Category: Digital Transformation

How Chat Bots Can Enhance Student Onboarding

Conversational interfaces have gone mainstream. The technology behind keeps crossing new milestones, the result of which chatbots have transformed from simple Q&A systems to intelligent personal assistants. As a result, bots found widespread application in diverse areas, most recently in education. 

Although education stayed backward in terms of technology adoption, lately it took on a renewed quest to incorporate it. Educators are on the lookout for innovative ed-tech systems for efficient tutoring and students increasingly prefer personalized learning environments. 

Deploying chatbots at numerous front-ends like college/university websites, internal student communication portals or even popular instant messaging platforms can help with that. Here’s how? 

Chatbots bring in a personalized and engaging learning experience optimized to the learning pace of each learner, which actively drives student-centered learning at the forefront. Configuring a bot to answer student inquiries related to curriculum, courses, admissions, etc. as well as deliver learning resources on request makes way for a personal always available assistant that every student can engage with. 

That’s exactly what we did, though in a different way. 

Recently Fingent was approached by a client, a leading public research university based in Australia to develop an intelligent chatbot for assisting prospective and freshly enrolled candidates with onboarding and orientation, course-related information, credit scores, etc. The client wanted to streamline its entire student orientation process using a chatbot and make all related information better accessible and context-based as well as systematically tackle the ‘summer melt’ rates. 

Here, we lay down a high-level abstract of this chatbot development experience powered by IBM Watson Assistant and backed by .NET Core. It briefs various facets and challenges faced during the design and development of the system.

The Plot (Objective)

“Build a chatbot to assist candidates during the orientation process of Monash University. The chatbot should be capable of handling different context-based scenarios such as listing available courses, providing credit score information, course structure, projects associated with each course and many more.“

Since it is a Proof of Concept (POC) project, and Monash University offers a wide range of courses based on various areas of education, the team decided to choose one particular area and focus on only two of the selected courses (Bachelor of Accounting & Bachelor of Actuarial Science). This is to repress the scope in control, considering the timespan and resource availability.

Foundation

Keeping in mind the idea of building a highly sophisticated chatbot, an ideal and matured chatbot assistant technology had to be finalized, which provides both comprehensive user intent identification and processing as well as a satisfactory response according to the user query. The system should also provide an extensive and less technicality included training interface. The hunt for such a tech ended up in IBM Watson Assistant.

Terminologies

The world of chatbots has some common terms which are essential key knowledge required while developing a chatbot. We can call them as the pillars of a chatbot.

• #Intent – Intent is nothing but the user’s intention in a query – basically covers all types of questions and their varieties, the user probably may ask. This can be queries within the scope or related to the scope.

Examples:

“What are all the courses available?”
– Intent associated: #KnowCourseInfo

“How much credit I require in the first semester?”
– Intent associated: #KnowCreditInfo

Remarks – There will be some stock #intent collection depending upon the chatbot engine, which is designed to handle the general greetings and conversation-oriented chunks. We can import or enable the intents as we want to make our chatbot more conversational and human-friendly.

• @Entity – An entity is a subject addressed in the user query. There are mainly two categories of entities. They are Scope-based entities and System entities. Scope-based entities are entities that belong to the scope we address whereas System entities are “primitive system-aware” entities.

Examples:

“What are all the courses available?”
– Entities associated: @Course

“How much credit I require in the 1st semester?”
– Entities associated: @Credit, @Semester, @system_number:1st

Remarks – On diving deeper, we may need the support of multiple types of scope-based entities and a system-aware way of specifying the relationship between the entities (which lacks in IBM Watson Assistant). This is to specify the entity characteristics as more descriptive as well as with the notion of “the system knows” the given attributes and relationships of an entity.

• Dialog – A dialog is a declarative way of specifying the possible questions the user may ask, and how should the bot respond to the corresponding questions. Generally, this will be a tree-based structure, rooted in the key user intentions and scope covered features. We will be handling the different scenarios of a single #intent as well as the edge cases.
• $Context Variable – A context variable is to store information, collecting from a dialog context or it can be any information related to the dialog context. It helps us to keep the dialogue context and facilitates conversational flow.
• Skill/Workspace (IBM Watson based) – A skill is a package that consists of the above-mentioned factors, in which all are aligned into a single chatbot capability, in our case, it was Onboarding skill.

Implementation

The entire development process streamlined into two major sections. The first one is aligned to the chatbot engine intelligence building and improvement activities while the other one is for the middleware and UI development.

1. Intelligence Build-up on top of IBM Watson Assistant

• Analyzed the requirements and fixed the boundaries of the scope. It includes what all are the functional areas to be covered by the proposed chatbots.
• Prepared the possible user queries and categorized them as #intents.
• Identified the underlying @entities in each question and classified them to form the actual set of primitive entities.
• Designed the dialog structure based on the prepared user query sets. See the resources: Intent structure and Dialogue flow. 

Fig 1. Intent Structure

• Continuously refined the dialogue structure based on detecting each edge cases and to incorporate new scenarios.
• Used some conventions on responses to extend the chatbot response capabilities, according to the requirements. This is to handle specific use cases such as clickable action list image response, map response, and show a list of items.
• Implemented WebHooks (IBM Watson based) to talk to external APIs to fetch the values for a dialogue node as well as validating user input (Not a comprehensive solution).

2. Middleware and UI Development

• Built a middleware backed by .NET Core with an intention to plug any chatbot service to the UI module. In fact, it is designed as a standard-framework to separate the chatbot logic from the application logic. This enables hassle-free maintenance of the app logic, code reusability, and extensibility.
• Built the UI using Angular to provide a sophisticated face for our chatbots.

Fig 2. Dayton Interface

Also, we built a diagnostics module, as part of the UI, which provides the service configuration information and session-based transcripts of conversations held with the chatbot.

Fig 3. The architecture of the Chatbot Middleware Application, Source Code

Challenges

During the development, we came across some development challenges with IBM Watson, which are listed below.

1. Unable to map relationships between entities. Due to this limitation, we were unable to link and pull the related values of the entities.
2. Conflicts between various entity values (Solved partially via entity split-up method)
3. API Limitations to manage chatbots dialog schema
4. IBM Watson doesn’t provide active learning, the self-learning capability to learn from user conversation sessions.
5. It also doesn’t provide an efficient way to talk to external APIs. Only one external API can be called, which leads to a bottle-neck on executing the webhook actions.
6. No built-in user input validation. This has to be done via WebHooks.

Capitalizing on AI Chatbots Will Redefine Your Business: Here’s How

Final Words

The application is now in a showcase/UAT (User Acceptance Testing) mode, also the refinement process being in progress. It has miles to go to reach the capability to converse with the user as a comprehensive onboarding assistant.

