Underestimating language barriers, in a now global market, is a big mistake. When a German customer contacts your contact center and has to communicate in English to solve a problem, let’s assume, with his or her bank account, the likelihood that he or she will not be retained and may choose a new company increases dramatically. The 74% of customers are more likely to repurchase from companies that provide after-sales support in their native language. For decision makers in industries such as banking, insurance, healthcare and telecommunications, implementing effective multilingual customer service means turning a geographic constraint into a measurable competitive advantage.

The strategic imperative of multilingual support in modern call centers

The multilingual customer service is no longer an option for those operating in international markets or serving heterogeneous communities. Sectors most under pressure to adopt multilingual solutions include automotive, banking, government, healthcare, insurance, retail, software, and telecom. These verticals share common characteristics: high volumes of interactions, the need for regulatory compliance, complex customer journeys, and increasing expectations for service quality.

Companies that implement multilingual support experience significant increases in customer satisfaction and reductions in operating costs due to process efficiencies. The paradox is clear: investing in multilingual customer service does not drain resources; it optimizes them.

The disconnect between supply and perception

88% of support teams claim to offer support in multiple languages, but only 28% of end users actually perceive this service. This disconnect stems from superficial implementations: basic automated translators, non-localized knowledge bases, non-native agents communicating in “simplified” English. The result is a perceived inadequate experience that erodes brand loyalty instead of building it.

The hiring trade-off: cost and scalability

The traditional solution-hiring bilingual or multilingual agents for each target market-has structural limitations. For an enterprise contact center serving five to six major language markets, the cost of maintaining native teams can reach six figures annually, not including recruitment and onboarding time. In contexts where single-language volumes do not justify a dedicated team, the inefficiency becomes systemic.

XCALLY: omnichannel architecture for multilingual customer service

XCALLY represents a technological answer to the multilingual customer service problem, designed to eliminate trade-offs between quality, cost, and scalability. The platform, based on multi-process asynchronous architecture integrating Asterisk 18.x, is currently used by more than 30,000 users in more than 60 countries.

XCALLY’s omnichannel approach differs markedly from multichannel solutions-where channels operate in separate silos-by unifying voice, web chat, email, SMS, social media, and messaging apps into a single agent interface. This distinction is critical for multilingual customer service: when an Italian customer sends an email in Italian, then contacts via WhatsApp and finally calls, the agent must access the full conversation history with linguistic and contextual metadata already processed.

The platform supports both on-premise and cloud deployments (AWS, Google Cloud Platform), with scalable architecture that handles traffic peaks and allows geographic expansion without re-architecting. Native integrations with enterprise CRMs (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zendesk, ServiceNow, SugarCRM) ensure that language data and customer communication preferences are synchronized across all business touchpoints.

Intelligent routing and real-time monitoring

XCALLY’s intelligent call routing module enables the configuration of distribution strategies based on agent language skills. A client calling from a Spanish number can be automatically routed to available Spanish-speaking agents, with fallbacks to secondary queues or callback systems if all native agents are busy. This approach maximizes the use of existing language resources before activating AI-powered solutions.

The realtime interaction management system provides instant visibility into all ongoing interactions, with the ability to filter by language, channel, agent skill. Supervisors can take real-time action on complex calls through whisper, barge-in or conference functions, supporting agents handling conversations in non-native languages. Customizable dashboards aggregate cross-channel metrics and allow visualization of comparative performance across language markets, identifying patterns of escalation or abnormal response times.

Applied artificial intelligence: Live Call Translator and beyond

The differentiating element of XCALLY in the multilingual customer service context is the Live Call Translator, an internally developed plugin that integrates AI platforms such as OpenAI to provide real-time transcription and translation of voice conversations.

During a call, the system performs speech-to-text of the client’s speech, translates the content into the agent’s language, and displays the transcript in the interface. In parallel, what the agent writes is translated and played back to the client via speech synthesis in its native language. This bidirectional approach eliminates the need for multilingual agents while maintaining a natural conversational experience.

Implementation in a real-life use case – support for victims of gender-based violence for a Spanish government agency. – demonstrated applicability in critical scenarios where speed of response and accuracy are vital. The system had to handle the co-official languages of Spain plus Arabic, Russian, French and English, with maximum security requirements and full traceability of records for legal use.

Technical architecture and automation layer

Live Call Translator installs as a plugin in the XCALLY Motion V3 administrative interface. Integration with OpenAI Whisper offers particular accuracy in recognizing nonstandard accents and technical terminology, critical in industries such as healthcare or financial services where inaccuracies can have legal or clinical consequences. The ability to configure custom glossaries allows the system to be trained on specific business terminology, improving accuracy in specialized verticals.

Conclusion: from operational necessity to strategic differentiator

XCALLY, with its omnichannel architecture, intelligent routing capabilities, real-time analytics and AI solutions that transform customer interactions, offers a technology framework that solves the quality-cost-scalability “trilemma.” The approach does not completely replace native agents but amplifies them, enabling existing teams to serve multiple language markets without compromising the customer experience.