USA | OpenTable has partnered with PolyAI to introduce voice AI services throughout its global catalogue of restaurants.
PolyAI, a voice AI solution for customer experience and service, has announced a partnership with OpenTable, a global leader in restaurant technology.
This partnership will expand PolyAI's guest-led voice assistants to enterprise restaurants. Locations that opt-in will be able to take reservations over the phone, answer questions, gain visibility in customer trends, and deliver on-brand experiences—all while alleviating staff time and resources.
This alliance delivers PolyAI's lifelike voice AI to help restaurants tackle challenges around staffing and provide consistent hospitality, even off premise. In a survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association, 62 percent of operators said their restaurants did not have enough employees to support existing demand. With onsite staff focused on in-house patrons, restaurant groups routinely miss between 30 to 60 percent of phone calls to their front of house (per PolyAI customer data) – meaning missed revenue opportunities and equally valuable customer touch points.
With this strategic partnership, OpenTable's global network of restaurants will be able to integrate PolyAI voice assistants, built using generative AI and spoken language technologies, to assist their diners in seamlessly booking and managing reservations over the phone, during and outside of operating hours.
"We know how tightly restaurants manage their guest experience and this can be even more complex for our partners doing business at scale," said Susan Lee, Chief Strategy Officer at OpenTable.
"We have, and continue to invest in, technology that pushes boundaries and enhances hospitality and our integration with PolyAI is a new way we can drive efficiencies for our restaurants, and diners."
For larger operators, this partnership enables numerous iterations of voice assistants to cater to the unique needs of multi-location and multi-brand portfolios, while providing PolyAI's proven enterprise-grade assurances around availability, security and data protection.
"We have extensive experience deploying voice assistants to hundreds of locations for some of the largest restaurant groups in the world, helping operators resolve up to 70 percent of calls over the phone without the need for additional staff," said Michael Chen, VP of Strategic Alliances at PolyAI.
"This strong connection with the restaurant industry started right from the earliest days of PolyAI. We're thrilled to deepen that further and work with OpenTable to help even more restaurant operators attract more diners, streamline operations and maximise revenue."
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