IQ Bot [EOL] Reviews

We have automated several processes for several customers. We have used this tool to automate processes for a bank. We have also set it up for another customer to download purchase orders and put information in a database to consolidate the information they have in the SAP system.

After automating a process, we prepare a report that shows how much money automation has saved. IQ Bot has reduced costs, and there are fewer mistakes because humans make mistakes. 

These bots also work 24/7, which is also a big benefit. Earlier, if a task took a week, with IQ Bot, we can do the same task in 30 minutes or so depending on the amount of information.

It is very easy to set up and use this tool to get information from documents. It can get the information about the purchase order number, average, description of purchase orders in several formats without any problem.

It should have more artificial intelligence to capture information from a document. Currently, our clients are preparing invoices manually. They are not digital, so we need to scan all the documents, but we are facing issues in capturing all the information through IQ Bot. Therefore, we have to use other tools to capture the information, and then we use IQ Bot to process all the information. They need to improve the artificial intelligence for document scanning.

I have been using this solution for around one year.

It is stable. We had no issues with its stability.

It is scalable. We have implemented it in a medium company as well as in a large company without any problem. It only depends on the server on which you run the bot.

Their technical support is fine. We don't have any problem with the support of Automation Anywhere.

Its initial setup is easy. It takes one week to create the processes and then develop, test, and put them in production.

We have a team of four people for supporting a big customer with this solution. They monitor the processes and check if there is any problem. We support all the bots that we develop.

Our customers evaluate UiPath and Power Automate.

I would recommend this solution because it is very easy to implement, and there are no problems. Automation Anywhere's support is also available at any moment.

I would rate IQ Bot a seven out of ten.

I have worked on two processes. One process was pretty simple, and another one was a complex process.

I like most of the algorithms that it has, such as classified algorithms. I also like the OCR engines that it provides. We get a lot of options to explore and deal with. IQ Bot has added a lot of value in terms of extracting the information. Some OCR engines have limitations in terms of extracting the information.

They have recently added a new feature that allows us to add Python scripting. Earlier, we had to do the post-processing work in terms of formatting and updating the proper values, but now, we have the option to write a Python script, which is really helpful for us in terms of getting the output. We can manage everything using Python.

There are certain things that OCR engines are not capable of handling currently. For example, OCR engines pick up a slash as a question mark. They also don't have the capability to handle subcolumns in a column. It would be really helpful if they can add more OCR engines with advanced capabilities to handle such scenarios. We need more cognitive abilities in the OCR engines to deal with the most complex scenarios. 

We also need more advanced capabilities so that IQ Bot can give better results in terms of PDF quality. This is because we cannot expect the same quality from all the vendors and customers, and there might be scenarios where we get some sort of scanned copies.

I have been using this solution for one year.

It depends on the quality of the PDF that you are dealing with. If you give a good quality document, then definitely, you will get a good output. Otherwise, you won't get a good output. We are dealing with a machine, so the input has to be proper.

It is definitely scalable. It is very good in terms of scalability. For example, I have my own invoice structure in a company, and I am currently using IQ Bot to extract some information for one customer. In the future, I will have more customers, and I would be able to easily scale it because it deals with the invoice format and structure and not with a specific account or customer.  

I have experience with their technical support. There was a time when we had issues with understanding a functionality, and their technical support helped us a lot.

It is pretty easy. It is not complex. We just need to add an executable file for IQ Bot, and all other things, such as users and licensing, can be managed from the console itself. It is self-explanatory. It is similar to any software installation. You don't need any specific knowledge for this.

I would definitely recommend this solution. It has advanced a lot over time. They had a lot of versions, which had a lot of improvements. As compared to other RPA tools that are dealing with PDF or scanned documents, IQ Bot is definitely the best solution.

I would rate IQ Bot an eight out of ten.

We go into companies and help them automate their processes — that's really what we do. If somebody wants to automate their processes, we have a couple of partnerships.

