How Does OpenTable Answer Reservation Calls?

Glenn Fogel says a call to leave a restaurant reservation through OpenTable is a talk with a voice AI.

He would never call well-known restaurateurs and ask them to get him in on a night. His wife makes the reservations, and she uses OpenTable through the system. He wants the point made that the booking goes through the system. Sometimes she calls, and he calls too. OpenTable works with a third party in a three-way arrangement among the restaurateur, OpenTable, and a company that produces a voice AI. He calls, or his wife calls, the restaurant to leave the reservation, and the caller is talking to an AI. The result is wonderful because the restaurant does not want to have somebody there just to talk. A person who does not want to use the online service and wants to speak to somebody still speaks to somebody on the call.

The voice line lets a restaurant take a spoken reservation without keeping a person on the phone, while OpenTable still covers guests who would rather call than use the booking service.