Calling customers in their own language
Mandarin, Hindi, Korean, te reo Māori and more: how AI calls in other languages work.
Why it matters
Plenty of customers are more comfortable on the phone in their first language, especially for bookings, health or money. A call in their language is more likely to end with a clear answer and a booking.
How it works
- Pick a language for the business in Ora’s phone voice settings.
- The greetings are translated for you, and you can edit them or have a native speaker check them.
- The AI speaks that language for the whole call, and keeps names of people, businesses and products as they are.
- It still only states the facts you’ve approved, in that language.
Languages
- New Zealand, Australian, UK and US English
- Te reo Māori
- Mandarin Chinese
- Hindi and Punjabi
- Korean and Japanese
- Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian
- Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch and Russian
What to check
- Have someone who speaks the language read the greetings before real calls.
- Listen to a test call.
- Te reo Māori uses a newer voice model; check pronunciation of local place names.
Every call is still honest: it says it’s an AI in its first reply, in the caller’s language. For writing te reo Māori correctly, see AI and macrons in te reo Māori.
Questions
Which languages can Ora speak?
22, including New Zealand English, te reo Māori, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi, Korean, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese.
Are the greetings translated for me?
Yes. They’re translated when you pick a language, and you can edit them before any call.
Can it switch language halfway through a call?
Each business sets one language for its calls. Tell us if you need more than one.
Try Ora on your own business.
Set it up free and practise calls in your browser. Or ring Veronica, our own Ora, on 09 873 4723.