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Enabling Spanish & Multilingual Support

Learn how to enable Spanish support for your AI receptionist. Multilingual setup is available upon request.

Updated over 3 weeks ago

By default, Abby operates in English. If your business serves Spanish-speaking callers, language support can be enabled for both AI Receptionist and Human Receptionist services.

Language configuration is managed at the account level and must be requested through our team.


AI Receptionist Language Support

The AI Receptionist can operate in:

  • English only (default)

  • Multilingual mode

When multilingual mode is enabled:

  • The AI can recognize and respond to callers who speak Spanish.

  • The AI will continue to follow your existing call handling configuration.

  • Transfers, scheduling, and messaging actions are not affected.

  • Call summaries in the portal are generated in English.

Although multilingual AI supports more than one language, Spanish is the primary supported language at this time.


How Language Detection Works

For AI Receptionist calls, the system analyzes the first three responses from the caller to determine the language being used.

  • If another language is detected within those responses, the AI will inform the caller which language was detected and ask if they would like to continue the conversation in that language.

  • If no alternate language is detected within those responses, conversation continues in English by default.

Language detection occurs only at the beginning of the call. If the caller switches languages later in the conversation, the AI may not automatically detect the change.


Languages the AI May Detect

While Abby primarily promotes English and Spanish support, the AI may detect and conduct conversations in several additional languages, including:

  • Dutch

  • French

  • German

  • Hindi

  • Indonesion

  • Italian

  • Japanese

  • Norwegian

  • Portuguese

  • Russian

  • Spanish

  • Turkish

These languages are supported by the AI's speech and language models, but testing for languages beyond English and Spanish may be limited.

To request multilingual AI support:


Human Receptionist Language Support

Human Receptionist service includes both English-only and bilingual (English/Spanish) receptionists.

By default:

  • Calls are answered by a mix of English-only and bilingual receptionists.

  • If a Spanish-speaking caller reaches an English-only receptionist, the call will be transferred to a bilingual receptionist as soon as one becomes available.

Optional: Spanish Phone Tree Routing

You may request a phone tree configuration that allows callers to choose language preference, such as:

  • Press 1 for English
    Press 2 for Spanish

With this setup:

  • One option routes directly to bilingual receptionists.

  • The other routes to the standard receptionist pool.

This ensures Spanish-speaking callers are routed appropriately from the beginning of the call.

To request Spanish routing or bilingual handling changes:


Important Notes

  • AI and Human language support are configured separately.

  • Enabling multilingual AI does not affect Human Receptionist handling.

  • Language support does not change your call routing rules, transfer settings, or scheduling logic.

  • Portal summaries and activity logs are generated in English.

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