# Flows in Every Language

> Run IVR Studio flows and campaigns in Hindi, English, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada and any other language - text to speech, recorded prompts, one flow per language or a language menu.

Source: https://edesy.in/docs/ivr/guides/multilingual-flows

IVR Studio speaks English and Hindi with text to speech, and Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi when the flow's Config node is set to that language with the Google voice provider. For Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Odia or any other language, upload recorded prompts with Play Audio. Keypresses work the same in every language, so the menu logic never changes; only the audio does.

## Which method for which language

| Language | Method | Settings |
|---|---|---|
| English (India, US, UK) | Text to speech | Config → **Voice & speech language**: English (India), English (US) or English (UK) |
| Hindi | Text to speech | Config → Hindi. Say, Menu and Ask also offer Hindi per node |
| Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi | Text to speech | Config → the language, and **Voice provider**: Google. A matching voice is picked for you; set **Voice ID** only to choose another voice of that language |
| Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Odia, Assamese, Bhojpuri, any dialect | Recorded prompts | **Play Audio** with an mp3, wav, m4a or ogg file up to 5 MB |
| Spoken answers ([Ask](https://edesy.in/docs/ivr/nodes/ask)) | Speech to text | English and Hindi only |

Always press the speaker icon next to a prompt to hear the text-to-speech preview before you publish.

## Recorded prompts with a menu

A Menu node speaks its prompt with text to speech. For a recorded language:

1. Add a **Play Audio** node with the full recording, ending with the keypress line ("…for details, press 1").
2. Add a **Menu** node after it and leave the **Prompt** empty, so it just waits for the key.
3. Record the transfer announcement and goodbye too, or leave them out. Transfer's **Announce message** and Hangup's **Goodbye message** use text to speech.

Recording tips: one short file per prompt, a quiet room, the phone a hand's width from your mouth, mp3 or m4a export. See [IVR in any Indian language with recorded prompts](https://edesy.in/blog/regional-language-ivr-recorded-prompts-2026).

## Pattern 1: one flow and one campaign per language

Best when you know each lead's language, for example from the city or the form they filled in.

1. Build the flow once in your main language and publish it.
2. Duplicate it per language ("Launch: Hindi", "Launch: Tamil"), change the Config language and translate each prompt, or swap in recordings.
3. Split your contact list by language and create one [campaign](https://edesy.in/docs/ivr/campaigns) per list.

Each campaign's results stay separate, which also tells you which language responds best.

## Pattern 2: a language menu first

Best for inbound numbers and mixed lists. Start from the **Language selection** template:

```
Start → Play (recording: "Hindi ke liye 1 dabaiye. For English, press 2. Marathi sathi 3 daba.")
      → Menu (empty prompt, waits for the key)
          ├─ 1 → Say, language Hindi   → Menu (language Hindi)   → Transfer
          ├─ 2 → Say, language English → Menu (language English) → Transfer
          └─ 3 → Play (Marathi recording) → Menu (empty prompt)  → Transfer
```

A Config node applies to the whole flow, so a flow has one Config language. Inside a language menu, switch language per node instead: Say, Menu and Ask nodes can each be set to English or Hindi, and any other language uses recordings. If you need text to speech in, say, Tamil and Telugu, use Pattern 1 (one flow per language).

Keep the language menu to three or four choices, and say each choice in its own language. A recorded welcome lets you say every choice in its own language.

## Things to know

- **Built-in messages are in English.** A wrong key plays "Sorry, that's not a valid option." and an unanswered menu ends with "We didn't receive any input. Goodbye." Connect every Menu's **timeout** exit to your own Hangup or Play in the caller's language.
- **Names and amounts need text to speech.** `{{var.contact_name}}` can be spoken only by a Say or Menu prompt. A recording is fixed.
- **Write the way people speak.** Most Hindi callers expect Hinglish ("offer", "site visit", "booking"), not formal Hindi. The same goes for other languages: ask a native speaker to read your script aloud before you record or publish it.
- **Spell numbers for text to speech.** Write prices and phone numbers the way they should be read, e.g. "pachaas lakh" instead of "50,00,000".

## Key phrase examples

| Language | "For more details, press 1" |
|---|---|
| English | For more details, press 1. |
| Hindi | Aur jaankari ke liye 1 dabaiye. |
| Bengali | Aro jante 1 tipun. |
| Marathi | Adhik mahitisathi 1 daba. |
| Tamil | Melum vivarangalukku 1-ai azhuthavum. |
| Telugu | Marinta samacharam kosam 1 nokkandi. |
| Gujarati | Vadhu mahiti mate 1 dabavo. |
| Kannada | Hechchina maahitigaagi 1 ottiri. |

Shown in Latin script for readability. Text to speech reads the language best in its own script (देवनागरी, বাংলা, தமிழ், తెలుగు), so paste the native-script version into the prompt. Have a native speaker check the final wording.

## FAQ

### Can one flow switch language halfway?

Yes, between English and Hindi: each Say, Menu and Ask node can set its own language. The Config node's language applies to the whole flow, so for two other languages make one flow per language, or use recordings.

### Which language gives the best voice?

English and Hindi have the most natural voices. For Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi, listen to the preview; if it doesn't sound right for your audience, record the prompts instead.