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Interaction Process Automation™

Streamline processes without complexity

Interaction Process Automation (IPA) streamlines even the most complex processes with Communications-Based Process Automation — an approach that leverages unified communications technologies and practices from the contact center environment. By keeping track of work, progress, people, skills, qualifications, availability, and resources, IPA optimizes processes by automatically prioritizing and routing work to the best qualified and available worker for timely completion, regardless of the person’s location.

Visual, and simple

IPA uses a simple process-flow definition and graphical interface to enable quicker design, deployment, and modification when automating a process. It requires no complicated programming languages or expensive programmers, and no long development cycles. Instead, IPA reduces the overall time and costs to deploy automated processes in four straightforward steps.

  • Visually define the data
  • In the same graphical environment, design and define the work items
  • Lay out process flow, define who will receive work
  • Deploy processes to users

Connected and intelligent

The IPA solution integrates internal and external communications throughout any process as it captures, prioritizes, routes, escalates, and tracks work — for employees as well as customers, vendors and partners. IPA also connects to your enterprise applications to extend process automation to CRM packages, financial management software, and various database sources and applications.

Reports, alerts and visibility to keep work moving

IPA provides real-time visibility into process and work activity through historical reports and real-time alerts, keeping all parties informed about exceptions, and to redistribute resources whenever needed to meet required service levels.

A truly unique solution

IPA is a complete all-in-one solution for process automation — providing:

  • A graphical authoring tool that enables process authors to define information schema, design user work item forms, lay out the process flow, and specify detailed process logic.
  • A service-oriented architecture (SOA) that makes it easy to access web services and provides an event-driven software bus to act as the backbone of information flow.
  • An orchestration engine that manages the entire process, pushing work along the defined process flow from step to step, and executing the logic specified in each step.
  • A presentation framework that incorporates designed work forms into end-user environments such as Windows PCs and web pages; this framework also includes the ability to pop other applications and exchange information with them.
  • A real-time monitoring interface for visibility through every step of every process.
  • Out-of-the-box and custom reports, with all process data available in an open SQL database.

Improvements and innovations added to Interaction Process Automation 4.0

With each release of CIC we continue to make impressive strides in scalability and reliability as we add new features. But we don’t rest between full releases. Instead, we are constantly implementing new enhancements to all parts of the Interaction Center Platform, including our business process automation solution – Interaction Process Automation. Below are just some of the additions we’ve added with Service Update 1.

IPA Integration with SharePoint

With SU1, we introduce an integration between IPA and SharePoint. This enables SharePoint workflows to start IPA processes automatically in response to specific events in SharePoint.

IPA – Designer

The new features added to the IPA designer with SU1 are extensive. As our customers find more areas in their organization that can benefit from process automation, and the processes they tackle become more diverse, the need for more advanced access to data is at the top of their lists. In the latest update, we extend the reach of IPA as it relates to accessing data and have added the following tools:

  • Custom Data type support includes both simple and complex data types
  • Complex Data type is a container data type that has properties of other data types
  • Database Actions
    • Select data from a database
    • Call a stored procedure
    • Update rows
    • Insert rows
    • Delete rows
    • Execute a custom SQL statement
  • Enhanced copy / paste support

IPA – Server switchover

As process automation becomes as critical to an organization as phone calls into their contact center, there is a need to treat processes with the same focus as any other communications channel. A new feature delivered with SU1 is the simplification of the recovery process during a switchover. The CIC system will now automatically recover the processes' persistence data files as part of its post-switchover procedure.

Find a partner that cares as much about your business as you do

Make Interactive Intelligence an extension of your internal IT organization for world-class operations, education, and support.

  • Client Success – Partner with a team committed to your success
  • Professional Services – Tap into experience from thousands of deployments
  • Education – Get the training you need to hit the ground running
  • Support – Ensure the heart of your business doesn’t skip a beat

Resources

Interactive Intelligence 

A New Approach to Business Process Automation
Read how to achieve greater organizational efficiency plus quantifiable ROI.