To know how chatbots can enhance your business growth, get in touch with our software development experts today!

Mixed Reality Promising a New Improved Healthcare Industry

Mixed Reality makes it possible for surgeons to perform an operation on a patient thousands of miles away. It makes it possible for nurses to hone their skills and perform hundreds of operations virtually before even touching a patient. Mixed Reality is making the impossible possible. 

Mixed Reality combines the real world with the virtual to create solutions that we never thought possible. It enables effective collaboration between physical and digital objects and has found an integral place and application in healthcare. This blog explores some radical ways in which healthcare is using Mixed Reality for better quality treatment and customer experience. 

Mixed Reality Working Wonders in Healthcare 

By 2026, AV/VR in the healthcare market is expected to reach 7.05 billion USD showing that Mixed Reality is finding increased application in the healthcare industry.  From enabling pre-procedural planning and visualization before surgery to training nurses as they virtually workout challenges they could encounter during real-life procedures, and improving the collaboration and communication between doctors and patients – Mixed Reality is making great things happen.  Here are some ways in which this is becoming possible. 

1. Immersive Learning for Nurses and Medical Students

Skilled nurses are critical to the healthcare industry. Simulations are the most effective method of educating and preparing nurses to respond appropriately to a variety of situations they might encounter. Mixed Reality can place a nursing student in those specific or rare situations, which may be difficult to arrange for in real clinical settings. Such immersive simulations are much more cost-effective than traditional nursing simulation devices. The education company Pearson has collaborated with Microsoft to launch apps called HoloPatient and HoloHuman. These tools use holograms of patients and help in training healthcare professionals as they diagnose and treat medical problems. 

As another achievement in Mixed Reality, St. George’s University in Grenada worked with SphereGen Technologies to develop what is called the ‘Learning Heart.’ The Learning Heart is a study aid that enables users to view the hologram of the heart from all directions and examine its functions. It responds to touch and voice commands and allows users to separate all the parts of the human heart, thus making learning immersive for medical students.

2. Reduced Time and Reduced Human Error in Reconstructive Surgery

Reconstructive surgeries enabled by Mixed Reality with the use of HoloLens have proven to be very successful at the Imperial College at St. Mary’s Hospital, London. According to the team guided by Dr. Philip Pratt, Mixed Reality helps surgeons locate and reconnect major blood vessels. With HoloLens, surgeons are able to use holographic overlays to see the bones and identify the course of blood vessels which aids them in their surgery, improving the outcome for the patient. An article in The Times entitled Holograms to get surgeons under the skin of patients showed examples of a 41-year-old man and an 85-year-old woman on whom such reconstructive surgeries were performed successfully. 

3. Revolutionizing Surgery

In December 2017, Dr. Thomas Gregory undertook a live transplant surgery with the help of HoloLens. It helped him access the patient’s medical information and anatomical pictures in 3D during the surgery. Since HoloLens is a standalone computer worn like a helmet by the surgeon, his hands are free for surgery. Additionally, the use of microphones and sensors allows the surgeon to communicate with other surgeons in different parts of the world making collaboration easier. All these features, along with the simulations and information it can pull up, make Mixed Reality a valuable asset in improving surgical performance.

4. Improving the Patient Experience

Building trust through efficient communication is an important aspect of a doctor-patient relationship. Mixed Reality makes this possible in a more immersive way.  For example, in a recent interview with Sirko Pelzl, CEO and CTO of apoQlar, he spoke about Virtual Surgery Intelligence (VSI) and said: “physicians can use VSI to show patients their own MRI scans and explain the surgical procedure in visual detail. We were able to illustrate in a recent study how greatly patients appreciated this education and communication.”

Mixed Reality also helps in reducing response time and improving surgical accuracy, which contributes to the smooth and successful patient experience. For example, when the surgery is complicated or the patient is critical, diagnostic images with Mixed Reality can serve as a twin of the patient. This helps doctors discuss, plan, and walk through their treatment protocol, thus reducing response time in patient care.

Mixed Reality also gives doctors all the information they need about a patient and enables real-life simulations to help him in his decisions and actions. Commenting on a prototype application called “Cinematic Rendering for Surgery” Christian Zapf, head of the Syngo Business Line at Siemens Healthineers said, “The error rate dropped from 14.1 to 0.8 percent for surgeons in training and from 11.1 percent to 0.8 percent for qualified surgeons.”

https://www.fingent.com/insights/portfolio/future-communication-security-using-augmented-reality/

The Future of Mixed Reality

Mixed Reality has already made deep inroads, especially in medicine. It will continue to improve the quality of healthcare and medical training as it positively impacts the medical industry. Fingent has helped many clients build custom healthcare software solutions, which integrate applications with the latest technologies like Mixed Reality. Get in touch with us and let’s discuss how we can make Mixed Reality possible for you.

Can Augmented Reality Improve Conversion Rates For Businesses?

Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful tool that brands are using to bridge the gap between their products and their digitally empowered customers. With the power of AR, customers can see and experience their products without actually trying them on, helping them make purchase decisions instantly. AR is being widely used by many brands as the most cost-effective way to convert strangers into customers and promoters.

Let’s consider why and how top brands are embracing Augmented Reality for immersive customer experience. 

Top Brands Embracing AR 

When AR technology was pioneered by Ivan Sutherland in 1968, he described his concept of the Ultimate Display as: “The ultimate display would, of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming, such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked.”

Today we are witnessing the massive affect AR is having on immersive customer experience. Wonderland looks close!

Here are a few examples of top brands that are using AR effectively to achieve this. 

LEGO Wear’s AR Shop

LEGO Wear’s first limited-edition clothing line for adults was featured on Snapchat with a uniquely designed Snapcode. This virtual cloth store had no clothes on display but allowed customers to shop virtually on a Snap-triggered portal. Studies reveal that Snachatters engage with Augmented Reality naturally on a large basis.

Around 70% of them play with an AR lens every day. So with the combination of AR and e-commerce leading to exciting customer experience, the company was able to drive sales rapidly.

Watch how AR simplify equipment maintainance

This video is made using InVideo.io

Patron Tequila’ s Immersive Distillery Experience 

Patron’s AR app is designed for its tech-savvy customer persona. Understanding the mindset of today’s socially connected generation to know more about the products they consume, the Patron AR app allows its customers to take a virtual tour of their distillery in Mexico giving them a glimpse of the history and origins of the distillery.

