Chatbots for chicken wings: AI voice startup ConverseNow expands with Wingstop
By Emily Price
The next time you call Wingstop, a voice-powered AI virtual assistant might be the one taking your order.
Austin-based?ConverseNow?on Thursday announced a new partnership with the popular restaurant chain, which will automate phone orders at select locations. The new arrangement will allow customers to place orders in both English and Spanish with the company’s computer assistant, eliminating the restaurant’s need to even answer the phone.
ConverseNow’s virtual ordering assistants are designed to replicate a human conversation, even to the point of offering personalized recommendations when you order. Those orders are processed through the restaurant’s traditional point-of-sale system, allowing them to integrate seamlessly into orders being taken by human employees while increasing the store’s overall productivity.
You may have even encountered the technology before. The company’s assistants are already running at 1,200 restaurants across 40 states including some Domino’s Pizza, Fazoli’s, and Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza locations. Testimonials on ConverseNow’s website indicate those businesses have reported an increase in their average ticket price while also driving down their bottom line. It’s also freed up team members to focus on things like making pizzas and speaking to in-store customers without having to stop to answer the phone.
The company closed a $10 million funding round in August 2022 with growth equity fund Enlightened Hospitality Investments. That funding round added to its 2021 $15 million Series A led by Craft Ventures and brought the company’s total funding to $28.8 million.?
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