Which languages a voice agent answers in
A voice agent is the program that answers your calls, understands what people say and replies out loud. In Lera, each agent answers in one of three languages, Spanish, English or French.
You choose the language in the agent itself, in the bar at the top, next to the voice and the model. It's the selector with the flag. Other languages appear greyed out in the list, marked Coming soon, and can't be chosen yet.
Picture a hotel with lots of guests from abroad. Someone booking from London or Dublin asks in English about parking, check-in time or breakfast. To answer them properly, the hotel has an English agent alongside its Spanish one.
What changes with the language
Three things change at once with the language. What it understands, because it listens to and transcribes what the caller says in that language. The voice it speaks with, which you choose from the voices for that language. And the language it replies in.
That's why each agent is built for one language. It doesn't understand someone speaking another language nearly as well, so to answer properly in English, what works is an English agent.
The phrases the system says on its own, like the hold message while it looks something up or the goodbye if you haven't written your own, come out in the agent's language.
What doesn't change by itself is what's written in your agent. When you change the language, the greeting and the instructions stay as they were, and you need to rewrite them in the new language.
How to get your agent in English
The simplest way is to ask the Lera team. They build it from your Spanish agent and, if there's a lot to prepare, give you a quote first.
Because it starts as a copy of your agent, it keeps its tools, like the calendar or the functions that look things up in your software, and the business information you gave it. What changes is the language, the voice, which becomes an English one, and the greeting and instructions, written in English.
Before it answers anyone, test it yourself. In the agent, press Test and talk to it in English with the usual questions, about parking, breakfast or check-in time. If an answer falls short, you fine-tune it from the panel or ask Maite, the panel's assistant, who shows you every change before saving it. When you're happy with it, press Publish.
Where to put it so people find it
An agent answers wherever the conversation reaches it. For your international customers to talk to the English one, put it where they arrive.
On your English website. If your website has an English version, add the button to talk to your agent there, the same one as on the Spanish version but with your English agent. The same public key works for both agents, because who answers is decided by the agent set in each page's code. The code the panel gives you already shows the button in the agent's language.
On its own line. If you want it to answer the phone too, give it an inbound line of its own and share that number on your English pages and in your booking confirmations. Your account's first line is included, and each extra one has a monthly fee, which the panel shows you before you request it.
Your usual number stays with your Spanish agent, which is who most people call.
An example, a hotel
The hotel keeps its Spanish agent on its usual phone number and creates an English one. It adds it to the English version of its website and to a line it shares in its English confirmations.
Someone browsing rooms from another country presses the button and asks in English whether there's a double free on Saturday, whether there's parking and whether breakfast is included. The agent answers in English, with an English voice, asks for their name and runs through the room and the nights.
The conversation shows up in Call history, marked as web channel, next to the Spanish ones.
What to know
Each agent listens and speaks in its own language. If someone calls your Spanish agent in English, it won't switch to English on its own, so give those customers the way to your English agent.
The language belongs to the agent, not to the call. If you use the same agent on the phone and on the web, it answers in the same language in both places.
An agent has no fee just for existing. You pay for what it answers, and what does have a fee is an extra line.
Have your English agent say in its greeting that it's a virtual assistant, just like the Spanish one.
For French, the same applies, with a French agent.
Frequently asked questions
Which languages does it answer in? Spanish, English or French, one per agent.
Does it switch to the caller's language by itself? No. Each agent listens and speaks in its own, and it doesn't understand someone speaking another language nearly as well. To answer in English you use an English agent, placed where those customers arrive.
Do I need another number? For the web, no. Adding your English agent to your English pages is enough. For the phone, yes, a line just for it.
Does my English agent know the same as the Spanish one? If it comes from a copy, it keeps its tools and the information you gave it. Test it in English before publishing it.
How much does it cost to start? €20 free credit, no card needed. And if you'd rather the Lera team built your English agent, they'll give you a quote.