Speaking about the success story, the app-enabled more than a million consumers to have a memory of visiting Hacienda without even physically going to the place. Also, thousands of people have interacted with a virtual Patrón bartender, who is actually not a real person at all, but a robust data processing tool to simulate a real-world interaction.

Nike Snaps Up Customers

The Air Jordan Brand in collaboration with Snapchat and Darkstore, out together a virtual experience that brought in record sales last year. Using a special 3-D AR world lens of Michael Jordan circa 1988, taking off from the free-throw line in the slam dunk contest, Nike was able to target Snapchat users around the Staples Center where an NBA All-Star Game was taking place.

Users could walk around the lens and see Jordan changing into the All-Star uniform and the new AJ III Tinkers. In the following event, Snapchat brought out a QR code that users could use to buy the shoes from the Snap Store. The shoes would be delivered within 2 hours.  The shoes sold out in 23 minutes! 

MAC Cosmetic’s AR-enabled Video Tutorial

In June of this year, MAC cosmetics launched AR-enabled shoppable video tutorials on YouTube in partnership with the beauty influencer, Roxette Arisa. As the tutorial is playing, a ‘try on’ button appears below the video, allowing viewers to try on different shades of lipstick as they continue to watch the tutorial.

Once they have made a choice, they can order the lipstick without leaving the app. MAC sees a huge potential in this as beauty-related content generated more than 169 billion views on YouTube last year.

Speedo’s Customers Try It On Virtually

Early this September, leading swim gear company Speedo launched a mobile app that lets their customers try out their goggles before they buy it. This app is compatible with both Android and iOS phones. Commenting on this feature, Pentland Brand’s head of innovation Ben Hardman said, “This technology will undoubtedly enhance our customers’ shopping experiences by allowing them to interact with the product before they make a purchase. In this instance, it helps them address a well-documented human pain point: leaky goggles.” 

How Augmented Reality Can Simplify Equipment Maintenance

AR Is the Future – Are You Ready?

AR technology is working wonders for the sales and productivity of many brands. It is improving its business operations while giving their customers a more immersive and fun experience. Brands are able to market their products in fresh and interesting ways and are seeing great returns.

Fingent works with brands to achieve this for their business. By using AR technology like Microsoft HoloLens and more, we are making AR possible for our clients.

Reach out to us and know how Augmented Reality technology can be used to improve your customers’ experience and scale your business. 

Can Empowering AI and IoT Bring In Competitive Advantage To Industries?

It takes more than forward-thinking employees to gather customer purchasing trends and improve the customer experience. International companies depend on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive data and forecast the next big wave of trends.

Studies predict Asia and North America to lead in the innovation of AI and IoT. Also, embedded AI in support of IoT smart objects will reach $4.6B globally by 2024.

Major vendors of IoT platforms such as IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft have started offering integrated AI capabilities like ML-based analytics. Scalable digital platforms are designed daily to understand the way customers think while using predictive maintenance in real estate, eCommerce, healthcare, and other industries.

It’s time for us to share the leading examples of how businesses use AI and IoT, and how these technologies benefit them.

AI and IoT: Leading Use Cases

Smart Cities: Making Life Easier

What happens when AI and IoT run a city? It turns into a smart city. Smart city technology can solve an energy crisis, help manage traffic, or improve the healthcare experience. 

One example of a smart city is the use of Advanced Transportation Controller technology linked to a 5G network in Los Angeles. There are road-surface sensors throughout the city, and cameras that monitor traffic, sending information to traffic management systems. Municipal employees can now analyze the data of traffic congestion and issues with traffic lights in high traffic areas. Overall, this improves the quality of living in Los Angeles and helps a business run smoothly without delays.

Convenience in Property Management

One of Fingent’s clients WRI Property Management, a US-based single-family rental provider with 10,000+ leased properties and 20,000+ managed houses experienced many challenges. Here are a few of the issues WRI Property Management faced:

• Tenant eviction
• Rent collection/accounting
• Scheduling property inspections
• Leasing properties
• Screening tenants

What happened next? Fingent introduced an advanced software platform, Honey Badger. The AI and IoT technology-supported WRI managers to conveniently communicate with multiple parties, renovating properties, view lives auction feed, track the construction of new properties, etc.

5G Network Vehicle Safety and Security

Machine Learning technology is improving the autonomous vehicle experience. How does it work? An automobile can stop when a driver is in dangerous tragic weather or unexpected situation. 

The 5G network can cause the brakes of a car to operate by tracking vehicle sensors of other drivers near prevent or relieve car crashes. 

The network can also send drivers a traffic update to use detours and avoid certain roads that are under construction or is unsafe.

AI and IoT Business Benefits 

1. Guaranteed Security and Safety

A company’s highest priority is protecting data in the workplace. As Artificial Intelligence scans security footage, IoT can close gates or doors if an intruder attempts to enter the premises of a head office. 

Organizations are now using machine-to-machine communication to determine potential security threats with an automated response to hackers or intruders. 

An example of AI and IoT in banking security is the detection of fraudulent activity in ATMs to communicate updates to law enforcement to protect customers.

The unexpected workplace accidents can be prevented by using sensors that monitor safety hazards as employees work. Employees at some organizations now wear wearable devices that alert the management of undetected dangers such as carbon monoxide released into the air on a work site. 

2. Convenient Shopping Automated Experience

Online shopping is more convenient than ever as websites personalize real-time suggestions to consumers based on a customer’s shopping history. As a result of this investment, Kinsta predicts that by 2021, Artificial Intelligence in e-commerce will increase sales to $4.5 billion from $2.3 billion in 2017.

3. Enhanced Healthcare Experience

NovitaCare, a Netherlands based healthcare company that treats patients with chronic and multiple disorders, wanted to improve the caregiver experience using an effective online platform. 

With Fingent’s help, NovitaCare now can communicate with non-profit organizations, patients, providers and researchers with an online platform that is HIPPA compliant.  

4. Simplified Management Of Supply Chain

The supply chain industry has experienced challenges in managing unexpected events that happen due to inaccurate forecasting. A solution to the problem is implementing AI and IoT. 

Supply Chain Digital recently stated the following about these technologies:

“Intel highlights that the world of IoT is growing rapidly, from 2 billion objects in 2006 to a projected 200 billion by 2020.” 

“AI is on most companies’ radars, with 78% of organizations implementing it to enhance operational efficiency by at least 10%.”

The use of real-time devices will feed data to executives to help create contingency plans for preventing unexpected challenges in the industry. As a result, the supply chain and a company’s reputation can experience fewer impacts.

A Guide for AI-Enhancing Your Existing Business Application

How Fingent Helps Businesses Achieve Success With AI and IoT?

