SoundHound AI has been living up to its name lately by making a lot of noise in the Voice AI industry. The company, which powers more than 10,000 restaurant locations with its voice and conversational technology, recently announced new tools for operators, including call-to-order, text-to-order, scan-to-order, and in-car voice ordering. That last one excites Ben Bellettini, senior vice president at the company.
Ben Bellettini, senior vice president of SoundHound AI
“We see cars as the tip of the spear,” he said in an interview, noting that the company provides voice-assistant capabilities in newer-model vehicles for Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia, and Stellantis. “Supporting automakers is a core pillar for us. A second pillar is providing voice solutions for restaurants. Our third pillar is wedding those two together.”
The matrimony has been storybook so far.
“What’s interesting is both consumers and merchants are up for trying new paths,” he said. “Consumers can place an order through voice commands in the vehicle, and merchants can use the technology to process the order and free up staff to do other things.”
Bellettini insists automation doesn’t make the customer experience impersonal. The opposite actually.
“The technology is supplementary,” he said. “We went to a White Castle in Columbus where we met with the GM. We were a little scared as we were the AI guys. We asked her: how do you like Julia, which is they call the AI? She said she loves it. It allows her to be more human. She can spend more time interacting with employees and guests. She can take her headset off.”
General managers are also noticing that check sizes are rising. The reason is simple: suggestive selling is happening more consistently.
“When you have an employee who is trying to remember to do it but they have a billion other things going on, it doesn’t always happen,” he said. “The fact is when it gets really busy they only do it 30 or 40 percent of the time. With our solution we can program suggestive selling to happen every time.”
And not only to do it, to do it skillfully.
“The tool is capable of examining what’s in the consumer’s basket and knowing what to suggest that makes sense, without upselling the consumer to death,” he said, noting that SoundHound is integrated into the operations of Chipotle, Church’s Texas Chicken, and Jersey Mike’s, along with White Castle.
But SoundHound is doing more than just connecting cars and kitchens; it is forming alliances wherever a craving can be captured.
“We’re creating an ecosystem of merchants that consumers can order from through the Internet of Things,” he said. “We are in millions of Vizio televisions. We have tens of thousands of locations that we support with Voice AI. For restaurants that means new business, and repeat business. When you create a system for guests where they can just call and say, ‘I’d like my regular’ without even pulling out their phone, that is appealing.”
