting-on extensions to standard handling procedures Faxes in order to cope with new electronic communications channels and different media Hand types. wri en correspondence 0% 20% 40% 60% In half of organizations, Text/SMS paper and messages electronic types are handled separately, and further fragmentation arises as each department is likely to deal with inbound communications in its own way, rather than integrating through Paper types and mechanisms like digital Facebook electronic mailrooms messages types are handled and automated separately routing. Even within departments, Web some agent inbound chat Each department deals with its own types inbound are handled in an ad hoc way, and there will be a mix of automated and manual Twi er handling. 26% feed all types into essentially manual processes, and 16% admit that content messages in its own way they are struggling to cope with anything beyond basic paper and s. Some types have defined routes, others are Figure 5: In general, how do ad you hoc. deal with these inbound content types? (Check all that apply)? (N=263) We feed each type into an essen ally manual process 0% 20% 40% 60% Structured forms are handled automa cally, the Paper types and electronic types rest are manually handled separately Each Integrated department capture deals system with its across own mul ple inbound content types content in its own way Some Incoming types mail have is defined handled routes, through others a digital are mailroom ad hoc. We We are feed struggling each type to cope into with an essen ally anything beyond manual basic paper and process s Structured forms are handled automa cally, the rest manually Integrated capture system across mul ple 0% 10% content 20% types 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Hand wri en Incoming correspondence mail is handled through a digital mailroom Documents on paper We are Forms struggling on paper to cope with anything beyond basic paper and s Faxes 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% s Web forms 7

9 content in its own way Some types have defined routes, others are ad hoc. We feed each type into an essen ally manual process One effect of these non-integrated, manual and ad hoc processes is that response time to the customer Structured forms are handled automa cally, the slows down. In particular, paper-based processes rest manually that rely on physical distribution are prone to delays (and also document losses). In a recent AIIM survey 1 scanning and capturing paper documents as early in the process as possible Integrated was capture deemed system to provide across an mul ple average of over 4-times improvement in speed of response to customers. content types It comes as no Incoming surprise, mail therefore, is handled that through most respondents a digital feel there is room for improvement across their handling of paper documents, forms and faxes, mailroom with 30% feeling it is too slow or much too slow (12%). Handwritten correspondence takes the longest to be dealt with 44% too slow or much too slow. We are struggling to cope with anything beyond Response to s and web forms basic seems paper to and be s much better, but this falls off again for social messages (for those where it is relevant). Figure 6: How would you rate the speed of response from your organization when customers use the following channels? (N=260) Hand wri en correspondence Documents on paper Forms on paper Faxes s Web forms Web chat Text/SMS messages Facebook messages Twi er messages 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Good Could be improved Too slow Much too slow We highlighted an issue earlier where customers start an inquiry thread on one channel, and then continue on another, perhaps leaving voice messages or sending s to follow up a document sent in the mail. Providing customer-facing staff with a complete and up-to-date report of all customer communications can be difficult, and coordinating a consistent response even more so. In all, a third of our respondents feel that such a response is a challenge, and a further third feel they can give a coordinated response but it involves a considerable amount of manual information swapping a time consuming and error-prone practice. Figure 7: How well aligned is your response when customers utilize multiple input channels as part of the same enquiry thread? (N=259) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% It is a big challenge for us to coordinate a consistent response We can give a coordinated response but it involves a lot of manual info-swapping We have an integrated response across some of the main channels We re in good shape except perhaps for social Our customer-facing staff have ready access to all customer communica ons 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Hand wri en correspondence 8

