IVR voice over, in the caller’s language
A phone menu is heard one option at a time by someone who cannot go back. The same menu in another language needs different wording, sometimes a different order, and its own way of reading numbers, before anyone records a word.
IVR voice over at a glance
- Family
- Telephony and IVR
- Languages
- Every language we cast, with the native variant of each market
- Our availability
What it is
IVR stands for interactive voice response: the recorded voice that greets a caller, offers the menu, confirms what was typed or said, and handles the moment something goes wrong.
A translation of the English prompts is not yet a script for the new market. Some languages need more words for the same instruction, so the pause the system leaves for a keypress no longer fits. Some put the action before the number and some after. Some change the form of a number according to what it counts. Those choices belong to the script, and they are easier to settle in writing than in the booth.
The recording itself is a set of short files, each with its own identifier, which the phone system plays in sequence. A mistake in one file is heard by every caller who reaches it.
Decide before the booth.
What to settle for ivr voice over before anyone records.
Menu order and wording
Put the most requested option first and keep the list short. Decide whether the option number comes before or after the action in each language, because callers remember the action and not the digit.
Numbers, dates and amounts
If the system joins separate recordings to say a number, the language may need several forms of each number. Decide early whether digits are read one by one or as a whole, and list every variable the system will insert.
Errors and silence
Write the no-input and wrong-input prompts as carefully as the greeting. They are heard by callers who are already stuck: the wording should offer a way forward and never blame the caller.
Formal or informal address
Where the language distinguishes polite from familiar address, match what the contact centre already uses on live calls, so the recording and the agent sound like the same company.
One file per prompt
Give every prompt an identifier and a line in one list, with its text, its language and the file name the phone system expects. Ask the telephony provider for the audio format before recording, not after.
Where it is used
- Main menu and routingThe first menu a caller hears: short, ordered by demand, and tested by someone who speaks the language and has not seen the English.
- Opening hours, closures and holidaysMessages that change often. Keep them together in one list so they can be recorded in one session whenever they change.
- Queue and call-back announcementsPosition, waiting time and call-back offers: the parts that insert variables and therefore depend most on how numbers are read.
- Confirmations and read-backReading a reference number, a date or an amount back to the caller so they can check it, in the form that language uses when people check them aloud.
- Choosing the languageIn a multilingual menu the first prompt is the hardest: offer each language in that language, spoken by its own voice, so a caller recognises the option without reading anything.
IVR voice over: questions
What do I need to send for an IVR voice over?
The prompt list with an identifier for each line, the text in the final language, the variables the system inserts, and the audio format your telephony provider requires. If the text is still in one language only, say so and the script is adapted first.
Can one voice record the menu in several languages?
Not well. Each language is best recorded by a native speaker of that market, so the system plays a different voice per language. To keep the brand feel consistent, choose voices with a similar tone rather than the same voice.
What about prompts that change often?
Tell us at the start which prompts will change, such as hours or holiday closures. Keeping them in their own list means they can be recorded together later, in the same style as the rest of the menu.
Brief ivr voice over
It takes a few short questions. We reply with voice options and a quote for each market.
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