Fingent has mastered the art of technology infrastructure to help companies resolve AI and IoT processes. As a result, it creates efficiencies in managing smart devices.

Implementing these technologies are small changes that can have a huge impact on your business. The ability to use raw data to understand customer behavior and forecast trends in the market can improve customer loyalty. Also, companies can track employees working in multiple departments and locations across the globe by partnering with Fingent.

Fingent is confident that AI and IoT work in your business context by delivering technologies to enable solutions in the cloud, networks and gateways, heterogeneous device support, systems capabilities, and data analytics. 

To Conclude 

Business Insider predicts that there “will be more than 64 billion IoT devices by 2025, up from about 10 billion in 2018.” 

Gartner observes that in three years (by 2020), more than 80 percent of enterprise IoT projects will incorporate at least one AI component. Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things is used to improve the safety of drivers on the road, enhance healthcare experiences, automate and streamline enterprise processes, stop intruders from hacking into IT systems or large organizations, and in numerous other ways. 

The combination of these technologies not only delivers a superior customer experience, but also forecasts what customers want in real-time, improves their experience of living in smart cities, maintains a high safety rating in challenging workplaces, and reinforces physical and cybersecurity. AI-IoT duo also avoids any unplanned downtime, increases operating efficiency, helps develop new products and services, and improves your risk management. 

Are you looking for an AI and IoT partner? Get in touch with Fingent experts today for a streamlined and error-free IoT implementation for your business.

How Logistics Companies Can Gain Competitive Advantage with Customized Software Solutions?

Fluctuating consumer demands, increasing client requirements, and complex business models are posing critical challenges for logistics companies today. According to predictions made earlier this year, two major drawbacks are to be witnessed in the industry.

With drastic changes hovering over the logistics industry, the players are bound to stay equipped with the emerging technology trends, or they might get caught off guard. While its turning imperative for logistics companies to transform with smarter technologies, the question of whether to choose a custom software or an off-the-shelf package still lingers in many minds.

Why Choosing Customized Solutions Over Packaged Software Considered Profitable In Logistics? 

Purchasing an off-the-shelf software would sound comparatively simple, stress-free and time-effective. But in the long run, it’s always a custom-built solution that pays off.

Most packaged logistics software, although sophisticated and deployed of disruptive technologies, pose standard solutions for the industry as a whole. Of course, they solve the major supply chain hassles. But with every business, possessing unique procedures, workflows, and objectives, “not everyone fits the same mold”.

So what happens when you choose a packaged software solution for your logistics business?

1. A packaged software often comes with hordes of features. This sure sounds exciting at the beginning. But when you have to pay for more than you use, it sure isn’t a happy moment! Off-the-shelf software solutions are often crafted considering the large players of the industry. Their features focus on resolving the common challenges faced by these companies.

However, in a complex industry like logistics, it’s not always necessary for every company to face the same kind of issue. Hence, with packaged software being available as a whole for a single price, businesses usually end up wasting money on features they do not need. 

2. Off-the-shelf logistics software utilizes the latest and advanced technologies to cater to the complexities of an industry. But however, at times these sophisticated technologies complexes situations even further. For companies with basic knowledge on latest technologies, would definitely find it difficult to carry out operations successfully with a sophisticated system.

Moreover, they would have to spend extra time and money on training staff, which is not reasonable in a highly competitive industry like logistics. As mentioned before, with plenty of features, packaged solutions often prove to be less user-friendly and more complicated. 

3. Although packaged solutions solve a list of logistics hurdles, their features might not provide a complete automated solution. You might find a good Transportation Management System (TMS) that enables real-time tracking and automated reporting, but you might still have to communicate with your customers, and assigned drivers manually.

Also, an efficient packaged TMS system might have an integrated warehousing management system, but might not facilitate an appropriate billing system, leaving the need to adopt alternate transaction processing systems. Hence, in a nutshell, complete automation is often unattainable with packaged software solutions.

4. The most eminent reason to not opt for a packaged solution is that they are rigid. There is hardly any packaged software company that allows customization. It’s not only rare to find a packaged software that caters to all your business-specific needs, but it also proves to be non-scalable in the long run.

Growth in your business and changes in the market will bring about an increase in your technology requirements. This will result in the need for a solution that can be customized with your growing business necessities.  

Customized logistics software eliminates all the above-mentioned drawbacks of a packaged solution. Plus, it always comes with continuous technical assistance to simplify the technology transition in your company.

Let’s take a quick look at how a customized Transportation Management System can help you battle logistics challenges better.

Digital Transformation of a Logistics and Supply Chain Company – A Client Success Story

How A Customized TMS Can Enhance Your Supply Chain Efficiency?

Investing in a customized TMS can enable you to create an Uber-like platform for your logistics business. Integrating the latest in web and mobile application solutions, you can create a platform that completely streamlines your driver, client, and cash-flow management.

Enabling centralized data management, transparent billing, delivery match capabilities, along with real-time monitoring and customer insights capturing; a customized software solution can be framed to automate your entire end-to-end logistics operations. 

A custom-built mobile application can further enhance productivity with less paperwork, better transparency, easy communication, and improved customer engagement. Implementing a customized solution would also let you add in innovative features that help you automate critical tasks, improve team collaboration, and increase your overall company efficiencies.

Here is a shortlist of benefits that you can acquire with customized logistic software.

1. A customized software solution gives the advantage of integrating with smarter technologies to simplify the minute challenges faced by the industry. For instance, along with assigning and managing truck drivers, a logistics company also faces difficulties in maintaining and verifying driver documents. Integrating with smart apps like Camscanner can simplify these documentation verification complexities.

2. A logistics company with varying client needs might often find difficulties in choosing apt carriers for a given order. A customized solution gives you the benefit to add in features that simplifies such decision making by suggesting the best available carriers for the orders.

3. Although packaged solutions streamline drivers assignment and management, yet they blackout on some eminent functions that logistics companies struggle to maintain. For example, calculating the detention hours/rates of the drivers are likely the most critical task of a logistics company. Through a customized logistics software you can straighten such bends of the industry.

4. With customized logistics software, a logistic company can embrace a completely streamlined and user-friendly accounting system that generates automated invoices as well as tracks any misleads or accounting errors.

Customized logistics software can simplify your logistics operations more than you can imagine. If you are looking for a tech partner to help you add in these features and more to your logistics software, then you have landed on the right page.

Fingent is one of the leading custom software companies providing advanced and user-friendly web and mobile technology solutions for logistics businesses worldwide. Contact us today to know how our custom software solutions can enhance your business abilities.