Usually what happens is, when our clients are scraping off the web, one client takes a report off the web, and then they publish it to their people. In the past, somebody would sit in front of the screen and they would type it in manually. Now, instead of doing that, a bot goes up, scrapes it up, and puts it into a file which they can then distribute.

We'll take that stuff and then generate a file — that's what we do. There's the data that has to be brought in from two files, or is brought in from the web. They would combine that data to create the file.

Our clients have more free time to work on other things thanks to this solution. Instead of having to copy everything from a web screen into a file, now it's done for you. You are free to work on something else.

Try to get every person working with a bot. That way, as soon as they get some manual work, they can cut over and give it to the bot to do. When the bot is done, it comes back to the person — that's the ideal state.

IQ Bot is easy to use compared to some of the other solutions out there.

They're always trying to make it easier. The whole automation industry is moving into what they call "intelligent automation", where they have started to bring AI into it also. That way, based on decisions, automation will happen.

I have been using IQ Bot for two years.

What we're seeing is that our clients had some problems initially, but now things are becoming much more stable. The competition has become much more fierce, and the industry is starting to mature a little also, so we're starting to see some improvements.

At first, our clients used to be really worried about scalability, but now they're able to scale quite nicely. If you really want to scale, then you want it to look at the cloud. With the cloud, there are unlimited resources.

The company has good support. When they're called on, they definitely help. 

It's pretty straightforward. I think the problem is usually tuning it up, and trying to get the best performance — that takes some time.

Deployment and making the best use of the software. Some companies don't properly train their staff so they take the wrong approach.

We usually try to get the company to build what we call a COE (center of excellence), where they have a group of people that have done these projects before, and they can help each of the groups in the company do it. As a result, they start to put standards in place on what the best practices are.

Then they pass it down to the rest of the people in the company. That's the way we try to get the company to move forward.

If you just try to wing it, you'll become sprawled; everybody's trying to do their own thing, without any standards. Then, when you want to upgrade or you want to make a change, issues will arise.

With the Cloud, the price goes up and down. You only pay for what you use. If it goes up, you pay for it, and then if it goes down, you don't pay for it. It really depends on what you use.

The cost can be a problem. You have to have a good strategy, and you also have to monitor what you use. If you're not planning properly and you're not taking advantage of the bots and the resources you need, there might be some issues.

My advice is to start with a good partner that can help build your expertise. Either bring in some people or collaborate with a partner.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight. There's always room for improvement, and this industry is growing and changing. Still, IQ Bot is a leader.

My team uses IQ Bot primarily for unstructured data. Some of the use cases are related to capturing imagine-related data.

Our mainframe-based and web-based projects are working well, with no issues.

In one of the applications we were working on, we found challenges. Automation Anywhere enterprise 11 has troubles interacting with a Pega product that we are using. Consequently, there were projects that we were not able to complete.

One of the challenges that we faced was that the Automation Anywhere log files were being created and not cleaned up, which would eventually kill the bot. We began a practice where we cleaned out the log files on a daily basis, which improved the bot.

Automation Anywhere does not have support for all legacy systems. In the insurance industry, they mostly work with legacy systems and will not move to future technologies very soon because of the security measures, cost constraints, and other reasons. In these cases, we do not see improvements in terms of efficiency.

For all of the projects that we have worked on so far, it is stable apart from slight challenges.

There are only a few people in the company who use IQ Bot.

Technical support is good, although there were not able to solve the problem that we had with the Pega application. Whenever there is an issue brought to them, they will call, discuss the details, and make suggestions for resolution.

We have only used Automation Anywhere product systems, as the choices are entirely client-driven.

The deployment was easy for us but the control room is taken care of by the client. We need to approach them when we need to make changes. For example, they will move the code from client to server. We don't do that, as we have very limited access to the control room.

I feel that the price of IQ Bot could be lower. The licensing fees are paid on an annual basis.