10 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% It is a big challenge for us to coordinate a consistent response We can give a coordinated response but it involves a lot of manual info-swapping Looking beyond this to how well managed incoming communications channels are as a whole, we can see in Figure We 8 that have web an integrated forms, and response to a lesser across extent some s, are likely to have automated processes, whereas paper documents and faxes are of mostly the main manual channels or ad 0% hoc. 5% Social, 10% text 15% and 20% web 25% chat 30% present 35% the 40% biggest challenges and are We re mostly in good considered shape except ad hoc perhaps or even chaotic, with no set process in place for about half of respondents. It Hand is a big written challenge correspondence for us to coordinate for social also aseems to be handled manually, and in a somewhat ad hoc way. We can accept that it may consistent be the least response Our customer-facing staff have ready access able to be automated, but it is surprising that in 50% of organizations, We there can is give to no all a defined customer coordinated process communica ons response in place. but it Figure 8: Looking involves across a lot of your manual incoming info-swapping customer communications channels, how well would We have an you integrated say each response one across is managed? some (N=255, normalized for N/A ) of the main channels We re in good shape 0% except 10% perhaps 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% for social Hand wri en correspondence Our customer-facing staff have ready access Documents to all on customer paper communica ons Forms on paper Faxes s Hand wri en correspondence Web forms Documents Web on chat paper Text/SMS Forms messages on paper Social messages Faxes Automated Text/SMS Processes messages sProcess-based: automated Process-based: manual Chao c/ad-hoc Web forms Web chat To provide a single, seamless Social messages view of the customer, key systems such as CRM (or customer support desk), ERP (or line-of-business) and ECM (or document management) systems need to be integrated, and linked. 49% of our respondents have no integration Process-based: between 0% automated any of these 20% Process-based: systems, manual 40% although Chao c/ad-hoc this drops 60% to 29% for large organizations probably reflecting Oracle or SAP integrations of CRM and ERP. By also connecting to ECM, customer-related documents Not integrated can at be all called up from within the transactional system, and if the integration is two-way, transactions, customer service interactions and related documents can be viewed on a single CRM screen. and ERP are connected, but not to ECM Figure 9: How well integrated are your CRM (Customer Support Desk), ERP (Line-of-Business) ERP links to ECM, and but ECM CRM (document does not emps management) systems? (N=235) 500-5,000 emps CRM links to ECM, but ERP does not 0% 20% 5, % emps 60% Both connected to Not ECM integrated for calling at upall documents but not for transac ons CRM Connected and ERP are for connected, content and but transac ons not to ECM We ERP do links not have to ECM, CRM but or CRM ERP systems does not CRM links to ECM, but ERP does not Both connected to ECM for calling up documents but not for transac ons Connected for content and transac ons 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% emps 500-5,000 emps 5,000+ emps We do not have CRM or ERP systems 9

11 The first step in automating processes for document input, whether electronic or paper, is to capture data using recognition although this can range from simple bar codes through to full text. The data collected can then be used for routing, processing, or simply for archive indexing. 56% of the survey respondents are using data recognition at some point in their processes. The priorities vary, with data most likely to be captured from forms and PDF invoices for use in the process, whereas scanned documents are more likely to be automatically indexed for archive. Figure 10: Do you use data recognition for routing, processing and archiving of the following? (N=260) Scanned Invoices Scanned paper forms Scanned paper documents Scanned Invoices PDF invoices Scanned paper forms Electronic (Office) documents Scanned paper documents Electronic forms 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Rou ng 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Processing70% Archiving None of these Rou ng Processing Archiving PDF invoices None of these In many cases, scanned or PDF versions of forms and invoices are circulated as part of an electronic Electronic (Office) workflow, but most of the content of the form or document is manually keyed into the transactional system. In documents our survey, 56% are manually keying all transactional content rising to 65% of the smallest organizations. Over and above bar codes, check boxes and number fields, 6% capture names and addresses, 10% capture fixed numeric and Electronic alpha form forms fields, and 19% 0% capture everything 20% they 40% possibly can, 60% including open-ended 80% text. An essential part of the capture process is wherever possible to validate the data with data from the transactional All system. of the transac onal This highlights content the importance is of system integration mentioned earlier, although offline batch files can be used for validation, especially in outsourced processing. manually keyed Figure 11: How would you describe the amount of data- keying carried out for We only capture bar codes, incoming check forms, etc.? (N=249) boxes and number fields 0% 20% % emps 60% 80% We capture names and addresses but 500-5,000 emps All of the transac onal re-key all other content text is 5,000+ emps manually keyed We capture fixed numeric and alpha form fields We only and re-key capture open-ended bar codes, check text boxes and number fields We capture everything we possibly can emps and We validate capture it names with system-held and addresses data but 500-5,000 emps re-key all other text 5,000+ emps We capture fixed numeric and alpha form fields and re-key open-ended text We capture everything we possibly can and validate it with system-held data No, manual with physical filing of paper copies 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% AIIM No, 2013 manual classifica on / Kodak into a Alaris mixture 2013 ofwww.kodak.com/go/docimaging content stores or process systems 10