What Is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation is the process of applying automation to perform tedious business tasks of the workforce, such as data manipulation, response triggering, transaction processing, and other redundant tasks. According to a recent study by Snaplogic, 90% of the workforce are burdened with redundant tasks. This not only reduces their productivity but also consumes significant amounts of time with which they could perform higher-value tasks.

The Role Of RPA: Features That Enhance Business Process

Once your enterprise has decided to implement RPA, it is time for you to choose the right robotic process automation solution. 

Traditional RPA software bots are known to handle only a specific task at a given time. When it comes to addressing high volumes, there is a necessity to clone these bots and run them simultaneously. RPA providers usually charge users for each concurrent process. This can become a costly affair for enterprises, especially during volume spikes. Thus, undue extra costs are a key factor to consider while choosing an RPA solution for your business. 

RPA works as a virtual assistant and can handle complex processes starting from performing complicated calculations, data capturing to maintaining records. 

In addition to prioritized work queues, user-friendly features, data analytics, and non-disruptive nature, the following are crucial features that enhance business processes:

• Non-disruptive nature:  An enterprise can easily implement RPA into their workflows without having to disrupt or change the existing structure or risks.
• Data analytics: Gathering critical data from multiple sources, analyzing and storing the data, and creating reports have brought digital transformation to businesses with RPA. This enables accurate forecasts of sales data along with other Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 
• Prioritization of Internal Work Queues: Every RPA software consists of internal work queues. These work queues are used to extract data derived from various transactions for analysis. The extracted data is then stored on a cloud server and made available for access by the bots.
• User-friendliness: Employees can operate on the robots without any extra RPA knowledge. They only need to learn how the systems work. 
• Scalability: With RPA, it is possible to upscale and downscale various robotic operations. 

Related Reading: Learn more about how Robotic Process Automation is revolutionizing industries.

Types Of Robotic Process Automation Tools

RPA enhances robotic performance in different ways. The three major categories include Working Robots that are commonly used for Data Collection and Project Planning. Monitoring Robots detect faults and breakdowns, whereas Screen Scraping Robots provide data migration tasks for enterprises.

Robotic Process Automation tools come in varying sizes and shapes. Analyzing your business objectives is the most critical factor before deciding to choose a specific RPA tool for your business. A few of the major RPA tools are as follows:

• Attended Or Robotic Desktop Automation Tools

This type of automation always starts with the user via the user’s desktop. The user first launches the RPA code to perform required operations rather than waiting for the workforce to perform. 

• Unattended Automation Tools

This type of automation completes business processes in the background and is used mainly to perform back-end tasks.

• Hybrid Automation Tools

This type of automation combines both attended and unattended automation tools to perform start to end operations.

Related Reading: You might like to read more about ways to empower RPA for enhanced business growth.

How To Choose The Right RPA For Your Business

A clear set of objectives form the primary goal before opting a specific RPA tool for your business. The following are the key factors you need to consider before selecting an RPA tool for your business:

1. Easy-to-use Interface

Simple user experience is a major criterion for choosing the right RPA tool for your business processes. A simple user interface will ensure all employees work efficiently. 

2. Proper Deployment

An RPA tool that can be quickly deployed with the existing technology stack is what is required. 

3. Cost

Replacing tedious tasks performed by the human workforce is largely replaced by the bots. This process of automation saves costs. Employees can focus on their core tasks and spend time and effort on their skills rather than performing redundant and tedious tasks with the help of RPA tools. Purchasing an RPA software tool involves associated costs, such as cost of individual licenses, cost of the software, and other overheads.

4. Scalability

Implementing an effective RPA tool enhances the business processes and leads to the growth of the enterprise. This growth is accompanied by hiring more resources. Thus an RPA tool can enhance the scalability of a business in the long run.

5. Security

Data analytics, compliance, and financial transactions require a highly secure environment. A great RPA software tool ensures a secure solution for all business processes and updates as well.

6. Architecture

The architecture of the RPA depends on where you plan on employing your RPA tool. The deployment and maintenance of an RPA tool depend on factors such as layered design, component reusability, robust delivery, popular language support system, easy accessibility, and so on.

7. Features

Choosing an RPA suite that consists of solid inbuilt features is critical. Flexibility, scope, availability of wizards and GUIs, other extendable commands and supports are some of the features to consider. 

8. Exception Handling Support

A robust RPA solution can detect errors during automation and automatically resolve without human assistance. In other cases where human intervention is required, an effective RPA tool must be able to send error messages.

9. Extended Support

Different vendors offer different support. A dedicated support team is necessary to ensure strong maintenance and support. 

To make the best decision on choosing the right RPA solution for your business and access the full potential of RPA tools, get in touch with our experts today!

How Artificial Intelligence Is Simplifying Business Decision Making?

Technology in 2019 is moving with the speed of light. Immense breakthroughs in the field of deep learning and machine learning have allowed machines to process and analyze information in ways that we could never have imagined. 

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is noteworthy in this regard. One definition of AI is that it is “a collective term for computer systems that can sense their environment, think, learn, and take action in response to what they are sensing and their objectives.” This makes it a powerful tool, which when used the right way can radicalize decision making and completely changes the way we do business. This article discusses how AI achieves that. 

AI – A Boon to Business

AI includes the automation of cognitive and physical tasks. It helps people perform tasks faster and better and make better decisions. It enables the automation of decision making without human intervention. AI can enhance automation thus reducing intensive human labor and tedious tasks. There are many more ways in which AI is making a difference. With smart weather forecasting, for example, AI is bridging the gap between data scientists and climate scientists. This gives companies the opportunity to fight disaster with algorithms. 

The world is about to witness a great impact of AI on the economy and humans. According to McKinsey Global Institute’s research, AI could deliver an additional output of $13 trillion to the world economy by 2030, which would boost global GDP by nearly 1.2 percent a year. Acting as a capital-hybrid, AI can aid the growth of both the economy and humans. It will definitely have a revolutionary impact on the decision-making process. 

Top Artificial Intelligence Trends to Watch Out for In 2024

AI the Game Changer

From tarot cards to time machines and more, the quest of man to know the future has been relentless. The ability to make decisions based on a knowledge of the outcome is no more fantasy, however. AI has brought this to the realm of reality and has revolutionized business decision making.  

In the recent past, we have embraced analytics-driven decision making. Along with ever-increasing data storage and computing power, AI has the potential to augment human intelligence and enable smarter decision-making. AI could eliminate the huge costs of a wrong decision because it can practically eliminate human biases and errors. This could in turn speed up the decision-making process. The focus of the next few points is to highlight the ways in which AI can make a difference in business.

