Short answer: put language selection first, before the main menu, default to the language of the number's region, keep the option count to two or three, and use one audio source across all languages so they sound like one system. The free IVR voice generator produces prompt audio in several Indian languages.
On Edesy IVR today: text-to-speech prompts are available in Hindi and English. Any other language works through recorded audio: upload a voice recording or generated audio file for each prompt and the caller answers on the keypad as usual. See Hindi IVR and IVR in any language with recorded prompts.
Language Selection Goes First
The most common mistake is putting language selection after the main menu, or making it an option within the menu.
Avoid: "For sales press 1, for support press 2, for Hindi press 9."
A caller who does not comfortably follow the English menu has to listen through all of it to find out they could have had Hindi. By then many have hung up.
Better: "For English, press 1. हिंदी के लिए, 2 दबाएँ."
Language first, then the menu in the chosen language. Everything after that point is in one language, which is also what makes the rest of the flow simple to maintain.
Default to the Region
If your number is a Chennai number, most callers will want Tamil or English. Leading with the likely choice and letting others switch is faster than making everyone choose from scratch.
This is also an argument for regional numbers rather than one national line — a city-local number lets the language default follow the region without asking.
Two or Three, Not Eight
The temptation is to offer every language you serve. Resist it. A long language list is itself a menu, in a language the caller may not follow, before they reach the menu they wanted.
Offer the two or three that cover most of your callers, and route the rest to a human. If your call logs show a fourth language with real volume, add it then — with evidence rather than aspiration.
Keep One Audio Source
Mixing a hired Hindi voice artist with generated Tamil prompts produces a menu that sounds assembled from parts. Different voices, different levels, different pacing.
Use one source for every language. Generated audio is usually the practical answer here — a voice artist per language means a re-record cycle per language every time the script changes. On a platform where text-to-speech covers only some of your languages, produce all the audio files the same way and upload them, rather than mixing live text-to-speech for one language with recordings for another. See recording vs text-to-speech.
Translate Meaning, Not Words
A literal translation of an English IVR script often lands wrong. Menu options are terse by nature, and terse phrasing is where literal translation fails hardest.
Two specifics for India:
Some terms are used in English regardless. Callers speaking Hindi commonly say "balance", "OTP", "delivery". Forcing a formal translation makes the option harder to recognise, not easier.
Keep it short in every language. Some translations run noticeably longer than the English. A menu that is brisk in English can become tiring in another language — trim per language rather than translating and shipping.
Have a native speaker who is also a customer listen to it. Not a translator; a customer.
Check the Names
Brand names, place names and product names are where generated multi-language audio most often mispronounces. Check each one in each language and fix it with SSML rather than accepting the default.
This is worth real attention — a mispronounced company name in the first sentence undermines everything after it.
Test Each Language End to End
Do not test only the language you speak. Walk every branch in every language, with a native speaker, on a real call:
- Does each option reach the right destination in every language?
- Are levels consistent across languages?
- Do the no-input and invalid-input branches speak the right language?
- Does the exit to a human route to someone who speaks it?
That last one is the failure that matters most. Offering Tamil and then connecting the caller to an agent who does not speak Tamil is worse than not offering it — you made a promise and broke it at the most frustrating possible moment.