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Maple AI Inc., a provider of artificial intelligence-based phone-ordering systems for restaurants, has partnered with Shift4 Payments Inc. to integrate its AI-based phone system into Shift4’s SkyTab POS technology.
The inclusion of Maple’s AI ordering system in the SkyTab platform is expected to significantly reduce the number of phone orders missed during peak periods because staff is unavailable to handle incoming calls.
More than 40% of restaurant phone calls go unanswered during high-volume times or off-hours, according to Maple. Some 60% of these callers don’t call back. Worse, unanswered calls can adversely affect customer loyalty, as customers whose calls go unanswered often turn to competitors and leave negative reviews. As a result, restaurants lose more than $30,000 annually in unrealized phone orders, Maple estimates.
Maple’s AI-ordering system pulls menu data directly from SkyTab, including items, modifiers, pricing, and availability, to ensure accurate order taking. Orders taken through Maple’s system appear on SkyTab’s kitchen-display system and receipt printers.
Customers phoning in orders can pay over the phone or upon pickup through Shift4’s POS system. In addition to processing orders, Maple says its system accepts reservations, handles catering inquiries, provides hours and directions, and answers frequently asked questions.
“Restaurant owners constantly tell us that they can’t afford to hire dedicated phone staff, but they also can’t afford to miss calls,” Maple chief executive and founder Aidan Chau says in a statement. “Partnering with Shift4 allows us to bring AI phone ordering to thousands of SkyTab restaurants with an integration that just works: orders flow straight to the kitchen without extra tablets, duplicate entries, or friction.”
Restaurants using SkyTab can activate the Maple integration through the SkyTab Marketplace or contact their Shift4 representative.
Since its launch December 2023, Maple says it has answered more than 1 million calls for restaurants with a 94% resolution rate without human intervention. SkyTab is in operation at an estimated 14,000 locations, including venues such as the United Center in Chicago.