1. Marketing Decision-Making

In today’s customer-driven market complexities involved in decision making is increasing every day. This includes understanding customer needs and desires and aligning products to those needs and desires. A handle on changing customer behavior is vital to make the best marketing decisions. 

AI simulation and modeling techniques provide reliable insight into the consumers’ persona. This will help predict consumers’ behavior. Through real-time data gathering, trend analysis and forecasting, an AI system can help businesses make insightful marketing decisions.

2. CRM

Organizations can identify a consumer’s lifetime value with the help of AI’s buyer persona modeling. It can help organizations manage multiple inputs. During a complex decision-making process, AI can efficiently manage and control different factors at the same point in time. It can source and process large amounts of data within minutes while providing valuable business-based insights. While we humans face decision fatigue, algorithms do not have such limitations, which make AI-based decisions faster and better.

3. Recommender System

Recommender system (engine) is a technology that recommends products or other items to users. Although recommendation systems were initially used for music content sites, now it’s used has expanded to various industries. In this, an AI system learns a consumer’s preference based on ‘explicit’ or ‘implicit’ feedbacks. This information can help the organization reduce bounce rate and craft better customer-specific targeted content. 

4. Problem Solving 

An expert system is a kind of problem-solving software which tries to replicate the knowledge and reasoning methods of the experts. This system uses expert thinking processes to provide data, which includes assessment and recommendations for your problem. This makes it easier to make the right decision and respond swiftly when faced with issues and problems.

5. Opinion Mining

AI has been able to provide reliable insight to decision-makers. For example, in marketing, AI has provided businesses invaluable insight about consumers, which helps them enhance their communication with the consumers. It also helps retailers predict product demand and respond to it quickly. 

To that end, opinion mining helps businesses understand why people feel the way they feel. Most often a single customer’s concerns might be common among others. When sufficient opinions are gathered and analyzed correctly, the information gleaned will help organizations gauge and predict the concerns of the silent majority.  AI has improved this mining process through automation, which is quicker and more reliable, helping organizations in making critical business decisions. 

6. Augmented Analytics

According to a recent press release by Gartner, Augmented Analytics is going to be the next big trend which will transform the way analytics content is advanced, expended and shared. VP analyst at Gartner, Rita Sallam said, “The story of data and analytics keeps evolving, from supporting internal decision making to continuous intelligence, information products and appointing chief data officers.”

Wise business decisions are made when business executives and decision-makers have reliable data and recommendations. AI not only improves the performance of both the individual members of the team but also the competitive edge of the business.

Make Bigger, Faster, Better decisions with AI

Common sense and experience are no longer enough to anticipate the risks and consequences of critical business choices. AI with its varied applications helps businesses make informed and effective decisions which will have a positive impact on their business. 

Implementing AI in your business isn’t as tall an order as you may imagine. It can be incorporated with your existing business applications to enhance them and make them invaluable. To explore how your business can leverage the full potential of AI, contact our team of experts at Fingent, a leading custom software development company, today!

Related Reading: You might also like to take a look at this guide to help you enhance your existing business app with AI.

Five Ways AI Is Accelerating Mobile App Technology

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated the tech world. It is enhancing everything from your car to your toothbrush.  It is influencing the decisions that affect your life. Artificial Intelligence is the term used to define a machine’s ability to simulate human intelligence. Actions which were once considered unique to humans are now being stimulated by technology and used in every industry. This includes mobile app technology. 

Mobile phones have been using AI for some time now. The earlier generation of phones was cloud-based and Internet-dependent. The difference today is that the latest smartphones integrate cloud-based AI along with built-in AI. The rate at which AI is expanding is accelerating. 

Let us now discuss how AI is enhancing mobile app technology.

Related Reading: Take a look at the top AI trends of 2019.

AI is the Catalyst in Mobile Apps

As per a study by McKinsey Global Institute, AI expansion brought in an investment of $39 billion back in 2016 which was three times the amount invested in AI three years prior to that. Acting as a catalyst, AI is continuing to enhance mobile apps. It empowers the evolution of mobile apps by making them intelligent pieces of software that can predict user behavior and make decisions. AI allows mobile apps to learn from data generated by the user.

Mobile developers are adapting quickly to changing innovations. There are over 5 million apps in the leading app stores, which stands to show how AI is creating personalized app experiences for users and is adapting to various situations due to automated learning capabilities. Here are five specific real-life benefits of AI on mobile apps. 

1. The Wrapping of Artificial Intelligence with the Internet of Things (IoT)

The combination of AI and IoT is powerful in creating a personalized experience for users. A large amount of varied data is collected from the customer in real-time as he uses the device. Each usage has commands or interactions that are being used with mobile apps. AI can then leverage this real-time data to deliver an enhanced personalized experience.

IoT reduces app development time significantly. In mobile app development, IoT along with Artificial Intelligence can lead to better utilization of resources and higher efficiency. Together they free up a good part of employee bandwidth. It delivers modified and more efficient apps and strengthens data security measures, which is vital because the future of mobile apps will always be revolving around connected devices.

2. Enhances Search Engines

Text and voice have been the traditional search modes. But say, you saw something you would love to buy, but you don’t know what it is called or how to find it. Visual search helps you find what you want even when you don’t know the words to describe it. The smartphone is the best launchpad for visual search technology. An example of this is Google Lens. 

In some cases, visual search is more accurate and faster than a voice or a text search. Due to integrated AI in mobile applications, android developers are bound to develop an image recognition system and a voice recognition system. To increase conversion rates AI will provide localization of applications.

Related Reading: Learn more on how to build an intelligent app ecosystem with AI.

3. Empowers Real-Time Translation

There are so many translation apps which enable translation. However, most of these apps do not work without the internet. AI could enable your smartphone to translate different languages in real-time without the need for an internet connection.

Much like a digital version of what interpreters do, Artificial Intelligence can provide a simultaneous translation tool which allows sentences to be translated almost instantly without a time lag. AI allows the translation tool to be adjusted for latency. This would mean that a user can set the lag between a spoken word and its translation. This would be especially useful for certain languages which would require a longer time lag for better translation. Example: Baidu.

4. Improved Security with Face Unlock 

Face Unlock was launched in September 2017 by Apple. Combined with Apple’s elaborate hardware, Apple iPhone X uses an AI-based algorithm for its face unlocking system. Using AI processing, the phone can easily identify the user’s face even with facial changes like specs or beard.

Recently, Google announced radar-based, hands-free gestures to face unlock. With its hands-free system, unlocking the phone would be easier, faster and secure. It claims that it can unlock the phone almost in any orientation.

