Can an AI assistant answer customers in Spanish?
Many assistants can write in Spanish, but whether yours answers well for your business is something to check before you switch it on. Write the approved facts in Spanish and have a fluent speaker check them, test it with real Spanish conversations, set a hand-off to a Spanish-speaking person or a clear message when none is available, word consent and disclosure in both languages, and read a sample of conversations.
Before you switch it on
- Approved facts written in Spanish. Write your services, hours, areas and policies in Spanish and have a fluent speaker check them, rather than leaving the assistant to translate your English on the fly. The related answer on a Spanish website version covers how unchecked machine translation can get trade terms wrong or change what a warranty says.
- Test conversations by a fluent speaker. Have someone ask what real customers ask, in the way they ask it: informal wording, messages that mix English and Spanish, a question the assistant should not answer, and a request for a person. Compare its answers with the English ones. The facts should match.
- A hand-off that works in Spanish. Name a Spanish-speaking person who takes over. If none is available, use a message that says so plainly, says when someone who speaks Spanish can reply and gives another way to reach you. Callbacks and texts go out only with the person's consent.
- Consent and disclosure wording in both languages. Say that it is automated, and if it asks for a phone number, say what the number will be used for. The related answer on telling customers you use AI covers one state's rule and general advice on saying so, and an attorney can say what applies to you. If it answers calls, the related answer on recording customer calls covers consent.
- A sample of conversations, read by a fluent speaker, some each week at first. The related answer on stopping an AI assistant from making things up covers approved information, testing and reading conversations.
The rest of the business has to be ready
An assistant is only the first reply. If a customer then asks to talk, someone needs to be able to help in Spanish, or the reply should say when they can. The related answer on a Spanish website version covers being ready to serve in Spanish.
Where to start
A narrow job is usually easier to check: hours, areas served, how to book and taking a message. Add topics one at a time once a sample of conversations reads well in both languages. As in English, keep prices, promises and advice with a person.
Related answers
- Should your website have a Spanish version?
- How do you stop an AI assistant from making things up?
- Do you have to tell customers when you use AI to answer or write to them?
- Do you need consent to record calls with customers?
AI assistants and chatbots
A good assistant answers the question a customer asks at nine at night, in your words, from your information, and brings in a person when it should. We build that, and we test it on your real questions before a customer sees it.