¿Hay recepcionistas virtuales de IA que ofrezcan soporte multilingüe?

Are there any AI virtual receptionists that offer multilingual support? If you want the quick answer: yes, there are.

Several AI virtual receptionist platforms with multilingual capabilities exist on the market today, making it easier for businesses to connect and answer people from diverse backgrounds.

In this walkthrough, we'll examine a few options that are available, what key features you should consider for your business, and how quickly you can get a working multilingual AI receptionist before your head even hits the pillow tonight.

What is a multilingual AI virtual receptionist?

A multilingual AI virtual receptionist does almost everything a human virtual receptionist would do, except that it's artificial intelligence. It's like having an automated phone answering system that picks up your business calls, sounds like a human agent, and speaks with callers in their native language, with the ability to switch on the fly.

For example, when a Spanish-speaking customer calls a business using an AI bilingual receptionist service, the AI voice agent can automatically detect their language preference and continue the entire conversation in Spanish—answering questions about business hours, taking messages, or even scheduling appointments.

Why multilingual support matters for small businesses

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that over 67 million U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home. That's about 20% of the population. That's a pretty large market segment many businesses struggle to serve.

When a potential customer calls your business and encounters a language barrier, several things happen:

1. They immediately feel disconnected from your business
2. The likelihood of miscommunication increases dramatically
3. The probability of conversion plummets
4. They're more likely to seek alternatives that serve them in their language

Why do small businesses use AI multilingual receptionists instead of human agents?

AI multilingual agents offer greater affordability for small businesses

One of the hardest things to do when running a business is maintaining affordability so you can stay profitable. So it's no surprise when we see people come to Upfirst's AI phone answering service, leaving behind their traditional answering service.

AI multilingual answering services offer affordable pricing plans, with platforms offering plans that start between $25-50 monthly. Depending on which AI virtual receptionist platform you use, you often get access to all features on top of multilingual capability—24/7 answering, lead capture, appointment scheduling, and more.

Top AI receptionists offering multilingual support

Here are some AI multilingual receptionist options on the market today:

Upfirst - Best for small businesses, customizability, and ease-of-use

Available languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and 90+ others.
Starting price: $24.95/mo

SynthFlow - Best for healthcare and finance centers

Available languages: English, Spanish, and 30+ others.
Starting price: $29/mo

Goodcall - Best for call analytics

Available languages: English, Spanish, and 30+ others.
Starting price: $59/mo

Slang.ai - Best for restaurants

Available languages: English and Spanish (multilingual support expanding).
Starting price: $380/mo

Smith.ai - Best for both human and AI agent support

Available languages: English and Spanish (via bilingual live agents and AI).
Starting price: $97.50/mo for AI caller intake

Features to consider for AI receptionists with language options

When picking between different multilingual AI receptionist solutions, these features make the difference between basic translation and a smooth phone call conversation:

Automatic language detection

The best systems can easily identify the caller's language automatically and instantly switch to speaking that language, rather than requiring callers to select their language preference. Asking callers to “Press 2 for Spanish” sort of defeats the purpose of an AI receptionist, so be sure to pick one that can automatically understand what language is being spoken and can easily switch.

Like with Upfirst, the AI receptionist can switch back and forth between languages on a dime. So, if you get the occasional "Spanglish-speaker", the AI can switch back and forth from English to Spanish, and then back to English again.

Natural conversation flow

Do AI voices sound off-putting to customers?

It definitely can if the AI actually sounds robotic. You might notice during your research that not all AI voices sound the alike, so look for virtual receptionist services that sound as human-like as possible and can hold a natural conversation.

For instance, with Upfirst you can choose from a dozen different human-like voices. You can easily listen to each one and choose the one you feel is best for your business.

Accent capability

You don’t just want an AI receptionist that speaks another language.

You want one that sounds like a native speaker.

All AI voice receptionists use text-to-speech engines to generate their voices. But not all of these engines are created equal. Some deliver natural, native-sounding speech. Others sound like someone reading from a language textbook...technically correct, but totally off in tone, rhythm, and accent.

With a low-quality service, it’s like asking someone who doesn’t speak Spanish to read it aloud. You’ll get something that resembles Spanish, but the pronunciation and cadence will be all wrong — and customers will notice.

At Upfirst, we support high-quality voices designed to sound like native speakers of English, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, and more.

So if you really want to make your customers feel at home, then find a platform that can speak languages in the proper accent.

To let you in on a little tip: at Upfirst, if you have a request for a specific accent, we can most likely import it for you.

Other receptionist features to look for

Okay, you've found a good AI multilingual receptionist. It can speak other languages well and sound like a native speaker. But what about other receptionist features?

