SoundHound AI and ChowNow Team on Responsive Restaurant Call Answering

SoundHound AI, Inc., a leader in voice artificial intelligence, has joined forces with ChowNow, an online ordering and marketing platform for independent restaurants.

This strategic partnership, announced Tuesday (Aug. 29), aims to revolutionize how restaurants handle inbound customer calls by introducing SoundHound’s Smart Answering service.

With the integration of SoundHound’s Smart Answering service, restaurants using ChowNow will now have the option to handle customer queries via a voice assistant or SMS, eliminating the need to choose between answering the phone and serving in-house customers.

The system uploads and assimilates company website information. Leveraging advanced speech recognition and natural language understanding, it provides tailored, conversational responses to customer phone queries about menu items, opening hours and other frequently asked questions.

SoundHound Chief Product Officer James Hom said the service can ensure that restaurants can capture critical revenue even during peak times when they may not be able to answer every call.

Moreover, if customers wish to place an order, Smart Answering will send an SMS directing them to the restaurant’s ChowNow ordering page.

As the food delivery and restaurant industry continues to embrace AI-driven solutions, SoundHound’s entry into the market with the introduction of SoundHound restaurant calls is a significant development.

Restaurants of all kinds are adopting AI as a way to streamline order-taking and fill gaps in labor shortages. PYMNTS data shows that as much as one in every three restaurants has had to decrease its level of service because of a lack of workers. In one example, the quick-service restaurant chain Wendy’s is automating its drive-thru ordering with generative AI.

Last week, fast-casual chain IHOP announced a partnership with Google Cloud to use its Recommendations AI to provide a personalized customer experience with menu choices and assisted online ordering. The move comes as more consumers are using digital for food orders, as much as a 9% increase from the previous year, data shows.