5. Enhanced Mobile App Authentication

As AI is becoming easily available as a commercial technology, both criminals and organizations are taking full advantage of it. There are predictions by cyber-security experts that the world might witness many AI-powered cyber-attacks in the future. This necessitates the development of more sophisticated cyber defense systems. Also, with the increasing use of smartphones, we all need an advanced level of data security. Security has been one of the biggest concerns for Android developers. 

Thanks to enhanced artificial intelligence with machine learning and deep learning algorithms we can look forward to a time when authentication becomes a smooth experience, which allows users to enjoy security without trading convenience. AI can be enabled to give alerts to users about possible threats. AI can also add a level of augmentation to biometric authentication which makes it almost hack-proof. Another benefit of AI algorithms is that they can find and alert potentially compromised accounts in real-time.

A Guide for AI-Enhancing Your Existing Business Application

AI With You Now and Into the Future

AI presents numerous possibilities for innovation in the mobile app industry. AI is the future of mobile app development. Artificial Intelligence is changing how users interact with app services and products. Mobile app users will be linked to an ecosystem of intelligent applications and will work together to deliver a personalized user experience. 

Businesses developing AI-enhanced mobile apps will benefit from the predictive analysis these apps can create. According to a study conducted by Callsign, the user preference for authentication is shifting. Such changing preferences would mandate further enhancements in the development of mobile apps.

An intelligent ecosystem will gather a large pool of social data and behavioral interest, which can be used to further increase revenue and improve user experience. It is not an exaggeration to say that the smartphone industry is being revolutionized by AI. This makes it important to enable AI in your business and mobile applications. Give us a call to discuss how this can be done.

Robotic Process Automation Reflecting The Banking, Insurance & Logistics Industries

Robotic Process Automation is the fastest-growing segment of the global software market. Using this technology, companies can fast-track their digital transformation initiatives. Although RPA is useful in all industries, the biggest adopters of this technology are banks, insurance companies, and logistics. These companies traditionally have numerous legacy systems and choose RPA solutions to enhance or replace manual IT processes. This article discusses how Robotic Process Automation is revolutionizing the banking, insurance, and logistics industries. First, let’s consider what is Robotic Process Automation.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robots have fascinated humans for a very long time. From the futuristic robot Maria from the movie Metropolis in 1927 to this day of AI sci-fi, the possibility with robots is a topic of endless discussion. Interestingly, though, this word “robot” in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) does not involve a physical or mechanical robot. Instead, it is a software running on a virtual or physical machine. Aaron Bultman, director of Product at Nintex simplified the expression saying, “RPA is a form of business process automation that allows anyone to define a set of instructions for a robot or ‘bot’ to perform.” 

How to accelerate your business growth with Robotic Process Automation

According to Gartner, RPA grew by 63% in 2018 and continues to be one of the fast-growing technologies in many industries! RPA lets companies automate current tasks as if a real person was doing them across systems and applications. It interacts with each system just as a human user would interact. This does not require complex system integration. These functional RPAs are virtual workers and execute rule-based information processes, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. Additionally, it is easy to model and deploy. Let us consider the three specific industries where RPA is most beneficial.

RPA in Banking

The banking industry is completely process-oriented. Every activity is done meticulously to avoid errors in processing. The repetitive nature of the job and the high probability of human error could cause mistakes that might prove very costly. Therefore, in the recent past, leading banking institutions have started using RPA to minimize errors. According to a report by KPMG, RPA will perform almost 75% of the existing offshore jobs, which could save operational cost. 

Scalable Benefits of RPA in the Banking Industry

• Mortgage Lending. RPA can enable the banking industry to meet loan quality and cost concerns head-on. Automation of repetitive and time-consuming manual tasks will free up your team to focus on the more important details of loan applications. It speeds up the work, increases revenue. enhances customer experience, reduces operational costs, decreases risk and improves compliance. 

• Compliance and Risk Management. It enables the banking industry to automatically integrate and aggregate compliance information into business processes, streamlining the required work while reducing expenses. RPA eliminates the need for manual regulatory monitoring and data collection. It can empower risk management and compliance teams. It enables banking industries to avoid costly fines and damages to reputation. It provides accurate and complete information.

• Customer Service and Support. RPA ensures the longevity and loyalty of your customer relationship and the future of your bank. It helps you engage customers in real-time. It automates customer service activities so the customer is not waiting endlessly. It increases the productivity and efficiency of the team.  

Related Reading: Check out these 5 simple hacks on using banking mobile apps safely. 

RPA in Insurance

An insurance company receives hundreds of claim requests. Validating each request and handling them is not only a herculean task but also a painstakingly slow manual process. The entire process of the claim takes several days. Because this is a costly and time-consuming process, the company risks losing customers. To prevent further damages, insurance companies are now relying on RPA to help them improve operational excellence and reduce costs.

Scalable Benefits of RPA in the Insurance Industry

• Improves customer service because RPA effectively reduces the turnaround time in resolving customer issues.
• Processes and workflows could be tracked and recorded at each phase. This reduces staff workloads and improves process efficiency.
• Reduces the processing time by 40-80%.  This frees up the team to focus on more important activities such as acquiring new clients.
• Reduces errors made during data entry significantly.
• Speeds up and organizes the processing of claims through a systematic underwriting process.
• Based on the demand, intelligent bots can scale up or down, which delivers consistency in service and operational efficiencies.
• Improves audibility and operational risk management due to the accuracy level of RPA.
• The time for the cancellation process could be reduced by one-third.

Related Reading: Here’s how machine learning is accelerating paperless offices for legal firms. 

RPA in Logistics

The logistics industry depends on several processes to facilitate the proper distribution of products, materials, and services from B2B or B2C. The need for an intelligent logistics system increases as the industry along with competition advances every day. Here’s how the RPA can contribute to the logistics industry:

Scalable Benefits of RPA in Logistics.

• Better data management and customer service.  Negative experiences and a multitude of errors with logistics providers are causing customers to lose their trust in online shopping. With the benefits of automation and digitalization brought about by RPA, logistics providers no-longer need to rely on huge amounts of paperwork, which was the underlying cause for errors and poor customer service. Logistics companies are enabled to manage real-time monitoring of flow and resources, availability, costs, staffing, transportation, suppliers and so on more efficiently. 
• Improved work safety for employees. Through the use of automated machines in unsafe environments and the reduction of repetitive stress in manual tasks, work injury has been dropping steadily with the aid of RPA. This results in savings in terms of injury compensation and loss in reputation. It can also increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction and loyalty, and increase their efficiency.
• Improved efficiency and precision. RPA can help logistics companies easily manage the supply chain processes more efficiently. The anticipatory logistics system helps companies gauge the demand from their customers and adjust their production volume accordingly. It can help in managing and analyzing huge amounts of data within seconds, resulting in fewer human errors, faster deliveries, and fewer errors in delivery.
• Cost reduction. Fewer errors from human decision-making result in cost savings for logistics companies. Also, RPA reduces the need for human workers, which results in fewer paychecks and more profits. Where workers are still needed, it can raise their productivity, margins to a whole new level. It improves customer satisfaction and creates a safer work environment for the workers.

