What’s the difference between “attended” and “unattended” RPA bots?

Published on: July 20, 2022
Last updated: December 16, 2022 Read in fullscreen view

Recommended for you

05 Oct 2025 The New Facebook Algorithm: A Paradigm Shift in Content Discovery 182/241
20 Mar 2022 What is a Multi-Model Database? Pros and Cons? 137/1329
17 Jul 2023 What Is SSL? A Simple Explanation Even a 10-Year-Old Can Understand 133/224
01 May 2023 Understanding Business as Usual (BAU) and How to Transition 130/1070
03 Oct 2025 Top CMS Trends 2026: The Future of Digital Content Management 126/151
25 Mar 2026 Token Bills: The "Cost Shock" After the AI Boom in Companies 123/141
19 Oct 2021 Software development life cycles 113/790
21 Dec 2023 Top 12 Low-Code Platforms To Use in 2024 105/1391
18 Jul 2024 The 8 Best ways to Innovate your SAAS Business Model in 2024 104/357
18 Oct 2020 How to use the "Knowns" and "Unknowns" technique to manage assumptions 102/1192
13 Oct 2021 Outsourcing Software Development: MVP, Proof of Concept (POC) and Prototyping. Which is better? 100/572
20 Feb 2025 How Machine Learning is Shaping the Future of Digital Advertising 99/218
20 Dec 2025 The Future of IT Consulting: Key Trends for 2026–2030 96/135
05 Jul 2020 What is Sustaining Software Engineering? 95/1428
11 Jan 2024 What are the Benefits and Limitations of Augmented Intelligence? 94/572
13 Dec 2020 Move fast, fail fast, fail-safe 93/408
04 Oct 2021 Product Validation: The Key to Developing the Best Product Possible 92/400
12 Oct 2022 14 Common Reasons Software Projects Fail (And How To Avoid Them) 90/650
03 Dec 2025 Templafy Features Explained: The Ultimate Guide to Streamlined Content Management 90/121
04 Mar 2026 CRM Trends Shaping Customer Engagement in 2026 90/103
13 Nov 2021 What Is Bleeding Edge Technology? Are bleeding edge technologies cheaper? 89/646
06 Feb 2021 Why fail fast and learn fast? 89/551
31 Dec 2025 10 Skills to Make You "Irreplaceable" in the Next 3 Years (even if AI changes everything) 88/110
14 Mar 2024 Why should you opt for software localization from a professional agency? 84/223
03 Jul 2022 What is the difference between Project Proposal and Software Requirements Specification (SRS) in software engineering? 82/1112
18 Aug 2022 What are the consequences of poor requirements with software development projects? 82/340
03 Jan 2024 Why Partnership is important for Growth? 81/237
18 Jan 2024 Self-healing code is the future of software development 81/294
28 Oct 2025 The Future of Real Estate: Key Trends and Essential Lessons in Digital Transformation 80/145
27 Jul 2024 Positive Psychology in the Digital Age: Future Directions and Technologies 79/500
12 Aug 2024 Understanding Google Analytics in Mumbai: A Beginner's Guide 79/173
31 Aug 2022 What are the best practices for software contract negotiations? 79/345
01 Oct 2020 Fail fast, learn faster with Agile methodology 77/1143
23 Sep 2021 INFOGRAPHIC: Top 9 Software Outsourcing Mistakes 77/500
16 Aug 2022 What is a Headless CMS? 76/348
07 Nov 2022 Why Design Thinking can save the outsourcing industry 75/262
22 Sep 2022 Why is it important to have a “single point of contact (SPoC)” on an IT project? 73/1048
05 Mar 2021 How do you minimize risks when you outsource software development? 73/401
30 Jan 2022 What Does a Sustaining Engineer Do? 72/703
20 Dec 2021 What is Hybrid Mobile App Development? 71/464
07 Oct 2025 Case Study: Using the “Messaging House” Framework to Build a Digital Transformation Roadmap 71/150
29 Nov 2021 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Partnership Agreements 69/629
11 Oct 2022 Why choose Billable Viable Product (BVP) over Minimum Viable Product (MVP) 69/411
25 Sep 2024 Enhancing Decision-Making Skills with an MBA: Data-Driven Approaches for Business Growth 69/272
05 Sep 2023 The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects 68/259
06 Mar 2024 [SemRush] What Are LSI Keywords & Why They Don‘t Matter 68/262
31 Dec 2021 What is a Data Pipeline? 67/270
20 Aug 2025 What Is Agentic AI? The Next Phase of Artificial Intelligence 67/221
23 Jun 2025 AI Avatars in the Metaverse: How Digital Beings Are Redefining Identity and Social Interaction 66/235
10 Apr 2022 What is predictive analytics? Why it matters? 66/246
25 Apr 2021 What is outstaffing? 64/331
26 Mar 2026 What Is a System Integrator (SI)? Why the Software Subscription Model Is Becoming the New Standard 64/90
28 Dec 2021 8 types of pricing models in software development outsourcing 63/497
14 Oct 2021 Advantages and Disadvantages of Time and Material Contract (T&M) 62/941
08 Oct 2022 KPI - The New Leadership 61/666
16 Sep 2022 Examples Of Augmented Intelligence In Today’s Workplaces Shaping the Business as Usual 61/497
25 Jan 2025 The Decline of Traditional SaaS and the Rise of AI-first Applications 61/165
10 Sep 2024 Leading Remote Teams in Hybrid Work Environments 58/199
02 Dec 2024 The Intersection of AI and Business Analytics: Key Concepts to Master in Your Business Analytics Course 57/350
31 Dec 2022 The New Normal for Software Development 57/410
01 Mar 2023 What is Unit Testing? Pros and cons of Unit Testing? 57/482
28 Jul 2022 POC, Prototypes, Pilots and MVP: What Are the Differences? 57/784
27 Feb 2025 How AI Agents are Changing Software Development? 57/253
22 Nov 2024 The Role of AI in Enhancing Business Efficiency and Decision-Making 56/247
22 May 2025 Role of Self-Service in CRM: Customer & Partner Portals for Automation 55/137
03 Nov 2023 Why Is Billable Viable Product An Alternative To Minimum Viable Product? 55/244
10 Dec 2023 Pain points of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) 55/509
01 May 2024 Warren Buffett’s Golden Rule for Digital Transformation: Avoiding Tech Overload 55/261
12 Dec 2021 Zero Sum Games Agile vs. Waterfall Project Management Methods 54/464
30 Jul 2024 The Future of IT Consulting: Trends and Opportunities 53/257
18 Aug 2024 The Future of Web Development: Emerging Trends and Technologies Every Developer Should Know 52/246
09 Oct 2024 Short-Form Video Advertising: The Secret to Captivating Your Audience 52/181
19 Apr 2021 7 Most Common Time-Wasters For Software Development 52/597
19 Dec 2023 How AI is Transforming Software Development? 51/341
31 Dec 2023 Software Development Outsourcing Trends to Watch Out for in 2024 50/279
04 Oct 2022 Which ERP implementation strategy is right for your business? 50/391
01 Dec 2023 Laws of Project Management 49/361
05 Oct 2021 Shiny Object Syndrome: Why Your Business Isn't "Going Digital" 49/422
03 May 2024 The Iceberg of Ignorance 49/473
06 Dec 2024 Steps For Integrating Sustainable Practices Into Business Operations 48/192
01 Mar 2023 Bug Prioritization - What are the 5 levels of priority? 48/274
12 Mar 2024 How do you create FOMO in software prospects? 46/214
05 Jan 2024 Easy ASANA tips & tricks for you and your team 44/240
19 Oct 2021 Is gold plating good or bad in project management? 44/874
18 Jul 2021 How To Ramp Up An Offshore Software Development Team Quickly 44/630
10 Nov 2022 Poor Code Indicators and How to Improve Your Code? 44/261
28 Oct 2022 Build Operate Transfer (B.O.T) Model in Software Outsourcing 43/444
10 Sep 2024 AI in Email Marketing: Personalization and Automation 41/216
17 Feb 2022 Prioritizing Software Requirements with Kano Analysis 39/343
31 Oct 2021 Tips to Fail Fast With Outsourcing 38/426
26 Dec 2023 Improving Meeting Effectiveness Through the Six Thinking Hats 38/306
31 Dec 2022 Future of Software Development Trends and Predictions 31/182
06 Nov 2019 How to Access Software Project Size? 24/278

