Simplifying email classification & handling with intelligent automation

RPA — A Global Telecom Company

Case Study

Telecom

PiServe helps a Middle Eastern telecom major to reinvent email administration with RPA and Machine Learning, dramatically reducing manual task loads

About the client

For nearly two decades, the client has been a telecommunications frontrunner in the Middle East, trusted as a reliable connectivity provider. The company is also a pioneer in digital enablement, purpose-driven in delivering infrastructure, mobile, and data services as per globally accepted standards. The client is focused on steering transformation through innovative ICT solutions and digital leadership.

Abstract

As a future-focused organization, the client’s leadership desired the company to keep pace with the shifting nature of work and set the imperative of achieving more with less time and effort. However, several of the client’s backend processes were manually driven, putting a drag on the culture.

One such process is the manual sorting and classification of emails, irrespective of their origin and type. As a low-hanging fruit, the client intended to completely automate the email routing and management, allowing the concerned persons to handle communications based on priority.

Business challenges

It was not easy to disrupt and transform the email classification practices digitally, considering the high volume of communication originating within and directed at the client’s business ecosystem. While the diversity of the communications made it a daunting task, the client’s planners managed to narrow things down to the following automation objectives:

Classification of emails based on tags like Internal, External, Urgent, Meeting Request, and Auto Action
Color coding each mail
Initiating action based on the nature of communication, stakeholder, and priority

The client was looking for an experienced automation partner to help it achieve these goals. It should be able to thoroughly assess the company’s as-is email routing processes, suggest reforms, and redesign them as needed to maximize solution implementation outcomes. The mission was to deliver a state where the client’s stakeholders should be able to focus on messages that matter rather than being overcome by an email deluge.

Our approach

PiServe consultants realized that the implementation would need substantial cognitive capabilities to self-decode the context of the email and evolve through learning. Accordingly, the PiServe team implemented an intelligent email classification solution. It can receive the email, extract and convert the data into workable text, understand the context, and color code the message. Based on the case, the solution can operate along the following automation pathways:

Mail from Supervisor: Categorize it as urgent, triggering SMS notification for the recipient
Mail from Internal: Flag it as a low priority
Mail from External Vendors: Flag it as a low/mid priority
Urgent: Flag it as a high priority
Meeting Request: Accept/deny requests based on the calendar availability and triggering auto-responses
Auto Action: Directly launch auto action using bots

A Machine Learning (ML) engine was plugged into the solution to help it learn and evolve in runtime. The solution was initially implemented for 200 executive roles and was gradually scaled to cover the rest of the client’s business ecosystem.

Intelligent email sorting solution for automating the low-value and repetitive tasks which ensures that the critical communications are flagged, and the recipients are duly notified for immediate response.

The result

PiServe delivered a highly scalable solution wholly aligned with the client’s expectations. It allowed the client to extract significant benefits and drive its vision of workforce transformation. Among many benefits, the PiServe intelligent solution ensured that:

At least 75% of the email categorization was automated, minimizing the need for manual efforts

Line managers like supervisors can have the notification of vital emails right on their mobile devices, minimizing the chances of missing them

Urgent messages were classified into a separate category from the rest, setting them for instant action

The meeting administration was completely automated, saving employees the time and effort of assigning slots