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Visitors to Walter E. Washington Convention Center encouraged to ask Alexa

April 10, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Through a strategic partnership between Events DC, the official convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia, and Volara, the voice hub for the hospitality industry, visitors to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center are finding their way around the facility and hosted events easier than ever before through an ever-familiar voice.

The new voice-based wayfinding solution atop Amazon Alexa is powered by Volara’s market-leading enterprise-grade conversation management technology. Inside the 2.3 million-square-foot building sits wayfinding kiosks that host the voice assistant. Visitors are encouraged to ask Alexa about happenings within the convention center and ask where to find meeting spaces, food-and-beverage outlets, the closest shoe shine, the business center and more. More than 50 kiosks featuring the Volara-powered solution on Amazon Alexa will greet visitors, and voice commands will extend outside the facility to local businesses, services and attractions.

“At the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, we aim to provide our customers with a memorable experience,” said Samuel Thomas, senior vice president and general manager of Events DC. “Most people are tech savvy, and they want to have real-time access to the information they need in a format they are most accustomed to using. We partnered with Volara to provide wayfinding on voice command. Now event goers can get their questions answered quickly without having to seek out staff; it’s quick and efficient. We aren’t replacing face-to-face employee interaction – customer service is our core value and the reason we engaged in this project. This voice technology enables us to scale personal service and gives our customers the option to get information their way. It’s exciting.”

Wayfinding is just the first step. Thomas said his team is working with Volara to add more commands to the voice assistant with the goal of personalizing experiences for visitors. Show organizers can customize or brand kiosks strategically placed in their event locations. Volara’s conversation management engine will then be leveraged to respond to voice prompts for each event. The convention center is considering selling kiosk sponsorships as a value-added service. An automobile manufacturer, for example, may want to sponsor all kiosks in the Convention Center during The Auto Show, providing a good revenue stream for the facility and making the event more interactive, informative and fun.

“When we tell customers about this voice initiative, they get really excited,” Thomas said. “We are always trying to find ways to reinvent ourselves and provide better services for customers, and technology is at the core. Recently we added smart furniture to the public areas that contain USB ports or standardized plugs to keep people connected. We are one of the first convention centers to offer free WiFi. And, through our strategic partnership with Digital Conventions, we now have the most robust digital signage program in the country. This voice project with Volara is yet another added service that we are providing to our customers. With the flexibility of Volara’s software, the sky is the limit.”

Lasan Coger, general manager of Digital Conventions, said he was intrigued when Thomas approached him about the wayfinding by voice command initiative. “A collaborative team from Events DC, Digital Conventions and Volara met and put our minds together to see how we could launch this program. It was challenging to get to where we are today, but everyone involved loved the challenge, and more importantly, we love the product. When we see the responses from attendees at our events, it validates what we are doing, and we can’t wait to expand this program.”

Volara provides platform agnostic voice-based conversation management software and a secure integrations hub to the hospitality venues. Its software turns the leading consumer voice assistants (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and IBM Watson) into a business tool that drives more efficient customer service, influences visitors’ behaviors, and improves net promoter scores. Volara is a launch partner for both Google Assistant Interpreter Mode and Alexa for Hospitality.

“We are thrilled to bring wayfinding on voice command to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center,” said David Berger, Volara CEO. “We see Convention Centers, Casinos, Malls, Stadiums, Amusement Parks or any venue that can benefit from wayfinding as an exciting vertical for Volara. This successful deployment is proof that Volara-powered voice assistants can make a venue more visitor friendly, easier to navigate and more efficiently operated. Today we have a waiting list of convention centers that are eager to deploy our solution. The interest is overwhelming.”

To learn more about Volara-powered voice assistant programs, visit volara.io.

Travel News | eTurboNews

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Iberostar Hotels & Resorts launches voice bookings with ‘Google Assistant’

March 19, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Iberostar Hotels & Resorts has launched an innovative option enabling guests to book rooms through voice commands thanks to an integration with Google Assistant. This is a major step forward for customers, who, from now on, will be able to explore this option from their assistant-enabled devices using voice search. When a customer says, “Hey Google, I want to book a room at,” followed by the name of an Iberostar hotel, its location and the desired dates, Google will provide the details of that hotel’s availability and rates and finalize the booking using Google Pay credentials. In turn, the hotel will be notified of the booking via the channel selected by the user.

Voice bookings through Google Assistant is the latest addition to Iberostar’s innovation plan to provide its guests a great experience, even before their stay. The feature is already available in English for users in the US on Android and Apple smartphones, as well as household devices. During the initial stage, customers will be able to book the following Iberostar city hotels immediately with no advance reservation restrictions in various locations around the world: Iberostar Las Letras Gran Vía (Madrid), Iberostar Lisboa (Lisbon), Iberostar 70 Park Avenue (New York), Iberostar Paseo de Gracia (Barcelona), Iberostar Grand Budapest (Budapest), Iberostar Grand Mencey (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the Iberostar Berkeley (Miami).

“We strive to provide our guests not only with a platform to create great memories during their stay at any of the destinations where we operate, but also with services that cater to their needs,” said Javier Delgado Muerza, Iberostar Group’s Chief Digital Officer. “We are working on connecting with them and facilitating their experience with us. This is a step forward in the company’s current digitalization plan, which is centered on users and innovation, while remaining committed to providing an outstanding hotel experience”.

Iberostar has entered into a strategic alliance with Mirai for the development of this project, aimed at boosting sales thanks to multi-channel connectivity, which includes this cutting-edge voice recognition-based solution that positions the brand amongst the world’s leading international chains.

Travel News | eTurboNews

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