In many applications, replacing human labour with automated calls made by a robot can increase efficiency by a factor of 2,500+ without any discernible compromise on quality. The best indication of the efficiency of robocalls is achieved by a straight comparison. Part 1 of our series of blogs shows how we humans fare in comparison with robots in the cold light of numbers.
1. A person can make 8 calls per hour, a robot up to 18,000
As an example, we are using a customer satisfaction survey, the results of which are needed asap. With robocalls, even a larger company can get the survey done and dusted in less than an hour, where a human would just be getting started. That alone speaks volumes of the efficiency of call automation.
2. A person can make 1,000 calls per month, a robot over 3 million
Many Finnish companies still include job descriptions with a heavy emphasis on phone work. The work is repetitive and not necessarily that rewarding for the employee performing it.
Add to the equation that, compared to the slightly over 1,000 calls a human is capable of making in a month, a robot can make over 3,000,000 calls in the same time, and there is ample reason to question the sense in making routine calls manually. 1,000 calls is hardly enough to cover a small suburb, whereas 3 million calls would be enough to reach more than half of Finland’s entire population.
3. A robot can make the same number of calls in 5 minutes it would take a person one month to make
The difference in speed between a human and a robot is most concretely demonstrated by comparing the call volume in minutes. It takes a robot about 5 minutes to do the same amount of work it would take a human one month to do. And so, it’s an absolute no-brainer to use the human employee’s contribution for something entirely different.
4. 1 robot does the work of 2,500 humans
From a different angle, the comparison looks like this: assuming that each person would make 8 calls an hour and work 6.5 hours per day and an average of 20 days a month, it would take 2,500 humans to do the work of one robot.
All of the comparisons above are based on the same default assumptions. What’s more, in the calculation the robot only works during office hours, i.e. 8 hours a day and 21 days in a month. A full 21 days because a robot is never off sick!
5. Humans make human mistakes, robots do not
In addition to the occasional sick leave or other absence, occasionally human employees also make mistakes – and that’s all right, we’re all human. But for the company, mistakes cause a drop in efficiency or even a loss – if not major then at least minor.
A robot, on the other hand, always does immaculate work of uniform quality. It doesn’t screw up, forget or get tired; it will perform each of its thousands if not millions of calls exactly the way it was programmed to do.
To wrap things up, I would like to make the point that, from a human perspective, a robot is still just a tool used for performing specific, simple, repetitive, routine tasks. A call robot cannot – and should not – be the organisation’s only customer service agent or phone worker. There are many tasks performed by phone that a human will do significantly more competently than a robot. In all likelihood, this will still be the case in the future.
Robots are there to enable us humans to focus on tasks that create higher added value – work that is inspiring, motivating, creative and, first and foremost, relevant for us.
In other words, robots – including call robots – make for good employees, not good bosses.
Interested to know more? Get in touch! We are happy to help.
