DoorDash's AI Voice Service Can Answer Phones, Take Orders

pcmag.com:

DoorDash's new AI-based voice service is looking to help restaurants offload their phone calls.

The delivery service says it'll use a combination of real people and AI to take orders over the phone. This should result in more orders and therefore more revenue, according to DoorDash.

Roughly one in five people prefer ordering their food over the phone, DoorDash says, but the company posits that about 50% of phone calls to restaurants go unanswered. Thus, the service aims to recapture those lost phone customers and help restaurants make more money.

The AI will handle the bulk of the work, especially during peak hours, with live agents standing by to jump in if the customer needs additional support. The AI is even trained to recommend things that typically go well with certain orders, which may or may not be a selling point for some people. DoorDash promises support for multiple languages and a feature where returning customers can reorder their favorite dishes with minimal input.

Of course, this AI experience will cost restaurants money, and DoorDash recommends using it with its existing DoorDash Drive white label service. Whether restaurants think phone-based orders will generate enough revenue to justify that cost remains to be seen.

Google tried something similar back in 2018 with Duplex, which allowed the Google Assistant to mimic a human voice and make reservations, book an appointment, rent a car, or check opening times for you over the phone. By December 2022, however, Duplex on the web was shut down.

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