12 Scanned Invoices Scanned paper forms Rou ng Processing Auto-Classification Scanned paper documents A first level of intelligent application is to use information from within the document, and/or from Archiving its associated metadata, to route the document to the appropriate process, or to index it into the archiving system. Obviously, automated PDF routing invoices is only valid for electronic processes, so the 26% of organizations None still restricted of to paper records will be unable to make any use of this. A further 31% use manual classification these feeding into a mix of content Electronic stores and (Office) process systems, and 19% have defined ECM or BPM systems, but still rely on manual classification. documents We could add to this a further 10% who are simply using barcodes or readily identifiable customer IDs for classification purposes. So, only 14% are Electronic using any forms level of sophistication to recognize textual content, and using the results to decide how to index and/or route an incoming document, with just 3% using learning-based or adaptive techniques. Larger organizations are no more likely to be using rules-based or adaptive techniques than mid-sized or smaller ones. Figure 12: Do you use automated classification on incoming content for routing and indexing? (N=242) All of the transac onal content is manually keyed We only capture bar codes, check boxes and number fields We capture names and addresses but re-key all other text We capture fixed numeric and alpha form fields and re-key open-ended text We capture everything we possibly can and validate it with system-held data Process Automation 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% emps 500-5,000 emps 5,000+ emps When it comes to automating the process itself, various 0% 5% HR processes 10% 15% such 20% as expenses 25% 30% and time-sheets 35% are the most likely to be fully automated. Although even then, this is only true for 12% of organizations, with a further 30% No, using manual automated with physical capture filing and of workflow paper of the basic image file. Next comes the popular accounts payable process, but again, most (34%) are copies merely circulating image files, compared to the 11% who are actually recognizing invoice content and matching it against transactional data. No, manual classifica on into a mixture of When it comes to content the more stores customer-facing or process systems processes, an additional potential for automation is that of an automated response to indicate that an inquiry or document has been received and is in process. This can still No, be manual followed classifica on up with further into our recognition ECM/BPMand textual analysis, but the number doing this kind of fully integrated end-to-end processing falls below system(s) 10% (of those for which it is applicable). The least likely Yes, processes auto-classifica on be automated from barcodes, in any way are government processes related to citizens, and, surprisingly, insurance claims customer - despite IDs, this etc kind of case-based process being a poster-child for case management and in particular, adaptive case management systems. Yes, auto-classifica on using rules-based decision logic Yes, auto-classifica on using learningbased/adap ve decisions 11

13 Figure 13: What level of automation have you achieved across the following processes? (N=238, normalized for N/A ) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% HR processes: expenses, me sheets, recruitment, on-boarding, etc Finance, accounts payable (invoices) Finance, accounts receivable (credit control) Health records Customer correspondence with service or help desk Specific line-of-business, forms-based 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% New customer applica ons, mortgages, HR processes: memberships, expenses, me accounts, sheets, etc. recruitment, on-boarding, etc Ci zen benefits, permits, tax, census, etc. Finance, accounts payable (invoices) Insurance claims Finance, accounts receivable (credit control) Other case-based processes Health records Automated and fully integrated end-to-end Customer correspondence with service or Automated response to help customer deskservice inquiries Specific line-of-business, forms-based Intelligent/Analytic Processes Automated input capture and workflow of basic image Not automated New customer applica ons, mortgages, We outlined in the introduction that applying the full 0% capability 5% of 10% modern 15% multi-core 20% 25% computers 30% 35% and the 40% memberships, accounts, etc. latest techniques in knowledge-based content analytics across inbound customer communications and existing customer Ci zen benefits, history could permits, greatly tax, We census, enhance already etc. our have knowledge this of the customer. Inquiries could be automatically routed and the process pre-populated in advance of any involvement of the customer agent, process worker or case worker. Once It would in process, be great adaptive Insurance to leverage or claims learning-based past case techniques would dynamically update workflows based on past experience characteris cs and specific and excep on characteristics outcomes of the customer. When we asked Other respondents case-based how processes useful they felt such capabilities would be, over half (55%) felt that they It would be good to dynamically update could make good use of them. 12% felt that they already had these kinds of capability within their existing "standard" case-handling Automated workflows or customer-desk and fully integrated to match processes end-to-end experience although they Automated may referring input to capture the simple and workflow application of basic of image a set of conditional A rac ve Automated or idea, branching but response not questions sure to customer it would used service work by many with inquiries support desks. Not automated our levels of complexity Figure 14: How useful would self-learning or knowledge-assisted workflows be in your enquiry I don t think our business lends handling itself to a processes? (N=237) learning scenario 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% We already have this It would be great to leverage past case characteris cs and excep on outcomes 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% It would be good to dynamically update "standard" workflows to match experience Our processes are much too variable A rac ve idea, but not sure it would work with We don t have sufficient our levels volume of complexity to jus fy the investment I don t think our business lends itself to a We pride ourselves learning on a scenario personalized customer interac on AIIM 2013 Our CRM and/or line / of Kodak business Alaris systems are too old/basic 12

