Conversations That Feel Human
.svg)
The Problem
Why Businesses Need a Bilingual Answering Service
More than 44.9 million people in the US speak Spanish at home, according to US Census Bureau data, and Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken at home nationwide. If your business only answers in English, a large share of callers have to work harder to reach you. A traditional bilingual answering service usually means paying extra for a Spanish add-on, with narrower hours and inconsistent quality. Retell answers in English, Spanish and dozens of other languages at the same price, on the first ring, every time.
.png)
Comparison
Retell VS. A Traditional Bilingual Answering Service
Hours
What You Pay For
Wait Time
Busy Periods
Consistency
Languages
Handing Off To You
Setup
Your Tools
Traditional Answering Service
Full coverage in English during business hours, with Spanish-language coverage often shorter or unavailable after hours
Per minute and per call, with a bilingual operator typically billed at a premium rate
Callers hold for the next available bilingual operator, if one is on shift
Limited by how many bilingual operators are staffed; non-English callers wait longer or drop
Quality shifts depending on which bilingual operator picks up
Usually English only, with Spanish offered as a limited paid add-on and other languages rarely available at all
Takes a message or transfers with little context, and nuance can get lost when it's relayed across languages
Write scripts, brief operators, wait for training, longer still if the team needs to be trained bilingually
Messages relayed by email or portal, sometimes translated after the fact
Every call answered 24/7 in English, Spanish and 55+ languages, including nights, weekends and holidays
Usage-based from $0.07/min in any supported language, no bilingual surcharge, $10 in free credits to start
Answered on the first ring in the caller's language, no queue
20 concurrent calls included in every supported language, higher on Enterprise
The same answer quality in every language, on every call
55+ languages handled the same way, including English and Spanish, with no add-on fees and no reduced hours
Warm transfer with the full transcript and CRM record attached, in the language the call happened in
Start from a template, sync your knowledge base, go live in any supported language
Connects to your CRM and helpdesk and acts during the call, in the caller's language
Cost per minute
$0.07-$0.31/min
LLM: gpt-5
$0.040/min
TTS: platform
$0.015/min
Voice Engine
$0.055/min
Background speech removal
$0.005/min
Safety Guardrails
$0.005/min
Buyer’s Guide
How to Choose a Bilingual Answering Service
$0.07-$0.31 Per Minute
You pay for real call time, nothing else.
$10 in Free Credits
Try it before you pay anything.
No Monthly Retainers
Nothing extra for nights, weekends or busy periods.
Lower Bills Overall
Routine calls clear on their own, so spend drops.
Capabilities
What Our Agent Does on a Bilingual Call
Understands and Responds in the Caller's Language:
It detects the language a caller is speaking and responds in kind, in English, Spanish or any of 55+ supported languages.
Routing can follow your CRM, so Spanish-speaking callers reach the right team or teammate instead of a general queue.
When a person is needed, the agent warm-transfers them with the full conversation and CRM record, so nothing gets lost in translation.
Answers from Your Own Knowledge Base, in Any Language:
It stays in sync with your knowledge base, so English and Spanish-speaking callers both hear the same current answers about hours, services and pricing.
It can look up a caller's record mid-call and tailor what it says, regardless of the language they called in.
It can pull from your CRM, ticketing or billing tools over secure webhooks while the call is live.
Setup
Live in Four Steps
Step 1
Build
Set the agent up in a no-code dashboard or with the API, and point it at your website and FAQs in English and Spanish.
Step 2
Test
Run it against the calls you really get, in the languages your callers actually use, and confirm it answers well and hands off cleanly.
Step 3
Deploy
Connect your line over SIP trunking or take a new number, then go live on voice, SMS and chat in English, Spanish and 55+ other languages.
Step 4
Monitor
Track resolution and transfer rates and caller sentiment by language from the dashboard, and refine over time.
Value
Why Businesses Choose Retell
A Clean Handoff to Your Team
.svg)
Reporting You Can Act On
.svg)
Built for Sensitive Data
.svg)
- Hubspot
- Twilio
- Vonage
- Go High Level
- n8n
- Zapier
- Salesforce
- Hubspot
- Twillio
- Vonage
- Go High Level
- 8n8
- Zapier
- Salesforce
- Avaya
- Genesys
- Five9
- Amazon Connect
- Telnyx
- Make
- Cal.com
.svg)
- Avaya
- Genesys
- Five9
- Amazon Connect
- Telnyx
- Make
- Cal.com
Overview
Built to scale with you
From quick-start simplicity to enterprise-grade security, compliance, and support. Retell meets you wherever you are.
Put Your Business Answering Service to Work Today
Start from a template, sync your knowledge base, and connect your line or take a new number. Try it on your real calls, then go live on voice, SMS and chat.
FAQ
Common Questions
Which languages does Retell's bilingual answering service support?
Retell supports 55+ languages, including English and Spanish, so you're not limited to a single paid add-on language. You choose which languages your agent handles when you set it up.
Can the agent switch languages in the middle of a call?
Retell agents are built to run each call in a single language, matched to how the caller speaks when the call starts. If your callers sometimes switch languages mid-conversation and you need that handled, check with your Retell team about the language settings for your specific agent build.
Is it worth offering Spanish-language phone support?
Likely yes. More than 44.9 million people in the US speak Spanish at home, according to US Census Bureau data, and Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken at home nationwide. If your business only answers in English, you're making a large share of potential callers do extra work to reach you.
How much does a bilingual answering service cost?
Retell is usage-based from $0.07 per minute, with $10 in free credits to start. There's no separate surcharge for handling calls in Spanish or any other supported language.
How fast can I set up a bilingual answering service?
You can start from a template, sync your knowledge base, and go live the same day. Most of the setup time goes into testing the agent against your real calls, not writing scripts from scratch.
What happens when a caller needs a real person?
The agent warm-transfers the call to your team with the full transcript and CRM record attached, so whoever picks up already knows what the caller needs and in what language the call happened.
Does the bilingual answering service work nights and weekends?
Yes. Every call is answered 24/7, including nights, weekends and holidays, in whichever supported language the caller uses. You're not paying extra for after-hours or bilingual coverage.
