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SoundHound AI Inc., a provider of artificial intelligence-based voice technology apps, strengthened its hand in the hotly competitive restaurant point-of-sale market early Tuesday with the introduction of an enhanced platform.
The new platform will provide restaurants with the ability to connect all ordering channels to provide a “unified customer experience” through those channels, the company tells Digital Transactions News.
New features include call-to-order, text-to-order, scan-to-order, and in-car voice ordering through the vehicle’s infotainment system. The inclusion of these features is expected to improve order accuracy, reduce customer wait times when ordering, increase customer loyalty, and provide restaurants omnichannel ordering capabilities.
A cornerstone of the new platform is the Polaris multilingual speech recognition model, which SoundHound developed in-house. The inclusion of Polaris is expected to make ordering easier and more accurate across all ordering channels, SoundHound says.
The inclusion of call, text, or scan-to-order capabilities allows consumers to pre-order before reaching the drive-thru window, reduces wait times, increases throughput, and optimizes revenue, according to SoundHound.
Another feature expected to boost revenue is automatic upselling capabilities. The feature was included to ensure that upselling takes place with each order, something restaurant employees can’t be counted on to do, SoundHound says.
Restaurants will also have access to analytics and insights that can be used to improve customer interactions.
Artificial-intelligence technology is becoming table stakes for restaurants, as many struggles with labor shortages, SoundHound says. Offloading more basic tasks to an AI-based platform frees employees to focus on more complex tasks, which increases operating efficiency, the company adds.
SoundHound introduced its in-car voice-ordering app in January. The app allows consumers to place an order, make payments, and locate the nearest pick-up location by speaking to the vehicle’s infotainment system. Consumers can ask the system to locate the nearest MOD Pizza restaurant, for example, then request the fastest route home from the restaurant.
SoundHound has placed its platform in 10,000 restaurant locations. Chains using it include Chipotle, Church’s Texas Chicken, Jersey Mike’s, and White Castle.
