AT&T highlighted operational efficiency benefits achieved in the six years since it deployed technology to automate repetitive manual processes across the company, a technique which is gaining traction among other operators.

The US company stated robotic automation process (RPA) software tools which simulate human interaction had shed 16.9 million minutes from staff workloads since 2016 and delivered unspecified financial benefits.

In a blog, the head of AT&T’s robotics centre of excellence Dhru Shah explained AT&T had deployed more than 3,000 RPA tools for tasks including repetitive purchase order procedures within its finance unit, and is now exploring the potential to use the tools for complex procedures involving planning permission and regulatory requirements.

The AI-based planning permission tools operate with 99 per cent accuracy, Shah noted.

“Automating these tasks is projected to redirect approximately 3,500 manual working hours each year so that employees can focus on more complex and strategic priorities”.

AT&T is not alone in employing RPA, with BT Group, Virgin Media O2, Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom using either this or other forms of intelligent automation (IA).

Consultancy McKinsey & Company asserted RPA and IA had enabled businesses to hand between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of manual processes over to machines, delivering annual cost savings in a range of 20 per cent to 35 per cent.