Avis next month will become the first car rental company to
allow customers to make voice reservations through Amazon's Alexa.
In addition to making voice-activated reservations, Avis
customers will be able to use Alexa to request receipts and review past
reservations. Avis Preferred loyalty members' stored preferences for insurance
coverage, GPS and satellite radio will also be accessible via Alexa.
Avis demonstrated the new feature at the Global Business
Travel Association's convention this week.
Avis, citing a 2015 report from research group Gartner,
estimated that almost one-third of U.S. consumers' interactions with technology
will be via some sort of voice-assistance feature.
The Amazon Echo smart speaker debuted in late 2014. Reports
this spring estimated that more than 10 million people have purchased the
product worldwide.