Task capture is a core element of increasingly popular task mining solutions helping enterprise businesses improve task and process efficiency. In this article we explain simply what it is and how it works.
What is task capture?
Task capture technology collects and analyzes user interactions data from employees workstations to measure how work is done within a team or a company. Task capture is a core feature of task mining software.
There are at least five different types of task capture technology - but in their core they all work in the same way. They capture information from different employee's workstations and then apply task mining algorithms to enable task and workflow analytics.
Different types of task capture technologies
- Task recording - task recorders are simple software apps installed on a workstation that collect interaction, including keystrokes, mouse clicks, scrolls and other activities with timestamps and potentially also screenshots or video recordings.
- Automated task capture - automated task capture solutions work much in the way of task recording apps, but they are typically more sophisticated and may not require the employee to activate and pause recording activities.
- Process task capture - many process mining software solutions have task mining functionality that can involve gathering task-level granularity of data from event logs, much in the way process mining works.
- OCR task capture - a subfield of automated task capture technology are different task mining solutions that utilize optical character recognition (OCR) technology to capture information from browsers or user interfaces.
- Work API - a relatively new approach to task capture is Work API. It tracks and captures business objects directly from the user interface of relevant business applications without the need for recorder or image capture technology.
Key benefits of task capture
- Increase efficiency. Task capture allows you to quantify and improve processes or workflows, and provide concrete evidence-based feedback on tasks.
- Remove variance and error. Task capture helps you identify where users are not following the agreed process or workflow happy path.
- Improve compliance. Task capture enables you to track compliance and ensure policies are followed.
- Identify automation opportunities. Task capture allows organizations to quantify the time and cost of different types of manual processes and workflows, identifying areas where automation can replace manual, repetitive work.
Why does task capture matter?
Task capture is the core enabling technology for task mining solutions. As more companies explore ways to improve processes, team efficiency and enable intelligent automation - task capture provides ways to identify challenges such as swivel chair inefficiency.
Enteprise leaders also need to understand the core mechanics of task capture - as different methods of task mining will have implications on data privacy and data protection. For example, in the European Union (EU) some task recording solutions may not be compliant with GDPR legislation, if they are unable to mask or remove personally identifiable data from the task capture flow. Currently, Work API is the only fully GDPR-free solution in the market. Book a demo with Workfellow to hear more.
