Leeds firm One Touch integrates Millie AI voice assistant with OpenTable

Leeds-based One Touch, which builds voice AI products for hospitality, is integrating its Millie AI assistant with restaurant booking platform OpenTable.

OpenTable customers in Australia, Canada, Dubai, the UK and the US can now use Millie AI. Restaurants using both systems can automate phone calls from diners and simplify their operations.

The assistant takes table bookings around the clock, requests food delivery and answers customer questions. It can also phone diners back to confirm reservations, offer tailored upgrade packages, record important preferences, handle bookings for OpenTable Experiences and manage large groups.

One Touch has also raised investment to fund faster international growth in those markets. The company describes the OpenTable partnership as a significant milestone.

Craig Pollock, director at One Touch, said: “This is a real milestone for us to partner with OpenTable. Our innovative technology complements OpenTable’s market-leading online booking platform, giving restaurateurs and consumers the benefits of both booking systems.

“For busy restaurants, every missed call can mean a lost reservation and reduced revenue. No shows are also a massive drain on the industry with an estimated annual cost of £17.6 billion of lost revenue. It also affects staffing levels, and food wastage.”

He said the automated receptionist answers calls at any hour and makes confirmation calls, freeing staff to focus on diners. “The benefits are huge and with the additional funding we have received we are scaling up our offering at pace,” he said.

Pollock founded One Touch in 2023 with fellow restaurant tech entrepreneur David Downs. The pair have spent 10 years building software and payment products for restaurants.

OpenTable is part of NASDAQ-listed Booking Holdings, Inc and helps more than 60,000 restaurants around the world fill 1.9 billion seats a year.