It has become common to reserve a table well in advance if you want to dine at a popular restaurant. We rarely think about how many calls these popular establishments must receive. Even more rarely, if at all, do we consider that restaurant reservations are now being managed by artificial intelligence, and when you call to book a table, you might not be speaking to a human anymore.
AI Voice Assistants as Customer Service Tools
High-quality customer service is one of the key standards in the hospitality industry. While AI tools as hospitality phone agents are not yet as widespread as consumer-oriented generative AI tools, they represent another niche that significantly contributes to the automation of business processes.
In restaurants, these AI-powered tools are typically available 24/7 via phone and can provide consultations on general topics such as dress codes, seating arrangements, cuisine, food allergens, and they also manage table reservations.
What Do Virtual Host Offer?
AI integration is especially advantageous for restaurants, as this automation saves time for the administration by answering questions that are often already covered on the restaurant’s website. Every customer’s call is answered promptly, speeding up the reservation process and enhancing the overall customer experience.
Moreover, this helps avoid issues related to human error. Employees might be overwhelmed or tired, which can lead to distractions during interactions with potential customers. As a result, reservations might get mixed up or double-booked, requiring a call to the customer to cancel or reschedule, which usually leads to dissatisfaction.
Machine learning also uses predictive analytics, drawing on statistics to forecast future needs and optimize the restaurant’s operations. It can even personalize recommendations for customers, predict which tables are most often selected, forecast spikes in customer traffic, or anticipate last-minute reservation cancellations or no-shows based on past data.
In real time, AI can also be integrated to analyse waiting lines, estimate wait times, and provide updates via SMS or apps, improving the efficiency of queue management in the future.
Additionally, AI voice integration into reservation systems allows for automated reminders or confirmations of existing reservations, ensuring that all available tables are utilized efficiently. If a spot opens up, it can be quickly rebooked for another customer.
Using virtual hosts in dining establishments not only improves the business’s internal processes and efficiency but also offers significant benefits to customers, which is the key focus. Faster responses, personalized offers, and recommendations help enhance the guest experience and elevate it to a higher level.
It’s important to remember that successfully integrating new technologies requires proper preparation and testing. There are still cases where AI voice assistant may not understand a question or the query falls outside its programmed scope.
Data protection is also a critical issue here. It’s essential to choose quality, trusted data protection measures to ensure the safety of customer information.
Final Word
Virtual host enables restaurants to create a high-quality and elevated hospitality experience by automating certain processes and fully integrating AI. As a result, the importance of machine learning systems is steadily growing, becoming a vital component of successful business operations.