Overall, this is a good product and most of the features we require are included. Our only challenge was with the Pega application, and Automation Anywhere should interact better with it. More generally, it should interact better with hybrid applications.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

This solution is primarily used for financial use cases like invoice processing and inventory reconciliation processes. Those are the classic use cases when we talk about IQ Bot. It deals with multiple types of invoices that have different structures, different data, and sometimes different images. This product has already been templatized and fits directly into any type of invoice coming in. If you have a new type of invoice then you have to train the tool to identify those new objects. We are partners with IQ Bot and also consultants. We assist our customers with implementing this tool. I'm an RPA director. 

What I've seen with our clients in the last couple of years, especially with the STP, is that the solution is quite good when you train really well. It identifies the printed version, but nowadays it also identifies handwritten documents to some extent. The STP ranges between 50% to 60% success, especially on handwritten invoices, but we have also seen an increase in accuracy - somewhere between 60% to 80% - for printed invoices. Improved accuracy has been a benefit for us. 

I think the product identifies really well and training is quite simple. Because of the templatization it directly slots in the company name, and other basics that are all pre-defined. Training time is minimal as a result. 

I think improvement could be made where handwritten documents are concerned. If you have a printed invoice, it's easily identifiable, but if someone is writing the same thing in their own handwriting, then identifying it is much more difficult and less accurate. I'd also like to see more support available for our customers. 

I've been using this solution for two years. 

It's stable but does require know-how. When you want to deploy these bots into production, the control room admin has to know what he or she is doing. The integration between IQ Bot and RPA is quite easy. This is where there can be a few challenges. If the person is not well trained, especially in the control room side, they might have some issues. But if they are well trained, it's stable. 

Scalability is quite good. I've never had an issue, it basically runs through how many bots you process so it keeps running one by one, because it has to read one at a time and it keeps running. If there's a memory issue or if the bots have not been written well, then probably the bots could fail. If you follow the Automation Anywhere best practices for development, then I don't think there are any issues. It requires a coding checklist from Automation Anywhere to make sure that it follows the standards.

Because we are a partner we don't normally get into technical support. We receive help from Automation Anywhere directly. 

The initial setup is quite easy. Most of the time, we do a small POC then pick up one or two small devices, showcase them for those training in it and then create a bot using RPA. IQ Bot is only for intelligent document processing. It's only for the extraction, but the next step is to process that information which has been extracted by this IQ Bot. We use RPA to create the bots, extract the data and run through invoice processing, opening any SAP or Oracle application. It extracts the data from invoices, puts it into a CSE, Excel file, reads through the Excel file, then opens an application, and runs it through.

If you're buying this IDP tool, then you need to make sure you're going to get a substantial ROI. More importantly, the organization needs to have a vision as well as the ability to identify the right use cases for using IQ Bot. I've seen a few cases where organizations did not understand how this tool can be used and therefore did not achieve an ROI. 

From what I have seen in the industry, most organizations need intelligent document processing, because if you are using RPA, you have a financial department where you're doing invoicing or procurement, you're running purchase orders, or you have inventory, which requires inventory reconciliation. Every organization deals with documents, and the digitization of documents will increase the scale and scope of your process automation somewhere between 20% to 40%. You can also easily increase your ROI. This is the main task which requires a large manual effort with a lot of human error. You can reduce all those errors and your expenses. This tool automates it all and things are processed more accurately and quickly. On top of that, it works 24/7. 

You do have to know how to use this tool, how to train the templates, to create that efficiency. It's part of the challenge. The main point is when you do a POC, you need to measure the cost of the software licenses, implementation, training, deployment versus your ROI. You have to make sure that if you're buying this IDP tool, then you are trying to get at least a substantial ROI. More importantly, the organization needs to have a vision as well as identifying the right use cases for IQ Bot. I have seen a few cases where organizations did not understand how this tool can be used and they didn't achieve the ROI.