Related Reading: Know more about how AI is reshaping the supply chain and logistics industry.

Empower Your Business With RPA 

According to Global Market Insights Inc., the RPA market is expected to reach $5 billion by 2024. It is increasing capabilities and improving performance while reducing costs in several industries. Fingent Technologies has been one of the top software companies empowering industries globally with robotic process automation capabilities. Give us a call and let us discuss how we can transform your business with RPA.

Is Applicant Tracking System The Future Of Hiring Process?

 “Hiring the right employee has always been the key element for a successful organization. When you choose the best, you automatically get the best results!” _ Deepu Prakash, Senior Vice President, Process and Technology, Fingent

While candidates come aplenty, finding the right talent from the pool has always been an enormous challenge for recruiters and staffing agencies. Thankfully, technologies like AI-powered Applicant Tracking Systems are changing that in a big way.

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software that automates the recruitment process. It electronically filters, organizes and streamlines job applications according to job postings. ATS simplifies the complex process of recruitment by providing a centralized platform to view applicants. AI-powered Applicant Tracking Systems enable filtering applications based on set criteria and helps recruiters a big way, in tracking the advancement of applicants through the hiring process. In this article, we will consider how ATS can prove beneficial to recruiters and staffing agencies in particular.

How Does ATS Transform Hiring Norms?

ATS collects and maintains a database of candidate resumes and applications within itself. ATS tools help in hiring managers and corporate recruiters track and filter resumes in the hiring funnel. The major difference between traditional hiring and hiring with the help of ATS can be compared to the difference between fishing with a hook and fishing with a net. The benefit of the latter is a much bigger catch! ATS allows recruiters to track hundreds of applicants more efficiently rather than handle each applicant manually.

 Companies that outsource talent can benefit greatly from ATS. Since they are not limited by geography, they can cast their net globally. It is not uncommon for a company to receive thousands of applications for a remote job they have posted. With ATS, they can filter out the right candidates for the job and save time and cost. 

How HR and IT Combine to Deliver Real Value to the Enterprise

 How Does ATS Empower Corporate HR?

ATS empowers the recruitment process in the following ways: 

• ATS enables recruiters to post jobs online, receive and sort applications, screen out unsuitable candidates, process applications, communicate with candidates quickly, organize interviews and even handle the hiring process online.
• The AI integration enables ATS to identify patterns and segregate resumes/candidate profiles according to various departments and customized fields.
• One of the most important benefits is that it saves time. It is estimated that resume screening and candidate shortlisting can take 23 hours and making a hire could take four months. ATS can make this task easier, faster and automated, thus reducing the cost-per-hire and the time-to-hire.
• ATS allows corporate recruiters to be proactive and create jobs on platforms, which can be published on social media networks as well as targeted job boards. 
• ATS assists corporate recruiters to screen candidates, to ensure they progress through the workflow process and store all the documentation in one place. It helps them to monitor applications at each stage and identify any issues early on thus reducing the time-to-hire period.
• Another important recruiting goal and challenge are accessing the right candidate skills. ATS includes features for customizable interview scorecards and questions. It allows recruiters to customize them based on the most important characteristics. This makes candidate evaluation easier and efficient.
• With AI-enabled ATS, recruiters can also set match levels for various job roles under different departments.
• An ATS with good reporting functionality will be able to help corporate recruiters measure the effectiveness of marketing. A good reporting engine will help recruiters, quickly pull out reports which show things like diversity statistics and the source of the application.
• Online job boards make it quick and convenient for candidates to apply for open positions resulting in a load of unrelated applications. An ATS is capable of quickly weeding out those unqualified candidates even before humans open a resume.

Related Reading: Check out how Odoo can help meet HR requirements.

How Does ATS Empower Staffing Agencies?

 More than 98% of Fortune 500 companies are using ATS. This is a clear indication that ATS is an indispensable software for staffing agencies. Here are a few reasons why:

• An ATS helps staffing agencies grow their business. The bigger the staffing agency, the more complex their database. Communication, tracking candidates, and other recruiter activities can become difficult to manage. AI-enabled ATS identify patterns and sorts resumes according to job profiles helping recruiters choose the best candidates among the large pool.
• ATS empowers staffing agencies to source candidates more efficiently. The existing candidate pool within an ATS is often a very good resource for finding quality candidates. 
• A good ATS has an open ecosystem where you can match solutions to needs effectively. This allows users to customize ATS to meet a client’s specific needs by adding partner extensions, integrating third-party vendors, and building new applications on the platform. 
• ATS improves the candidate experience. According to key findings in a Global Recruitment Insights and Data study, respondents said that “candidates will matter most in 2019, with sourcing (61 percent) and candidate engagement (36 percent) leading the pack.”  ATS along with its integrations can help in this regard by simplifying and enhancing every step of the candidate experience.  
• It helps agencies keep their clients happy by improving client management. ATS can log all of your conversations with a client automatically. 
• ATS helps staffing professionals to be more productive because it allows team members to work from anywhere and still collaborate effectively. 
• The conventional recruiting process causes a lot of friction between hiring managers, the HR department, and others involved in the process. An effective AI-powered ATS will help smooth things out and reduce disagreements, thus making it easier for all involved to work together. 
• A shorter time to hire always works better for the organization. Not only does it save resources, but it also ensures that suitable, qualified candidates are selected and hired quickly before the competition has a chance to snatch them away.

Power Charge Your Hiring Process with ATS

As discussed, a good ATS will illuminate and guide all aspects of the recruitment process. It will help corporate recruiters and staffing agencies better understand their candidate pool and make quicker and more effective hiring decisions. It is reported that 86% of staffing professionals were able to hire faster with the help of ATS. Understanding and using the candidate database to improve hiring performance helps the business act more quickly. Quicker onboarding process results in increased productivity, which translates to more profitability.

Fingent top custom software development company, will understand the need to keep pace with the requirements of today’s market. Bringing together smart AI and recruitment practices, we create purpose-built software to help you reach your ideal candidates faster. So let’s get you started with an Application Tracking System that will transform your business and beat the competition.

Watch more about Applicant Tracking System.