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Taco Bell is expanding its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its drive-thrus, announcing a new strategic partnership with an AI voice provider.
The fast food giant announced Tuesday an expanded partnership with Omilia, a provider of a voice AI platform that the restaurant chain is deploying at hundreds of drive-thru locations nationwide starting in 2023.
According to the announcement, Taco Bell has deployed Omilia’s voice AI capabilities to more than 890 restaurants in 38 states.
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Taco Bell is expanding its partnership with Omilia, which currently provides a voice AI platform for hundreds of drive-thrus. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“Omilia’s Voice AI reduces the workload for our team members and gives them the flexibility to engage with customers in more meaningful ways,” said Dane Matthews, Global Chief Digital and Technology, Taco Bell.
“Omilia’s platform has been proven at scale in select U.S. restaurants, and continuing this strategic partnership supports our long-term digital and technology strategy,” Matthews added.
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Taco Bell says employees at drive-thru restaurants that use its voice AI platform report improved employee retention rates. (John Turmacchi/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The Omilia platform helps automate the ordering process when customers stop by a drive-thru speaker and can adapt to individual store menus, real-time inventory levels, and available limited-time offers, making the ordering process more consistent and efficient for customers.
“The drive-thru environment is one of the most demanding environments. It’s real-time, noisy, fast-paced, and menus change from store to store and day to day,” said Dimitris Vassos, CEO and co-founder of Omilia.
The company says general-purpose speech recognition platforms tend to struggle with the various challenges fast food drive-thrus pose, from road noise and regional accents to the potentially complex order changes and pace of drive-thru service.
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| ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yum | Hmm! Brands Co., Ltd. | 165.25 | -2.24 |
-1.34% |
The company says Omilia’s features, such as noise filtering and real-time menu adaptation, were designed to address these challenges.
According to the announcement, Taco Bell data shows drive-thru transaction times using voice AI are comparable to, and in some cases faster than, traditional ordering methods.
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Additionally, Taco Bell stores that have implemented voice AI have been reported to have higher employee retention rates than stores that have not, which the company says leads to an improved guest experience.
