The phone rings during service. Next week’s roster needs finishing. An invoice is waiting for approval, and someone needs to check why the price of a regular purchase has jumped.
These are the everyday tasks that make hospitality technology worth watching.
AI and automation are creating more ways to reduce admin, spot changes earlier and give managers time back. But every system has its strengths, limitations and occasional frustrations.
At Admyn, we love exploring what technology can do for hospitality. The question we keep coming back to is simple: does it make the job easier once it’s working in a real venue?
Here’s where we see useful opportunities, what’s coming next and what to check before handing over a task.
Someone to answer the phone
AI phone assistants can answer routine questions and, where connected to a reservation system, make or change bookings. Now Book It’s Sadie is one example already offering these capabilities.
The benefit is easy to picture: fewer interruptions during service, enquiries answered after hours and less booking information to enter manually.
But the guest experience still matters. Can the assistant recognise when it needs help and successfully transfer the caller to a person?
Test it with the calls your team actually receives: a large group, a serious allergy question, a disputed cancellation fee or someone who simply wants to speak to the manager.
Someone also needs to keep its information current. Incorrect opening hours or outdated booking conditions leave your team managing the confusion afterwards.
The opportunity: fewer missed enquiries and more time for guests in the venue.
What to watch: inaccurate answers, awkward conversations and poor handovers.
A head start on the roster
Forecasting and auto-scheduling tools can help turn trading data into a proposed staffing plan. Deputy, for example, offers tools that use sales information and configured staffing requirements to support rostering.
That could mean less time building shifts and more time reviewing whether the roster will work on the floor.
However, “AI rostering” covers different capabilities. Forecasting sales, estimating staffing requirements and allocating employees are separate jobs. Check what the product actually does and which features your plan includes.
A useful roster needs more context than expected revenue. Does it allow for setup and pack-down? Is there an experienced supervisor on duty? Are several new employees working together? Does a function need extra attention?
Managers still need to review the result, including skills, breaks and applicable employment requirements. Deputy’s AI scheduling assistant, for instance, requires users to review and confirm proposed changes.
The opportunity: quicker preparation and staffing that better reflects expected trade.
What to watch: incomplete data, missing operational context and too much confidence in the suggested roster.
Invoices that help control costs
Reading an invoice is useful. Coding it correctly, checking prices and getting it approved is where the bigger gains can be.
A single invoice might include food, cleaning products and pizza boxes. If everything goes into food purchases because the system recognises the supplier, the total may be correct while your cost reporting is distorted.
Price alerts are another capability worth exploring. Flagging an increase from the previous purchase—or a charge above an agreed contract price—can prompt a supplier query, a credit request or a review of recipe costs and menu pricing.
Approval matters too. The invoice needs to reach someone who can confirm that the goods arrived and the charges are correct, with disputed items held for resolution.
Test these functions with your actual invoices. Price comparisons need matching products, pack sizes and units. Coding rules and contract prices need maintaining, and approval responsibilities need to be clear.
The opportunity: less entry and chasing, more reliable reporting and earlier action on costs.
What to watch: incorrect coding, misleading price alerts and invoices moving through without proper checks.
What’s coming next?
The direction we’re most interested in is systems doing more of the follow-through between tasks.
Imagine a function booking feeding into the staffing forecast. A supplier price increase prompting a margin review. Or an enquiry becoming a draft proposal using approved packages and pricing.
Parts of these workflows are already possible in particular systems. How well the whole process works depends on the products, integrations and setup involved.
We expect more development here. Ask suppliers to distinguish what they can demonstrate today from what is still on the roadmap.
And not every useful improvement needs AI. A reliable integration or a well-configured approval process can remove plenty of manual work.
Start with one useful improvement
Before adding another subscription, check what your existing software can already do. An unused feature or better configuration may solve the problem.
Then choose one repetitive task and run a small trial. Include setup, training, checking and corrections when assessing the time and money saved.
Ask what information moves between systems, who handles exceptions and what happens when a connection fails.
Understand how guest, employee and business information is stored and used, and check Australian suitability and local support.
After a few weeks, review the result. Has the task become quicker and more reliable? Has the team gained time, or simply moved the work somewhere else?
There’s plenty to be excited about. We’ll keep exploring what’s emerging, where it helps and where it still needs work.
Want to get more from your hospitality systems?
Talk to Admyn about your accounting, reporting and operational workflows.