14 It would be great to leverage past case characteris cs and excep on outcomes It would be good to dynamically update "standard" workflows to match experience The remaining 33% felt that the levels of complexity in their business did not match the idea of a self-learning process, A rac ve or at idea, the other but not end sure of the it would spectrum, work with the very repetitive nature of their processes meant there was little point in doing so. When our we levels delved of complexity a little further across all respondents as to what difficulties they might find I in don t applying think our these business techniques, lends itself too much to a variability of process was the biggest reason and some respondents felt that it could impersonalize learning scenario the level of customer interaction. Beyond that, having sufficient volume to justify the investment is a concern. For 11% of respondents, their current systems are too old or too basic to allow such techniques to be overlaid. Figure 15: Is there a particular aspect of your business that you feel would make knowledgeassisted workflows difficult? (N=237) Our processes are much too variable We don t have sufficient volume to jus fy the investment We pride ourselves on a personalized customer interac on Our CRM and/or line of business systems are too old/basic We have other priori es right now 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Conclusion and Recommendations We have seen that improving the customer experience is critical to the business success and competitive status of most organizations, and that they have little choice but to accommodate the multitude of channels and content types that the modern customer might chose to use for communications. We have seen that particular difficulties arise when customers hop channels during the same exchange, or raise the same enquiry on different channels at the same time. Dealing with these situations in a coordinated and efficient manner presents a major challenge for most organizations surveyed. Utilizing the same process paths for different inbound mechanisms seems to be a problem for most, and in particular, ensuring that all customerfacing staff have complete and up-to-date details of the latest customer interactions - a fundamental element of the customer experience. When it comes to process automation, there is a very broad spectrum of adoption. Around half have taken at least the first step which is to remove paper from the process, but most then merely use the image of the paper document as an attachment to the workflow, rather than using text recognition to drive routing and indexing, and even more importantly, to populate the process with data from the document or form. To achieve this level of automation requires a degree of integration between transactional systems (systems of record) and content systems (systems of engagement) to provide validation and coordinated workflow. Once electronic workflows are established, constant exceptions and disruptions are a big issue. The majority of those surveyed can see the potential benefit of applying intelligent analytics to inbound communications. We can then determine what any given piece of communication is about, what characteristics we already know about the customer, what we have learnt from previous experiences, and, therefore, how to best present or adapt the workflow for the case-worker or customer agent dealing with the inquiry or process. Once all communications channels are integrated, and transactional, customer and content systems are interconnected, it is quite feasible to apply these techniques to enhance productivity, but more importantly to improve customer experience. 13

15 Recommendations If customer documents reside on paper they will not be quickly accessible, and if processes are still paper-driven, progress cannot easily be reported back to the customer, nor monitored for hold-ups and delays. Convert all items to electronic as early as possible in the process. Evaluate your inbound communications channels from customers or citizens. Are there some electronic, web or social channels that you should be opening up to match customer expectations? If you are already using these channels, how coordinated is your approach? Do you have an integrated capture process that integrates all communications channels? Do you apply the same processes irrespective of the channel or content type? Do you monitor procedures and response times across all of these channels? Are any out of step? Could all be improved? Do all of your customer-facing staff have full and up-to-date access to all of a customer s communications, and their recent transactions? Customer frustration quickly arises if they feel you are not up-to-date with all of their correspondence. Investigate how modern data-extraction technology could be saving you re-keying costs and reducing errors. Try out the latest solutions using your own documents and forms. Consider how intelligent or rules-based data extraction could pre-populate metadata, driving routing and auto-indexing content. Look further to see where linking transactional customer data and text analytics could pre-condition responses and workflows. Evaluate your case-management processes and support systems to ensure that they are flexible and adaptive. Above all, take a view on how difficult your organization is for customers to interact with. How much effort do you expect from them? How many process discontinuities do you expect them to forgive? What do they say about you on social media? What is the customer experience? References 1. AIIM Industry Watch Winning the Paper Wars - capture the content and mobilize the process troops, July 2013, 14

