Abstract
While the emerging technology of robotic process automation is primarily suitable for back office processes, companies use traditional chatbots to support customer interaction in the front office. However, customer requests that require more than written information usually demand an employee to execute an internal process. This paper summarizes the results of a technical design process for a combination of both technologies. After an introduction on both topics, the findings of a literature review regarding existing approaches are outlined. The development of the IT artefact is then carried out according to the design science research methodology. In particular, the research focuses on the constitution of a design theory in consideration of criteria that are found to be important for a purposeful appearance to the external user. After a proof of concept by testing the developed artefact and a summary of the results, an outlook on possible future developments is provided.
Recommended Citation
Daase, Christian; Staegemann, Daniel; Volk, Matthias; Nahhas, Abdulrahman; and Turowski, Klaus, "Automation of Customer Initiated Back Office Processes: A Design Science Research Approach to link Robotic Process Automation and Chatbots" (2020). ACIS 2020 Proceedings. 15.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2020/15