Robotic Process Automation continues to receive a lot of attention. Enterprises are embracing RPA to automate front-office and back-office tasks across a variety of industries.

Whatever the industry, the applications of RPA are boundless. RPA is used to create a digital workforce to automate repetitive tasks, maximizing knowledge workers’ productivity by enabling them to focus on higher-value activities. RPA is used to create software bots that mimic humans, interacting with multiple software applications to execute tasks at the user interface level. It is able to do this without changing the existing applications.

Attended versus unattended RPA bots

RPA bots can work in both “attended” and “unattended” modes. Typically targeted toward front-office activities, attended bots are useful when the entire end-to-end process can’t be automated. RPA bots can work alongside humans to deliver attended automation. In such cases, the actions of RPA bots can still be triggered by system-level events that can give and take data to and from human workers.

Unattended RPA bots execute tasks and interact with applications independent of human involvement. Unattended bots can be triggered by events and they can be scheduled.

A call center agent can get help from an attended RPA bot in near real time during a live customer call. For example, the attended bot can find customer data from one application and automatically type it into a second application. This way, the call center agent spends less time switching between applications and can focus on high-value tasks such as solving the customer’s problem.

Unattended bots typically perform batch operations that do not require user intervention. For example, a batch of new client information is received in a spreadsheet and needs to be entered into multiple applications.

What type of RPA is right for my business?

If you’re wondering which type of RPA is right for your business, we’ve got great news—you don’t need to choose. Both attended and unattended bots play an important role in an RPA deployment.

Working together

Attended and unattended RPA bots are not mutually exclusive. They both play an important role in an RPA deployment.

Attended bots optimize tasks by offloading portions of them, helping work get done faster. Unattended bots execute tasks and interact with applications independent of human involvement. The combination of attended and unattended RPA provides for a complete RPA solution.

A A A A

{content}