We published an article back in 2011 following the worst snowstorm that the UK had seen in over 18 years highlighting the cost to UK businesses. 7 years later we are again facing severe and unusual weather conditions. Snow will be wreaking havoc across the country and temperatures are predicted to drop to -10C in some parts. A number of train operating companies have already begun reducing their services and some flights have been cancelled, with further disruption to transport anticipated for the rest of the week.
Weather conditions such as what we are currently experiencing are largely unpredictable and as such can be at a high cost to organisations. Towergate insurance has estimated that adverse weather costs the UK economy up to £473 million due to staff absenteeism (an increase of £243 million from 2011 figure) not to mention the surge in customer claims for insurance or delay compensation.
Automation technologies, especially those with intelligence, help organisations to operate even in these challenging circumstances that would otherwise impact their ability handle surges in enquiries, claims or complaints. Celaton’s inSTREAM platform applies artificially intelligent techniques (including machine learning, NLP and neural networks) to consume and process the plethora of unstructured information that flows in to organisations every day from customers, suppliers and employees by post/paper, fax, email, attachments, social media and many other electronic data streams. It learns from the natural consequence of processing and monitoring the actions and decisions of operators who deal with exceptions. This 'human in the loop' enables inSTREAM to learn and achieve continuous optimisation. The operators and service advisors who deal with exceptions are non-technical and can be located anywhere in the world - off shore, in the office or at home, the technology enables them all to operate as one team, day or night, rain or snow! With every exception inSTREAM’s confidence improves, continuous optimisation is achieved and this means businesses can scale on demand without the need to increase staffing levels or suffer delays to handling of enquiries, claims, complaints or other correspondence.
The UK’s weather will continue to be unpredictable, but it doesn't need to continue to be costly to businesses. Automation technologies offer organisations a solution not only for unpredictable weather but year round enabling them to achieve greater efficiencies, reduce costs and deliver better customer service faster.
