QSR October 2022

| T H E D R I V E - T H R U M E N U B O A R D | fresh ideas

Kansas-based Freddy’s Frozen Custards & Steakburgers. The goal is for a board to be “cool versus creepy.” Animation alone in the past few years has moved beyond menuboards showing, for instance, steam rising from a cup of coffee to a video display of how coffee or any other menu item is created. Zoom-like video can show an eatery employee speaking to a guest in the drive-thru. Meanwhile, upgraded speaker systems linked to menuboards are not only seeing improved voice recognition, like Siri or Alexa, but they can rely on artificial intelligence to learn how to differentiate a customer’s voice fromback ground noise or to adapt to different accents. “Microphones in the past recorded everything, and it would have been hard for a system to adapt to that,” says Minh Le, chief information officer at Checkers and Rally’s. “Now you can tell a human voice versus cars or street noise or birds.” Artificial intelligence ( ai ), or machine learning, is key to future quick-service menuboards. It will allow operators to change their boards—even automati cally— “depending on factors like weather or product availability,” Cook says. And by learningwhat customers are order ing, “the menuboard can customize itself to that. It’s all about capturing data and using analytics.” The use of AI can provide operators a deep dive into what makes their customers tick and goes beyond the individualization that already occurs through tying the guest ordering experience— including menuboards interaction—to mobile apps and loyalty programs. Examples of these advances can be found across the quick-ser vice restaurant firmament. Starbucks rolled out the digital barista camera in 2015 to bring the employee-customer personal connection to the drive-thru lane. The screens can showthebarista takingaguest’s order, themenu item, and the cost. Customers can also viewAI-drivenbeverage and food recommendations, basedonweather, relevant beverages and food for the daypart, product availability, or popular items other customers at the store have ordered, says a spokesperson for the Seattle-based giant. Not only does the barista camera bring a more personal touch to the drive-thru, but there have been instances where hearing impaired guests in their cars have been able to order a menu item through sign language or other means. Early this year, the chain began rolling out a redesigned digital order screen layout at U.S. drive-thrus. The appearance is similar to Starbucks’ mobile app, builds on existing features like the barista camera, and has a visual order confirmation that mirrors the app ordering experience. Gathering data and putting it to work is key to expanding dig ital drive-through menuboards beyond pretty pictures and nifty graphics, Freddy’s Thompson says. The idea is to reduce order and fulfillment times and make menu choices easier through a data driven design strategy. “Most peoplewho come up to amenuboardmake their decision in a few seconds,” he says. “So, you have to be quick, but tell the

entire story.” Static menuboards change slowly, and even manual entry on digital boards—from pricing to popular items—may lag. Freddy’s new system was built using more than 3 million lines of data to see what guest behavior was saying. Testing added a million more lines. For gusto!, moving to a new systemmeans the chain’s unique menu requires order confirmation needs to be stronglywoven into the drive-through lane’s digital technology. “Managing that will help

CHECKERS & RALLY’S IS AMONG THE BRANDS BRINGING AI INTO THE DRIVE-THRU ORDERING LANE.

us to be more nimble on changes and allow the messaging to be more dynamic,” Nybl says. “It’s where art meets engineering from a communications standpoint,” he notes. At the same time, the chain intends to com plement its upgraded menuboard with a human connection by continuing to have an employee in the drive-thru lane during busy times to help guests. Checkers andRally’s newvoice assistant has proven to be highly precise—clocking in at 98 percent accuracy rate overall and nearly 100 percent at some locations. The systemis triggeredwhenaguest drives up to themenuboard, and the customer is greeted in real timeby a femalehuman-sounding voice connected to the cloud. The voice will respond to the visitor by not only taking the order but by suggesting a combo or other menu item, answering consumer queries, making any corrections, and then providing the payment amount. Most of the time, an employee in the restaurant “is not involved,” Le says. Instead, the less-pressured worker at the pick-up window is filling drinks, making fries, and accepting payment. In the more than 170 restaurants where the system is installed, “the employ ees love it.” The assistant continues to learn. “The longer it works at a store, the more the machine learns and builds up its dictionary,” the CIO notes. At most Checkers and Rally’s units, the new voice assistant involves minimal cost for franchises that had updated their over all timer and headset systems over the past five years. Certainly, cost is a factor as technology continues to move forward. “As we roll out all these things out, we have to be sensi tive to the needs of our franchise community,” Thompson says. These devices are not free, “so let’s do it where it makes sense, for us and for franchisees.” q

BarneyWolf is a regular contributor to Food News Media and is based in Ohio.

CHECKERS AND RALLY’S