McDreams has become the first hotel group in Europe to roll out a guest enquiries and bookings phone system powered entirely by artificial intelligence.
The AI, which is named ‘Lisa’ and is integrated with hotel employee and guest experience platform Like Magic, is now handling half of routine guest phone calls entirely on its own.
The combination of Lisa and Like Magic has increased the number of guests following an all-digital guest journey by 50% – halving the number of calls to the front-desk, reducing Germany-based McDreams’ overall operational workload by a third and increasing employee satisfaction.
This has enabled the group to reduce the personnel expenses for administrative tasks
by 80%, which is projected to generate an astonishing €600,000 in savings this year.
Ralf Bonin, Director of Operations at McDreams, said: “The combined power of Lisa and Like Magic has been nothing short of transformational for McDreams.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on being quick to embrace technology, but nothing comes even close to Lisa and Like Magic’s overall impact – both in terms of enhancing the guest experience and the employee experience.
“Lisa is not your run-of-the-mill automated phone service. She is much more like a living, breathing member of the team who can be entrusted to both communicate with and advise guests, as well as carry out tasks for them.
“However, the deep and far-reaching automation of various systems and processes by Like Magic is what truly makes Lisa special. Combined, the two have set a new benchmark for efficiency and personalisation across our hotels, unlocking an unparalleled experience for both employees and guests.”
Lisa, which was developed by AI software solutions firm Onsei, is capable of handling fully automated conversations regarding a range of common guest enquiries. These include questions concerning room availability, booking information, check-in and check-out times, as well as requests for information about the local area.
Like Magic’s platform brings a booking engine, guest platform, employee interface and monitoring tools all into one place, creating a center of operations for hotel management. This unlocks a completely digital guest journey for guests if they prefer.
In addition to enabling staff to perform 80% of their daily tasks from one single system, Like Magic also allows guests to carry out a range of actions without staff assistance. These range from checking in, ordering food, requesting additional linen or pillows, and creating keyless room passes – requiring only a smartphone.
The platform allows staff to run operations using a traffic light system of notifications and
recommended actions, making the whole process of customer service and property management
much more automated.
Markus Feller, CEO of Like Magic, said: “McDreams has a stellar reputation in the industry for pioneering new tech, so it makes it perfect sense that Managing Director Dominik Klein, Ralf and Christoph and the team would be first to unleash the combined power on Onsei’s AI and Like Magic.
“Lisa is very much a glimpse into what lies ahead for the broader hospitality sector. McDreams, like ourselves, has realised that the future of industry lies in harnessing technology that not only enhances the guest experience, but also nurtures a happy and fulfilled workforce focused on working with their empathic strengths.
“What they are pioneering today will inevitably become commonplace tomorrow – a sector that blends the best of both man and machine in order to unlock a truly personalised and seamless experience for guests, freeing up employees to be the best hosts possible.”