16 Appendix 1: Survey Demographics Survey Background The survey was taken by 293 individual members of the AIIM community between 07 June and 04 July 2013, using a web-based tool. Invitations to take the survey were sent via to a selection of the 80,000 AIIM community members Organizational Size Organizations with less than 11 employees are excluded from all of the results in this report. On this basis, larger organizations (over 5,000 employees) represent 23%, with mid-sized organizations (500 to 5,000 employees) at 26%. Small-to-mid sized organizations (10 to 500 employees) are 51%. Geography over 10,000 emps, 17% 5,001-10,000 over 10,000 emps, 6% emps, 17% 5,001-10,000 emps, 6% 1,001-5,000 emps, 18% 1,001-5,000 emps, 18% 501-1,000 emps, 8% 501-1,000 emps, 8% emps, 25% emps, 25% emps, 26% emps, 26% The survey was international, with Middle US and East, Canada making up 79% of respondents, and 13% from Europe. We found only minor differences between Africa, US S. and European Asia, Far responses. Africa, 3% East, 2% Central/S. America, 1% Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Africa, S. Asia, Far 2% Africa, 3% East, 2% Central/S. America, 1% Australia, New Other Zealand, Europe, 7% 2% UK, Other 6% Europe, 7% UK, 6% Canada, 15% Canada, 15% US, 62% US, 62% Engineering & Construc on, 2% Life Science, 1% AIIM Manufacturing, / Kodak Alaris Food, Process, Engineering 2% & Other, 3% Construc on, 2% Government & 15

17 Canada, 15% Canada, 15% US, 62% Industry Sector Local government and public services represent 15% and national government 5%. Finance, banking and insurance represent 11%, IT and High Tech. The remaining sectors are evenly split. Engineering & Construc on, 2% Life Science, 1% Manufacturing, Engineering & Food, Process, Construc on, 2% 2% Life Science, 1% Other, 3% Manufacturing, Legal and Food, Professional Process, 2% Other, 3% Services, 2% Legal and Professional Bureau/Outsource, Services, 2% 2% Bureau/Outsource, Retail, Transport, Real Estate, 2% 4% Energy, Retail, Transport, Oil & Gas, Real Mining, Estate, 4% 4% Energy, Telecoms, Oil & Water, Gas, Mining, U li es, 4% 4% Telecoms, Educa on, Water, U li es, 4% 4% Non-Profit, Charity, Educa on, 5% 4% Non-Profit, Charity, 5% Healthcare, 5% Consultancy Healthcare, 5% IT & High Tech, 24% Services, 7% Consultancy IT & High Tech, 24% Services, 7% Government & Public Services - Government Local/State, & 15% Public Services - Local/State, Government 15% & Public Services - Na onal, 5% Government & Public Services - Na onal, 5% Finance/Banking/ Insurance, 11% Finance/Banking/ Insurance, 11% Job Roles 34% of respondents are from IT, 30% have a records management or information management role and 26% are Line-of-Business managers. President, CEO, MD, 5% President, CEO, Business MD, 5% Consultant, 9% Business Consultant, 9% IT staff, 11% IT staff, 11% Head of IT, 4% Head of IT, 4% Line-of-business execu ve, dept. head or process Line-of-business owner, 12% execu ve, dept. head or process owner, 12% Head of records/ informa on management, Head of records/ informa on 12% management, 12% Records or document management Records staff, 18% or document management staff, 18% IT Consultant or Project Manager, 19% IT Consultant or Project Manager, 19% 16

18 UNDERWRITTEN BY Kodak Alaris Kodak Alaris Document Imaging Solutions enable customers to capture and consolidate data from digital and paper sources, automatically understand and extract valuable insight from the contents, and deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. Our offerings include award-winning scanners, capture and information management software, an expanding range of professional services and industry-leading service and support. From small offices to global operations, Kodak Alaris delivers systems and solutions that automate business processes, enhance customer interactions and enable better business decisions. Kodak Alaris software offerings address the explosive growth of information that an organization collects during its normal operation, turning virtually any communication into a powerful, actionable stream of information and knowledge. Our software platforms allow businesses to quickly and efficiently convert documents into critical data for business transactions. Whether you re looking for an information capture solution in a production environment or a one-click solution for knowledge workers, Kodak Alaris offers solutions that integrate with ECM and SharePoint systems and business applications. Kodak Alaris also enables a wide variety of businesses and government agencies to address the growing demands of unstructured information, automate business transactions and enhance customer communication workflows, allows the reduction of transaction costs while improving processes and customer loyalty. About AIIM AIIM ( is the global community of information professionals. We provide the education, research and certification that information professionals need to manage and share information assets in an era of mobile, social, cloud and big data Founded in 1943, AIIM builds on a strong heritage of research and member service. Today, AIIM is a global, non-profit organization that provides independent research, education and certification programs to information professionals. AIIM represents the entire information management community, with programs and content for practitioners, technology suppliers, integrators and consultants AIIM AIIM Europe 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 The IT Centre, Lowesmoor Wharf Silver Spring, MD Worcester, WR1 2RR, UK (0)