Lesson 14: Multilingual & Pronunciation

Multilingual & Pronunciation

Multilingual Agents

  • Retell supports multiple languages in a single agent
  • Configure the primary language and allowed secondary languages
  • Agent can detect the caller’s language and switch automatically
  • Supported languages include English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and many more

Speech Recognition

  • Multiple ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) providers available
  • Choose based on accuracy, language support, and latency needs
  • Some providers are better for specific accents or noisy environments

Pronunciation Tips

  • Use phonetic spelling for unusual words in your prompt
  • Example: “The company name is Acme (pronounced ACK-mee)”
  • Use SSML tags for precise control over pronunciation
  • Test pronunciation in the Playground before deploying

Handling Noise & Edge Cases

  • Background noise — configure noise sensitivity settings
  • Voicemail/IVR detection — agent can detect when it hits a voicemail or automated system
  • Silence handling — configure how long to wait before prompting
  • Backchanneling — agent says “mm-hmm”, “I see” to show it’s listening