Restaurants and customers both rely on the efficiency of a drive-thru lane. Though for different reasons, they are both looking for the orders to come in, the orders to be prepared, the money to be exchanged and the food handed out in the shortest amount of time possible. At each one of these checkpoints there are several factors that play into the overall speed. However, an often-overlooked reason that can have a major impact on this process is the audio quality. Clear communication is imperative and we’ll look at some of the science behind it along with voice recognition and the obstacles that remain in that area.
Drive-thru Audio Challenges
Restaurants are loud. Outdoor environments are unpredictable. Cluttering dishes, background conversations, humming kitchen equipment inside coupled with inclement weather, engine noise and the buzz of a busy street create difficult situations to communicate. Because one side of the communication comes from the outside it is susceptible to open air acoustics where the bounce back predictably is limited and the sound waves scatter throughout.
As humans our speech has a relatively narrow frequency wave which can significantly be impacted by poor or old microphones and speakers. Any distortion or suppression to our voice frequencies can decrease our speech intelligibility a fair amount. Research shows that people are more complacent with slight speech delays or moderate volume fluctuations, but the loss of clarity can instantaneously increase cognitive effort. When people must “work harder” to accomplish something that is preconceived to be an easy task, frustration escalates quickly.
With this all being said, it is clear why drive-thru headset companies identify “noise cancellation” as a primary point of importance. Along with reducing any echoes and tuning noise frequencies, the clearer the audio, (obviously) the better. Order accuracy increases, order errors and transaction periods are reduced.
Poor Clarity and Its Impact
Having to ask customers to repeat their orders frustrates everyone involved. Beyond that, it puts service at a snail’s pace, generates angst and incorrect orders. This induces a hindrance on the overall operation of your drive-thru. Having to remake orders slows down the line which creates a negative ripple through the entire lane. Food waste and unhappy customers hits your bottom line in real-time and in the future as the likelihood of return visits diminishes.
Drive-thru Voice Recognition: Good to go?
Some of the new headset systems, like the HME Nexeo Pro, have voice recognition and order taking capabilities. While enticing for its upselling, employee reducing and expedited order taking, these capabilities remain in its infancy.
There is no doubt that the future is in voice recognition but there are still significant strides to be made to combat environmental factors, some of which we’ve listed above. In addition to those, everyone’s voice and cadence are different. Some have different accents, patterns, impediments or phrasing. Further combining this with background noise, there are simply too many current variables to rely on voice recognition.
Nowadays, voice recognition is assisting QSRs mostly with greeting the customer, beginning the order taking process and upselling. Until AI can further work through the challenges above, the need for human interaction to manage the complex and ambiguous requests will remain.
Summary
With tens of thousands being spent on digital drive-thrus, setting up the infrastructure, site plans, etc., it is the communication element that can make or break the drive-thru experience for your customers and employees. While more features are being added, like voice recognition, clarity is still what reigns supreme. It yields quicker and more accurate orders that, in turn, make you more money. Spend wisely in this space!
Do you need help making these determinations for your business? Give us a call today at 888-235-2579, email us at info@origindisplays.com or contact us here to speak with a solutions specialist.
