In a sure sign that text analytics technology is going mainstream, Clarabridge announced Monday that Wendy's International will use the vendor's analysis software to enhance its customer feedback program.

The Clarabridge text analytics solution will be used to analyze nearly half a million text-based customer comments per year collected from Wendy's Web-based feedback form, call center notes, e-mail messages, receipt-based surveys, and social media sources.

The chain's customer satisfaction team currently uses the combination of spreadsheets and keyword searching to review comments in a slow, manual approach.

"We were looking for a solution that would speed our analysis, detect emerging issues and pinpoint troubled areas of our business at the store, regional or corporate level. Clarabridge provides a solution to do just that," stated Glen Brandeburg, Wendy's senior VP of operations integration, innovation and training, in a Clarabridge announcement.

The technology will enable Wendy's to report on customer experiences down to the store level within minutes, according to Clarabridge. This will enable corporate, regional and store managers to spot and address problems related to everything from cleanliness to the speed of service and the quality of the meals.

Over the last decade, text analytics has evolved from a rarified technology used almost exclusively by government intelligence agencies and high-end financial firms to something far more accessible. Choice Hotels and Gaylord Hotels, for example, have started using Clarabridge software in recent years to quickly make sense of thousands of customer satisfaction surveys gathered each day. The stakes for a $5 restaurant meal seem even lower, though differences in dining and hotel-stays frequencies may actually put restaurant and hotel customer lifetime values on a par.

Clarabridge and Attensity are among the leading best-of-breed text analytics vendors. Broader BI and analytics vendors offering the technology include SAS, IBM SPSS and SAP BusinessObjects.