Salwa Al-Tahan
22/07/2025
Let’s face it, at QSR drive thrus we’ve all been there: long lines, misheard orders, and frustrating interactions that plague an experience which should be about speed and convenience, but we’re all human right so we just about forgive that overworked team member. However, if it’s a less than seamless ordering process with AI that can send customers driving straight past the window to a competitor and give AI technology a bad reputation.
At Sodaclick, we believe not all AI is created equal. We’re passionate that ordering your favourite burger and chips should feel as natural as chatting with a friendly team member. That’s why, while many voice systems follow rigid scripts, our truly conversational voice AI uses deep language processing and contextual awareness™ to make ordering at a drive-thru or kiosk feel genuinely human, and not robotic.
In this blog, we’ll look at why conversational Voice AI is key to successful QSR operations and why understanding the critical difference between real conversations and command-driven scripts is absolutely essential for anyone exploring or adopting automated AI powered assistants.
Conversational AI vs. Voice AI: What’s the Big Deal?
Imagine you and your best mate are in the car deciding what to order for lunch. Placing that order with a team member or an AI powered automated order taker should always be easy and natural, despite you changing your mind, asking for recommendations, or adding extra sauces. But that may not always be the case.
Linear Command-Driven Voice AI: “The Rule Follower”
If you’re trying to place that order with a system that only understands exact phrases, you’ll notice that it’s rigid, with no room for natural dialogue. It won’t understand your current basket or personal requirements, and it usually offers the same upsells to every customer. That’s what we call linear, command-driven Voice AI. In reality, these are glorified command driven automation tools.
These systems operate strictly on predefined rules and scripts. If you say X, they respond with Y. If you deviate from the script, it gets lost and often leads to frustrating “Could you repeat that?” prompts. They simply can’t understand context beyond their programmed keywords, or adapt to new information on the fly.
This kind of voice AI has very limited flexibility and often struggles with unexpected inputs or out-of-sequence commands, meaning any slight variation in how a customer phrases an order can break the interaction and result in the system alerting a member of staff for assistance.
Conversational Voice AI: Natural Conversations
This on the other hand, is a very different interaction. One genuinely feels like they are having a natural conversation, because conversational voice AI has contextual awareness™ and data driven interactions. It understand context of what you are saying, understands the menu in full depth, knows about current time of day, weather and location and importantly remembers what you’ve said throughout the ordering process. It’s like having a team member who’s actually listening, rather than just waiting for keywords.
One key feature of conversational voice AI is that it’s based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) which allows it to understand and process what you’re saying as if it’s human. It can even handle diverse accents, regional slang (“chip butty” or “square sausage,”), and messy language. There’s no need to articulate your order as if you’re speaking to a robot from the 1980s, one can just speak naturally, as you would to anyone.
And lastly conversational voice AI has adaptive learning capabilities. The more customers interact with it, the better it gets at understanding ordering patterns, common modifications, and even anticipating popular upsells. If customers often add cheese to a specific burger, it might begin to proactively suggest it, boosting average order value.
Breaking Down the Differences
So to truly grasp the distinctions between conversational voice AI and command-driven voice AI systems, let’s break down the key features that sets them apart:
Contextual Understanding:
Conversational Voice AI: Remembers previous interactions in the order, understands the context of modifications (“add sauce to that burger”), and provides relevant follow-ups (“Would you like to make that a meal?”). It’s like having a continuous conversation where the AI gets to know your ordering preferences over time.
Command-Driven Systems: Stuck in the moment, no memory of previous interactions. It relies solely on specific keywords, making conversations feel disjointed and limited. Asking for “extra cheese” without specifying which item might lead to confusion.
Adaptability:
Conversational Voice AI: Learns from interactions, handles a variety of ordering styles, and improves over time. It’s dynamic and flexible, adjusting to new information in real time which is essential during a busy lunch rush.
Command-Driven Systems: Rigid, only capable of handling what it’s been explicitly programmed to do. Any deviation from the script often results in errors or the dreaded “Please say that again.”
User Experience:
Conversational Voice AI: Feels natural, like talking to a human, capable of managing complex order modifications seamlessly. This means happier customers and faster service.
Command-Driven Systems: Feels robotic and often frustrating, as it only manages simple, predefined queries without any depth or adaptability.
Why Conversational Voice AI Matters
The AI revolution is here, with global spending projected to exceed $1.5 trillion by 2030. However, despite the rapid growth in AI investment, nearly 85% of AI projects fail to transition from pilots to real-world implementations. This staggering figure underscores the challenges businesses face in successfully leveraging AI and highlights importance of investing in the right type of AI.
So, in a world where customer experience is paramount, QSRs and indeed, any other business looking to leverage AI technology, simply can’t afford to rely on outdated, linear systems. True conversational voice AI can vastly improve customer interactions, by offering personalised, efficient, and engaging experiences that go beyond what linear systems can achieve, and it can handle everything from complex customisations to answering menu FAQs, all while maintaining a consistent, friendly manner.
Moreover, truly conversational voice AI isn’t just about smoother transactions. It has the potential to enhance productivity across various sectors. Let’s take a look at the significant impact it has in the QSR space, where benefits are particuarly evident:
Boosting Order Accuracy: While the average drive-thru order accuracy rate for human team members is around 89%, Sodaclick’s conversational voice AI has demonstrated an impressive 98% order accuracy significantly reducing costly errors and wasted food.
Increasing Speed of Service: Customers crave speed. A mere 5-second improvement in service speed can equate to a potential gain of thousands of pounds per store per year. Conversational voice AI can cut average order taking time significantly, making service faster and queues shorter.
Consistent Upselling: Unlike human staff who might inconsistently upsell, AI can be programmed to offer upsells consistently. This has been shown to increase average drive-thru ticket sales through increased order volume and smart upsells.
Alleviating Staff Strain & Turnover: QSRs continue to face persistent labour shortages and retention for various reasons. Conversational voice AI acts as a reliable ’employee’ that can work 24 /7, is never in a bad mood, and doesn’t call in sick, freeing human staff to focus on crucial, high-value customer interactions inside the restaurant.
Conclusion: Embrace the Future
So, as we stand on the brink of a new era in technology, it’s essential to differentiate between genuine conversational Voice AI and outdated, linear systems. True conversational AI offers a dynamic, engaging, and intelligent way to interact with technology, leaving rigid command-driven order takers behind to catch up. And, by knowing the difference it will help you distinguish between an interaction that feels human and one that’s frustratingly robotic.
By embracing conversational AI, QSR’s and businesses can enhance customer experiences, streamline operations and stay ahead of the competition.
It’s also important to remember that conversational voice AI isn’t just for order taking at QSRs. It has the potential to enhance productivity in various sectors, including healthcare, finance, and education by offering intelligent, context-aware assistance that goes beyond basic automation.
So, the next time you find yourself placing an order at a drive-thru or a kiosk with a voice AI assistant, ask yourself: is this true conversational voice AI, or just another script-following software? The difference is more than just a technicality it’s key to the successful adoption and a genuinely better experience for everyone.