Here's a quick overview of other capabilities you should look for in an AI multiligual receptionist:

• Message taking. The most basic feature that AI answering services can manage. Can it accurately take and relay messages to you?
• Call transfers. Some businesses—like property management or veterinary clinics—need call routing services and transferring. If this is important for your business too, get a service that can handle call transferring.
• CRM integrations. Admittedly, native integrations for AI receptionist services still have a way to go. Services like Upfirst lets you connect to thousands of apps via Zapier, so you can push and update information gathered from calls. (Upfirst has a direct Google Calendar integration coming very, very soon).
• Lead capture. Can you set up the receptionist to ask the questions that you need to ask callers? Can you customize it to ask things like "What's your budget?", "Are you a current customer?", or "What breed is your pet?".
• Appointment scheduling. Setting appointments keeps many service-based businesses afloat. Can your multilingual receptionist also book appointments? Can it be booked right in your calendar?
• Customizability. Avoid platforms with rigid workflow builders. You should find an AI answering service that can be customized to your business.
• Ease-of-use. A good service shouldn't be difficult to get up and running, and most people don't have the time to play around with a complicated setup. Find something that's easy to set up an AI receptionist service in no time at all.

How to get started with Upfirst's multilingual AI receptionist in less than a day

Getting an AI multilingual receptionist is easy. Here's how to get one with Upfirst:

1. Obtenga su cuenta

Regístrate en Upfirst, la prueba es gratuita durante 14 días y no se requiere tarjeta de crédito, así que puedes probarla rápidamente y ver si te gusta. A continuación, añadirás información sobre tu empresa y personalizarás el saludo y la voz de tu IA.

En el saludo, puede escribir el saludo en el idioma que prefiera. Si la mayoría de tus clientes hablan español, escribe un saludo amistoso en español. Lo mismo ocurre con el francés, el portugués, el ruso u otros.

Si no estás completamente seguro, no te preocupes. Puedes empezar con un saludo en inglés y tu recepcionista de IA podrá detectar si la persona habla un idioma diferente.

2. Personalice su base de conocimientos

Aquí es donde puedes personalizar a tu recepcionista para que diga las cosas que quieres que diga y haga las cosas que quieres que haga. En la sección Información, introduce información sobre tu empresa y cualquier instrucción específica para gestionar las llamadas (por ejemplo, preguntas frecuentes, información sobre precios, detalles del servicio, etc.).

¿Cómo consigo que sea multilingüe?

No tiene que preocuparse por introducir sus instrucciones e información empresarial en todos los idiomas. Puedes ponerlo todo en inglés (o en tu idioma nativo) y tu IA puede traducirlo automáticamente durante la llamada.

Y eso es todo. Sin trabajo adicional, sin necesidad de activar ningún botón.

Si quieres un enfoque más directo, puedes capacitar a tu agente de IA para que pregunte específicamente a las personas que llaman: «¿En qué idioma te gustaría continuar esta conversación?»

3. Reenvía las llamadas entrantes y pasa a la transmisión

Luego, después de hacer algunas llamadas de prueba y estar satisfecho con la respuesta de su recepcionista, simplemente siga las instrucciones de su proveedor de telefonía actual sobre cómo desviar las llamadas a su número de teléfono de Upfirst.

Si necesita ayuda, no dude en ponerse en contacto con el servicio de asistencia de Upfirst. Siempre estamos encantados de ayudar a nuestros usuarios.

Después de configurar el desvío de llamadas, ¡ya está en vivo! Su recepcionista multilingüe de Upfirst empezará a responder a todas las llamadas desde el primer timbre, lista para ayudar a las personas que llamen y hacer que se sientan como en casa en su idioma nativo.

¿Estás listo para probarlo tú mismo? Inscríbase con Upfirst hoy!

Finalizando

Una recepcionista de IA multilingüe no es solo una función elegante y agradable de tener, sino una forma práctica de brindar a cada cliente una experiencia profesional y personal. Cuando tu empresa puede hablar el idioma de alguien, genera confianza, facilita la comunicación y te ayuda a convertir a más personas que llaman por primera vez en clientes leales.

Preguntas frecuentes sobre los recepcionistas de IA multilingües

¿Tiene alguna pregunta sobre los servicios de contestador multilingüe que no ve aquí? Ponte en contacto con nuestro equipo hoy mismo.

Q: ¿Las personas que llaman pueden cambiar de idioma en mitad de una conversación?
R: Sí, los sistemas avanzados como Upfirst pueden detectar cambios en el idioma a mitad de la llamada y adaptarse en consecuencia. Esto es particularmente útil para las personas bilingües que pueden sentirse más cómodas discutiendo ciertos temas en un idioma que en otro.

Q: ¿Cómo manejan los recepcionistas de IA multilingües la terminología específica de la industria?
R: La mayoría de las plataformas le permiten crear scripts o vocabularios personalizados para su sector específico. Al agregar términos especializados a su base de conocimientos, puede asegurarse de que el sistema reconozca e interprete correctamente la jerga del sector en todos los idiomas compatibles.

Q: ¿Pueden estos sistemas programar citas sin importar las barreras lingüísticas?
R: Sí, los recepcionistas modernos de IA multilingües pueden gestionar la programación de citas independientemente del idioma de la persona que llama. El sistema recopilará toda la información necesaria en el idioma preferido de la persona que llama y, a continuación, creará entradas de calendario y notificaciones en su idioma preferido.