Multilingual AI WhatsApp assistant: reply to every client in their own language¶
In short: a secretary who speaks every client's language. Wably automatically recognises the language of whoever writes and continues the conversation in the same one, whatever it is, without you having to set anything up.
Why language is a commercial problem, not a linguistic one¶
A message in a language you do not speak is not just awkward to handle: in most cases it is a client who will not book.
Someone writing in English or German to an Italian practice already knows they are out of context. If they get no reply, or get one in a language they do not understand, they go elsewhere. The loss shows up in no statistic, because that client never became an appointment.
It affects far more professionals than it seems: those working in tourist cities, those with a practice in areas with a strong presence of foreign residents, those near universities or international corporate hubs.
Automatic language detection¶
When a client writes, the assistant identifies the language of the message and replies accordingly, with dates and times in the right format.
If a French client writes to your practice configured in Italian, they get a reply in French. If they write in German, it replies in German. There is no button to press, no language to select and nothing for the client to declare: it simply happens.
The date and time format follows the same logic. A time written in the wrong format is a real source of misunderstanding, and misunderstandings about times turn into no-shows.
It converses in any language¶
There is no list of allowed languages for the conversation: the assistant understands and replies in the language the client uses, each time. So you welcome anyone who writes to you, with no language barriers and no configuration.
If the client switches language during the conversation, the assistant follows: it does not stay stuck on the language of the first message.
The three levels of language in Wably¶
It helps to keep them apart, because they answer different needs.
The conversation with clients. Any language, detected automatically from what the person writes. This is the level that matters for welcoming people.
The automatic messages. Appointment reminders and review requests are available in Italian, Spanish, English and French. They are sent in the language associated with the contact.
The management dashboard. The interface where you configure the assistant is available in Italian, Spanish, English and French. It only concerns the language in which you see the dashboard, not the one in which the assistant talks to your clients.
Your base language¶
In your profile you set your business's main language.
It is used as a reference and as the default language until there is a client message to detect the language from. It in no way limits the assistant's ability to reply in other languages: it is a starting point, not a constraint.
Who benefits most¶
- Practices in tourist areas, where a sizeable share of enquiries comes from people passing through.
- Professionals in areas with a strong presence of foreign residents, who often give up on seeking help precisely because of the language barrier.
- Those working near universities or international corporate offices, where the clientele turns over constantly.
- Anyone who receives even a handful of messages a year in another language: the feature costs nothing extra and is already on.
If you want to understand how the assistant builds its replies, beyond the language, see conversational AI assistant on WhatsApp.