Dive Brief:
- Presto Phoenix has integrated its drive-thru voice AI tool with Toast’s partner ecosystem, making it easier for restaurants using Toast’s point-of-sale system to deploy the tool, according to a Monday press release.
- When Presto’s AI system is deployed, Toast’s POS system will transmit orders taken by Presto to a restaurant’s kitchen display system.
- Presto said in an email that deploying the tool through Toast was a minor integration and does not require substantial new hardware. Ease of installation could help speed up adoption of the drive-thru voice AI tool.
Dive Insight:
While drive-thru voice AI has seen tests at major brands and some significant expansions, the tech has yet to become a ubiquitous feature in the fast food landscape. Presto’s work with Boston-based Toast could help increase the adoption of the technology by making it easier for operators to deploy the tool.
Presto said the product was live with a Toast customer as of Monday, and that the technology was resulting in roughly 95% order accuracy, with worker intervention in about 10% of orders.
The integration could help Presto “extend its Voice AI capabilities to mid-market and emerging multi-location quick-service restaurant brands,” according to the press release.
Presto is “unlocking access to a growing segment of innovative QSR brands that are investing in modern POS systems and are ready to automate their drive-thrus with Voice AI,” Co-founder and CEO Krishna Gupta said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Dairy Queen expanded an initial test of Presto’s technology to select franchisees. In January, the AI company raised $10 million in funding to support its expansion and deployment. In recent years, Presto has announced partnerships and pilots with Taco Johns, CKE and Wienerschnitzel.
