Not every customer who calls your business speaks English, and the ones who don’t are usually the quickest to hang up. They hear a greeting they can’t follow, decide they’ve got the wrong place, and call someone else.
Clara now speaks your customers’ language. All of it happens on the call, with nothing for the caller to press and nothing for you to set up.
Clara switches language mid-conversation
English stays the default for most businesses, and that’s still the right setting for most. The difference is what happens when a caller answers in something else.
If someone responds to your greeting in Spanish, Clara recognizes it and carries on in Spanish. Same for French, and effectively any other language. It happens in the middle of the conversation, in the caller’s first few words, so they never have to ask whether anyone there speaks their language.
Everything else works exactly as it did. Clara still finds out who is calling and why, still takes the details you’ve asked for, and still sends you the notes when the call ends.
Your greeting, in the language you choose
If you already know most of your callers speak one language, you don’t have to wait for Clara to work it out.
You can write your greeting in whatever language fits your customer base, and Clara will say it in that language, in the right accent. Callers hear their own language from the first second, which is usually the difference between a conversation and a hang-up.
It also works the other way around for businesses serving a mixed area: greet people in English, and let Clara switch for whoever needs it.
The app now runs in five languages
The last piece is Clara itself. You can now run the app in:
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Portuguese
- Chinese
To change it, open the Business tab (bottom right), then App preferences, then App language. Pick your language and the app switches immediately.
There’s a second thing that changes at the same time, and it’s the one most people notice: from that point on, Clara writes your call summaries in your new language too. So if you switch the app to Spanish, you can read the call summary in Spanish, whatever language the caller spoke.
Why it matters
Answering the phone is only useful if the person on the other end can talk to you. For a lot of businesses, a meaningful share of callers were never going to get past the greeting, and those calls didn’t look like lost jobs, they looked like short calls.
Clara handles them now. Nothing to configure, nothing for the caller to do.
Product Updates is our series of short guides on what’s new in Clara and how to get the most out of it.
Frequently asked questions
What languages can Clara speak to callers in?
Clara can hold a natural conversation in effectively any language. English is the default for most businesses, but if a caller starts speaking Spanish, French, or anything else, Clara recognizes it and carries on in that language without the caller having to ask or press anything.
Does the caller have to do anything to switch language?
No. Clara picks it up from the conversation. If someone answers your greeting in Spanish, Clara continues in Spanish from that point, mid-call, and keeps taking the same details it always would.
Can I change the language of my greeting?
Yes. You can write your greeting in any language you like and Clara will say it in that language, in the right accent. Useful if most of your customer base speaks one language, and you want them to hear it from the first second.
Can I change the language of the Clara app itself?
Yes. Go to the Business tab (bottom right), then App preferences, then App language. You can choose English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, or Chinese. The app switches straight away, and new calls are summarized in that language too.
Are my call summaries translated as well?
New calls are. Once you change your app language, every call summary Clara writes from that point on comes through in your new language. Summaries written before the change stay as they were.