I would rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capability is one feature I would like to highlight. Whenever we want to create something from the previous documents or images, the OCR feature enables us to do that job easily.

Migrating from the previous version to the current version is a little tricky. We could not find proper documentation or guidelines to help us migrate the bots from the previous version, version 11.3, to the newer version A2019. 

As this kind of documentation is lacking, whoever wants to migrate from the previous version to the newer version will face some difficulties. That's one thing they can improve on as it'll be helpful for the users.

I have been using IQ Bot for almost one year.

IQ Bot is a stable solution. We didn't face any difficulty in terms of implementation or in terms of running the bot. 

IQ Bot is scalable. As we're running it on a cloud, we can achieve whatever volume we want in a matter of minutes.

IQ Bot was quite easy to set up because we had some knowledge using the previous version. The maximum time it'll take for the initial setup is about four hours.

We are the preferred implementation partner for Automation Anywhere. We have a good dedicated account manager. Whenever there are problems, it's solved within one to three days.

There are others like Automation Anywhere offering similar kinds of bots for less. Most of the platforms are the same, and most of the features are the same, but not the licensing cost. That is an area they can rethink and reduce the licensing cost to help most users.

If there were a couple more free features on the platform, it would help users understand it by implementing them before paying for a commercial one.

Because of the higher licensing cost and lack of proper documentation, I would give IQ Bot a seven on a scale from one to ten.

We mainly use it for invoicing and other similar things. We use it to extract the data in different kinds of forms. 

The flexibility to deploy based on the different types is the most valuable. We can deploy pieces of the program directly over the fields. We can also directly connect with databases. We can modify it and make different connections with the database.

We are also able to programmably modify the fields and change the presentation and values or evaluate a list of values. We can change the values on the fly.

It is very flexible and very easy to use and learn. It is also very simple.

The way this solution creates invoices can be improved. It is slow. Sometimes, it is also very complicated because you need to apply some kind of filters and effects over the images, which makes it a little bit complicated. They can reduce the complexity to manage the fields or incorporate other features. They can provide an easy way for developers to customize and program fields.

The accuracy of the OCR engine can be improved. It would be great if they can also provide an ICR engine and an option to choose between OCR or ICR.

I have been using IQ Bot for a couple of years. 

It has good stability. 

It is very scalable. In terms of scalability, it is very competitive against Datacap, and it is very close to Datacap. These are the leaders in this field.

I didn't get a chance to interact directly with their technical support. I use our internal support. I need to go through our technical team, and they provide level-one support. If they can't resolve our questions, they directly interact with their technical support.

The initial setup is very simple and straightforward. Deployment of 25 types of forms with an average of two or three variations probably takes around three weeks.

It has an average cost.

I would recommend this solution. It has been very flexible for us, and it is helping us to reach our goals at the moment. 

I would rate IQ Bot a seven out of ten.

I would say that the best feature is that it has native automation for the US. At the end of the day, you still have to do the same amount of coding to actually pull that data into your code, but with the automation, you are sending it to part of the same kernel, or the same interface, and that makes it much easier. Because I've seen sometimes that they say that even ABI can go with BPA, at least according to the label. But with less than 300 BPA, I see that it's not really possible. Same with the kernel. If there are a lot of tables and frames, it messes it up. But that doesn't happen for IQ Bot.

The first place it could be improved is its price - it is too high. I'm having a lot of difficulties moving it to the customers. If they could fix that it would be awesome. Because the Automation Anywhere is hardware-intensive, it requires other set-ups, a control room, and it's already taking 16 GB of space. Then if I move to IQ Bot, and I have to set up another server for it, it becomes pretty expensive. And that is where the hardware cost comes in. So I think that if they could reduce the cost thing it would be really helpful.

