Diners, ConnectSmart®Host (Formerly DineTime), and Amazon Alexa

Consumers are driving the demand for technology in all sectors of the economy and the hospitality industry is no different. The ConnectSmart®Host (Formerly DineTime) app for consumers has been providing diners with the ability to locate restaurants, check wait times, and get on the waitlist at participating restaurants for some time now. Now, thanks to QSR’s development team, we’ve kicked it up a notch! With the ConnectSmart®Host Skill for Alexa, you can meet your diners where they are, when they are looking for dining options–all through voice-activated commands.

Convenience Counts

If you own an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, you know the added convenience Alexa brings. “Alexa, start my car.” “Alexa, check my bank account balance for me.” “Alexa, turn the lights off.” Now consumers can simply enable the ConnectSmart®Host Skill to ask Alexa what restaurants are nearby, what the wait times are, and even get on the waitlist at participating restaurants. Some ConnectSmart®Host voice commands to try with Alexa are:

• “Alexa, ask ConnectSmart®Host what restaurants are near me.”
• “Alexa, ask ConnectSmart®Host what the wait time at Red Robin?”
• “Alexa, tell ConnectSmart®Host to add my name to the waitlist at Red Robin.”

How the ConnectSmart®Host Skill for Alexa was Made

We created the ConnectSmart®Host Skill after sending some of our software developers out to Las Vegas for the Amazon Web Services re:Invent 2016 Conference. Don’t get me wrong, that wasn’t where the notion of voice command technology came to fruition for QSR. We’re always innovating and making sure our product road maps are on par with consumer and industry demand, but when our team had the opportunity to enter the AWS re:Invent Alexa Skill Contest, they thought it was a perfect time to move. (And of course, they were named a finalist in the contest!)

Looking Forward

Since launching the ConnectSmart®Host Skill, we’re excited that Amazon’s developer blog highlighted our skill, as well as have VentureBeat include the ConnectSmart®Host Skill in a recent post called “5 Alexa skills to try this week.” We continue to innovate here at QSR Automations and have big plans in store for our voice command technology. So imagine me asking you this in Alexa’s voice: Are your diners going to find your restaurant if they use the ConnectSmart®Host Skill? If not, learn more about the ConnectSmart®Host restaurant reservation system and how it can bring you more guest and enhance the dining experience. Start embracing restaurant technology and meet your diners where they are. Subscribe to the blog for more interesting restaurant content!

---

About the Author

Amber Mullaney led all things marketing for QSR. A proud Texan native, she graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Public Relations and spent her career in the healthcare industry before making the switch to QSR and beyond, saying she loves a good challenge. Amber has a long list of things she loves, including tacos (especially tacos), sweet tea, Texas, the outdoors, and traveling with her husband and two daughters.