RLH Corporation has signed on with BluIP to provide an artificial intelligence virtual agent for central reservations to support all 1,400 system hotels. This announcement follows the successful completion of a three-month program pilot.
“The results of our pilot have been very positive,” April Weatherly, RLH's director of telephony optimization and analytics, said in a statement. “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 added 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 for the caller to a live agent when necessary.
“The AI virtual agent offers a more seamless experience for travelers and an opportunity to generate greater revenue for hotel owners,” BluIP CEO Armen Martirosyan said. “Not only do the owners appreciate that aspect of it, but hotel guests are having real and unique conversations with the AI. This experience has taught us that if you can tailor a system to your guests based on how they use your products, the adoptions are much higher.”
Over the next several months, RLH will continue to build out its AI capabilities with further enhancements to support reservations, Hello Rewards and telephony solutions.
“As technology continues to change, so does the expectation of the guest and how they connect to our hotels,” Weatherly said. “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.”