Hotel Voice Assistant Developer Angie Hospitality Acquired by Long-Time Partner Nomadix
Hotel voice tech developer Angie Hospitality has been acquired by enterprise internet network provider Nomadix for an undisclosed amount. The purchase shifts Angie more fully into the Nomadix ecosystem after being closely intertwined since the voice assistant and smart display creator was founded in 2015.
Angie AI
Angie Hospitality offers hotels a voice assistant embedded in three types of smart display and a mobile app. The voice and touch controls for guests can provide multilingual support and information on the hotel and its environs. Depending on the type of device and modules the hotel wants, Angie can answer questions about the area and amenities, stream music from the internet or a mobile device, control lighting and temperature, and even transmit room service orders. The platform is designed to be very modular and easy to upgrade depending on the needs and budget of the hotel’s clients.
Nomadix’s closeness with Angie has also served to smooth improvements and additions to the voice assistant. The companies have developed, marketed, and sold their products together for years. Now the teams and tech will be fully merged, with more of Nomadix’s clients across 150 countries now having a chance to implement the voice AI. The relationship is close enough to make the acquisition seem almost a formality. Though technically independent, the voice tech developer has always been marketed as Angie Hospitality by Nomadix. Angie founder Ted Helvey is now CEO of Nomadix and outgoing Angie CEO David Millili was previously chief commercial officer for Nomadix.
“We strive to provide unmatched reliability and innovation across all of our offerings,” Helvey said in a statement. With the addition of Angie’s award-winning technology, we’re able to offer a broader and richer set of solutions to our partners and customers.”
Hospitable Voices
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the hospitality and tourism industries, but voice assistants have helped speed up their return. Ambitious startups like Volara have not been waiting to start pushing into new hotels with their custom voice AI. Volara-powered Google Nest Hubs are in every room of Washington, D.C.’s Hotel Zena and coming to all 32 Village Hotels in the UK. Volara is also the Alexa for Hospitality launch partner and the exclusive holder of the Amazon Alexa for Business Service Delivery Designation for the hospitality industry. The company is also experimenting with adding its services to long-term corporate hotels and adding new features like the option to tip hotel staff by voice with youtip. Amazon has its own ambitions for Alexa in hotel rooms, growing since a successful pilot program at Marriott to allowing the Westin Buffalo to become the first hotel to offer to link its smart speakers to guests’ personal Alexa accounts. Alexa is powering the Echo devices installed in more than one Legoland hotel too. Volara claims to be the choice of 98% of hotels with any voice assistant globally, but Nomadix likely sees the direct acquisition of Angie as a way to shift that equation.
“Voice technology plays a key role in the contactless digital concierge strategy that hotels are implementing to address safety concerns and staff shortages – all while still offering a personalized guest experience,” Helvey said. “We believe this acquisition gives the market a truly ‘better together’ product portfolio and set of industry experts.”
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