Tony Loeb

🏨 Guestline, part of Access Group, enhances its GuestStay with AI-driven self-service options, streamlining hotel operations and guest experiences. The portal allows guests to manage reservations, modify bookings, and pre-order services like breakfast or parking. AI integration into the Property Management System automates actionable requests, boosting efficiency. ResDiary's integration facilitates restaurant bookings. In trials, corporate travelers favored the self-service for its convenience. Guestline properties report about 25% of their table bookings via the portal, with plans to add more upsell features in 2024. Digital registration averages 31%, doubling real guest email collection, promoting direct repeat business over OTAs.

🏫 Budderfly installed smart sensors at Hart's Sonic Drive-In locations, enabling remote HVAC control and energy savings of 3-5% per month. Hart's average spend is over $5,000 monthly per store, totaling around $300,000 annually. Savings per percent equal $3,000. Hart plans to add solar panels with Budderfly's financial and operational support, and expresses interest in future EV charger installations.

🍚 Beef 'O' Brady's operates in 20+ US states and is collaborating with SoundHoundAI for phone orders. SoundHound's voice AI answers 100% of calls and can handle multiple orders, allowing staff to focus on service. Nearly 80% of US diners expect AI to dominate food ordering soon. SoundHound's AI is deployed in over 10,000 locations and the company recently acquired Allset to expand its reach. Beef 'O' Brady's emphasizes innovation for customer satisfaction, integrating AI to streamline ordering.

🛑 Today's global tech outage was caused by a software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, impacting organizations using Microsoft Windows, notably in the airline, financial, healthcare and broadcasting sectors. Hospitality and foodservice were also affected, highlighting the need for businesses to understand technological dependencies, have a business continuity plan, and embrace redundancy with manual procedures and backup systems to ensure operations can continue during such incidents.

🔊 Beef 'O' Brady's, operating in more than 20 states, partners with SoundHoundAI for AI-assisted phone ordering. SoundHound's voice AI, trained on the chain's menu, is live in all corporate locations and available for franchises, handling 100% of calls even during peak periods. As the 2024 Summer Olympics approach, the system offers enhanced ordering convenience. SoundHound AI, deployed in over 10,000 restaurant locations, recently acquired Allset, aiming to transform the voice commerce ecosystem. Nearly 80% of U.S. diners expect AI to manage most food ordering soon.