I would say it is the best choice, especially if you're already on Automation Anywhere. They are working at implementing third-party tools. Right now, I am with the company, but before that, I was with another company as well as IQ Bot. A lot of people have purchased a lot of license work but they have not actually put it to good use, or they were unable to. So, it is a question of quality control. But then again, from a CTA perspective, I would say I know it is possible to increase the optical features, as well.

I am not referring to just character recognition, but for example, let's have the scanner import that image properly. Sometimes in a test it happens that the picture is a bit clearer. Or let's say a company logo. If a print is misaligned, it can figure it out. So I am more than happy regarding their automation technology.

I have been using IQ Bot for about four or five years.

The problem is that some of the invoices are very sensitive. If one of these invoices had bad handwriting it just fizzles out, so what has it accomplished? I think it should be able to scan while it is running itself. It should pop up and say, "I am unable to read this can you please help." In that way, we need more traffic to end-users. Then the bot clears one business invoice. But maybe you can have a guy in shipping who just got there while the bot is running, when these jobs start they post those really fast. The reading part might get confusing.

If the bot could just pop up and say, "look at this is the one that I'm confused with, can you please clarify?" If it could do that while the bot is running in IQ Bot, that would be super cool.

I think there are some security issues if you want to scale up. There are two versions - standard and deluxe, standard for basic bot and deluxe for interface with optical printing. So if you scale more than 20 bots, you have to buy more. We work on our commission anyway so you can have a thousand bots running from the same thing for you.

I was in touch with support a couple of times. They are good. There are two parts to the support. One part is in India, where they recently fired a lot of people. The other part is in the US. That team is awesome.

The support guy I got was a champion. He's the one who helped me with IQ Bot to begin with. The point is that it is okay in terms of the system. But let's say there is a call for the controller. With some claims you should not give permission for virtual control because if the agent crashes it also crashes the other systems that are connected to it, which are not visible to them.

I'll tell you the good part and the bad part of Automation Anywhere. Automation Anywhere is amazing for people who have a vision, a plan, and a strategy. People who know what they are doing and are technically sound. Because automation generally comes with a loss of a sense of control. You need to know to whom to give access and for what. Now the problem is that your computer is your own bot. Now what happens with the bot is that they don't necessarily need an architecture to run it. For Automation Anywhere you really need a control room, and a control room costs $7,000 to $10,000. That's what we get for my company. So that becomes a big roadblock.

Because you can just clear the bot, you can get it to stop. You do not necessarily have to connect to the conclusion to run the bot. I can put some code into the batch file and make it run while the bot is running. But you cannot fulfill your function there. So that is a pro and a con.

Specifically for IQ Bot, I would say the setups that I have done took me about seven to 10 days, at the most.

I would say first to do another determination to see if it's worth it. For example, if you are a banking company and you tell me that I'll have a lot of checks that will need to be verified, I would say that's fine, because the format of the checks will be standard. Although you would have to identify the handwriting. But still, at least the amount of coding is easier. However, if you are doing B2B or B2C, and you have multiple invoices coming in to you, I would say don't do it. Because in India, they're very strategic. I can have a person actually putting it into Excel and then I can have a bot taking over. So that's why I already see that it's very important.

The technology should be business-oriented. So unless it is a high-ticket item they won't even talk to me, because business is first. So if you are trying to host a business on your product it is never going to fly. And the problem with automation is that it is close-ended, it is not initial.

They are pointed towards automated scenarios. You can download a version and do things, but they won't listen to the guys who write the code on the ground technical level. They have a different way of operating, because at the end of the day, it is just business. Their mindset is to catch on to the top-level bosses or leaders.

You can do it for a couple of months, or maybe a year or two. They launched version 7.3 two years back, all with multiple backers. In two years you are ensuring that you are out of date. Do you think any product with a life cycle of two years is worth it? I don't. You don't even get value return in two years. Because of the building of the bots, building on a higher component, it takes minimum three years or more to break even. And that is with your bot not completing your applications.

On a scale of one to ten I would rate IQ Bot a 7.