How do we choose between Attended and Unattended RPA for customer service workflows?

All answers to this question.

The decision usually boils down to whether the process requires real-time human judgment. Attended RPA is perfect for "desktop automation" where a bot assists an agent by pulling data from multiple legacy systems during a live call. Unattended RPA is best for back-office tasks that are rule-based and don't need human intervention, like end-of-day reconciliation. Regarding PII, Unattended bots actually reduce security risks because they eliminate human "snooping." However, you must ensure all bot credentials are stored in a secure "CyberArk" vault and that all logs are encrypted. The "Human-in-the-loop" (HITL) model is a great middle ground for complex cases.

   Answered 2025-03-16 by Linda Thompson

Do you think the infrastructure costs for Unattended RPA, like dedicated virtual machines, make it less accessible for smaller departments with tight budgets?

   Answered 2025-03-18 by Robert Miller

• That is a valid financial concern, Robert. Unattended RPA does require a higher upfront investment in server infrastructure and "Orchestrator" licenses. However, for a small department, Attended RPA can be a great entry point because it runs on the user's existing workstation. As the ROI is proven through time savings, the department can then justify the transition to Unattended bots for true 24/7 scalability. It’s better to start small and "earn" the budget for the more expensive server-side automation.

     Commented 2025-03-20 by James Wilson

We found that Attended bots significantly improved employee morale because they took over the "copy-paste" drudgery, letting agents focus on solving the actual customer problem.

   Answered 2025-03-22 by Michael Brown

• I agree with Michael. Employee buy-in is much higher with Attended RPA. Sarah, if your agents are currently overwhelmed, start there to show immediate internal value.

     Commented 2025-03-24 by Sarah Jenkins