Conversational AI is one of the hottest concepts in hotel management.
The notion of having a friendly auto-attendant answering frequently asked questions over the phone is no longer a fantasy – the technology is here and available to assist hotels to provide enhanced service for guests. A recent survey of more than 5,000 consumers and 600 hoteliers across nine global markets revealed that 73 per cent of consumers want hotels to offer technology that minimizes contact with staff and other guests.
Curator Hotel & Resort Collection focuses on developing preferred vendor agreements with best-in-class service providers and innovative technology for its members’ benefit, consisting of independent hotels delivering unique travel experiences in the top and memorable destinations across the United States. Curator’s hotels are known for providing exceptional levels of service, so it is important for Curator to find the best AI technology to interact with its valued clientele.
Curator vetted multiple AI solutions and recognized an opportunity to incorporate the innovative technology into the Travel Outlook scope of services, helping lead the development of Annette, The Virtual Hotel Agent. Annette’s proprietary conversational AI understands how people actually speak by using tools like movie dialogue and Facebook for design and programming. The result is that Annette is better at understanding a guest request or question, removing one of the major objections to AI technology.
Annette’s warm, human, and friendly AI-powered voice assistance creates an engaging, on-brand experience for valued hotel guests, accurately understanding the guest’s request, even when they narrate or speak in long-winded sentences. Travel Outlook has built an internal team to program and manage Annette, ensuring that she operates at the highest level of performance, conveying the latest and most accurate information during guest interactions.
John Smallwood, President of Travel Outlook, said, “Annette can help to relieve call volume challenges at the front desk, providing guests with the information they are seeking, delivered instantly and with near 100% accuracy. Annette allows guests to lead the conversation with natural, human-like interactions, leaving the front desk team free to give guests visiting them in person their complete attention.”
“Curator recognizes the growing opportunity with conversational AI to alleviate operational pain points, reduce support costs, and improve overall guest satisfaction,” said Austin Segal, Vice President of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection. “In Travel Outlook, Curator has a partner that is interested in helping our members achieve these goals, both in delivering best-in-class service and exploring and adopting new technologies, like Annette. Annette presents an opportunity for our members to deliver tech-forward call centre solutions while optimizing the owner’s bottom line.”
For additional information on Annette, The Virtual Hotel Agent:
John Smallwood, President of Travel Outlook, the Premier Hotel Call Center™
Mobile 505-470-3241
