DENVER—RLH Corporation announced today that the company has deployed an industry-first artificial intelligence (AI) virtual agent for central reservations to support all of its 1,400 system hotels. This announcement follows the completion of a three-month program pilot originally announced on April 24, 2019.
“The results of our pilot have been very positive,” said April Weatherly, RLH Corporation director of telephony optimization and analytics. “We’re seeing travelers engage with the technology at a rate higher than we anticipated and are very pleased with the virtual agent’s ability to resolve traveler questions autonomously, reducing the cost of non-revenue related calls.”
In concert with the systemwide rollout of the virtual agent, new features and capabilities have been deployed to further support travelers. The second-generation virtual agent adds broader central reservations systems integration to support additional hotel information searches and the ability to confirm, modify, or cancel reservations. It also enhances the central reservations office ticketing system integration to ensure a seamless transfer between the caller and a live agent when necessary.
Over the next several months, RLH Corporation will continue to build out it’s AI capabilities with further enhancements to support reservations, its Hello Rewards loyalty program, and telephony solutions. “As technology continues to change, so does the expectation of the guest and how they connect to our hotels. By providing AI through Central Reservations, we are opening up alternative channels and more options for our guests without sacrificing the positive experience they’ve come to expect from RLH Corporation,” said Weatherly.
