DAYTON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hi Auto and Checkers and Rally's Drive-in Restaurants revealed the addition of Spanish drive-thru voice AI ordering, representing a momentous development both for the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry and for North America’s more than 50 million Spanish and bilingual speakers. Already operational at more than 350 of the restaurant group’s locations, Hi Auto’s is the world’s most widely deployed drive-thru voice AI ordering technology, and today’s announcement signifies the first of its kind for bilingual drive-thru voice AI ordering.
Following beta testing over the past two months at five of their drive-thrus, Checkers and Rally’s is ready to expand the Spanish drive-thru voice AI rollout to more franchises and stores.
“Seventy percent of Miami Dade’s population are of Hispanic descent, so I congratulate the leadership of Checkers, Rally’s and Hi Auto on being pioneers and leading the way for other companies to follow,” said Liliam M. Lopez, President and CEO of the non-profit South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “It gives me such satisfaction to see that Checkers, Rally’s and Hi Auto are implementing a policy that their drive thru employees speak Spanish. Thank you to their leadership team, and we look forward to working with them.”
Leveraging Hi Auto’s AI and automation technologies and real-time human supervision capabilities, the new bilingual feature enables drive-thru restaurants to accurately take spoken orders and inquiries for Spanish speaking customers in real-time, further enhancing the customer experience. In fact, the Hi Auto system automatically detects the language spoken by the customer and immediately responds in that language to carry out the ordering process.
“At Checkers & Rally’s, we understand the importance of creating an inclusive environment and meeting our customers where they are,” said Minh Le, Chief Information Officer at Checkers & Rally’s. “With the addition of Hi Auto’s Spanish translation capabilities to our AI voice ordering technology at the drive-thru, we’re further enhancing guest interactions, increasing order efficiency and embracing our welcoming culture. We’re excited to partner with Hi Auto as we continue to implement Spanish translation technology to our AI-powered drive-thrus nationwide.”
Designed to provide a seamless interaction with customers, Hi Auto’s solution allows restaurants to take orders from vehicles through a virtual assistant, permitting customers to conduct a natural conversation at ordering stations. Hi Auto is the only company that has scaled drive-thru voice AI to hundreds of stores, and Checkers is the only chain that has scaled drive-thru voice AI to hundreds of locations. Hi Auto has integrated unique customization capabilities that allow the franchisee community to support this scale.
Now adding Spanish to its extensively installed English drive-thru voice AI ordering, Hi Auto takes customers’ orders, recognizes each item, offers additional upsell suggestions and sends the order to the restaurant's Point of Sale. The company’s advanced AI technology understands complex menus, half-sentences, diverse accents, detailed requests, as well as mid-order changes made by customers.
Commenting on the new Spanish AI tech rollout, Hi Auto’s CEO and Co-Founder Roy Baharav said, “To best serve our communities, restaurants need solutions that speak to all customers, and the United States is the world's second largest Spanish speaking country. Our expanded partnership with Checkers and Rally’s represents a huge breakthrough for the country’s Spanish-speaking and bilingual communities, and allows every restaurant to cater to the Spanish speaking population at any time.”
Hi Auto’s conversational AI has revolutionized how QSRs serve their customers. The company’s solution streamlines the ordering experience, through fast and accurate automated order processing, helping to improve average speed-of-service, reduce operational costs and drive ROI. With over 95% order accuracy rate, Hi Auto enables restaurant employees to focus on other tasks to drive efficiency and reduce multitasking and stress, helping make the company’s solutions the most scalable across large numbers of restaurant locations.
About Hi Auto
Hi Auto is the leader in drive-thru voice AI ordering using natural language processing and high-accuracy voice recognition. Hi Auto’s technology is quickly revolutionizing the Quick Service Restaurant experience at the drive-through by optimizing order taking, increasing upsells, shortening waiting times and reducing labor costs. Hi Auto’s voice technology has quickly become America’s “Employee of the Month.”
Hi Auto is the only company in the world to deploy conversational voice ordering AI at hundreds of restaurant drive-throughs, including Checkers and Rally’s where every voice AI store runs on Hi Auto. While the company previously sold through a reseller, Hi Auto now sells directly to its restaurant customers. Expanding quickly across the country and also internationally, Hi Auto’s technology is currently utilized in more than 20 states and over 375 locations in the United States.
Developed by leading professors, former Google employees and through work with leading automotive manufacturers, Hi Auto is the first company in the world to widely deploy high-scale voice ordering in drive-through restaurants throughout the United States.
For more information visit: Hi.Auto
About Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.
Based in Tampa, Fla., Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc., an iconic and innovative drive-through restaurant chain known for its bold, craveable food, famous fries, exceptional value, and people-first attitude, operates and franchises both Checkers® and Rally's® restaurants. With more than 800 restaurants and room to grow, Checkers & Rally's is a proven brand with flexible building formats that is aggressively expanding across the country. Checkers & Rally's is dedicated to being a place where franchisees and employees who work hard can create opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities. In recent years, the brand has earned several of the industry's most prestigious awards including: "#1 Most-Loved Fries" in 2021 and "#1 Most Craveable Fries" by Restaurant Business in 2019 and 2017; Best Franchise Deal and "Best Drive-Thru in America" by QSR Magazine; Top Food and Beverage Franchise by Franchise Business Review; the "Hot! Again" award from Nation's Restaurant News; several "Most Innovative" awards from Franchise Update Media; and has consistently been ranked on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500.
