Software

Voice technology provider teams with Mastercard on solutions for restaurant orders

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September 30, 2020

SoundHound Inc., a provider of voice AI and conversational intelligence technologies, has partnered with Mastercard to develop voice-enabled drive through solutions that deliver low-touch, high-engagement experiences for quick service restaurants and their customers at a time when the impact of COVID-19 is motivating consumers to seek safer alternatives, according to a press release.

Mastercard is looking to transform drive-through and drive-in interactions through vehicle recognition, voice ordering and artificial intelligence.

Houndify's Speech-to-Meaning and Deep Meaning Understanding technologies are uniquely positioned to reduce friction and ease backups common at QSR drive-through stations. Houndify's voice AI technologies enable the system to understand complex orders, substitutions and special requests quickly and accurately — even during peak hours. QSR patrons can order what they want with natural voice queries, and confirm the accuracy of their orders, just like they were talking to a human.

For example, a customer can say: "Can I get the hamburger combo, extra large, no pickles, add onions and mayonnaise, substitute the drink for a vanilla milkshake, and give me a side of chicken nuggets with hot mustard dipping sauce." The voice ordering system will quickly understand and repeat the order, letting the customer know if any of the items are unavailable.

The customer can then add items and modify the order at any time: "Add a medium fries to that order and change the vanilla milkshake to chocolate." Houndify's conversational intelligence maintains context without requiring the user to repeat previous inputs.

Mastercard is deploying these new solutions with retailers along with sports, entertainment and hospitality partners including Circle K, Delaware North, Dunkin' and White Castle. The AI powered drive through technology will begin pilots at White Castle locations in October 2020, and will be rolling out to other quick service restaurants later in the year.

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