> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brilo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set the language

> Choose the language your Brilo agent speaks and understands on calls, and set up an agent that follows callers who switch language mid sentence.

Your agent speaks one language by default, and you pick it in the **Configure** tab. The choice
decides two things at once: the words your agent says, and the languages it can hear accurately. Get
this right before you spend time on instructions, because a caller speaking a language your agent was
not set up for is the single fastest way to lose them.

## Before you start

* An agent, even an unfinished one. See [Create your first agent](/agents/create-your-first-agent).
* Two minutes.
* Knowing which language most of your callers open with. Not the language you speak internally, the
  one your customers use on the phone.
* You will be working in your agent's **Configure** tab.

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Configure tab">
    Open your agent and go to **Configure**. The **Language** picker sits under **Agent Information**,
    just below **Name**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the language">
    Choose from the list. Each entry is a language your agent can both speak and transcribe, so
    picking Spanish means it understands Spanish callers as well as replying in Spanish.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the voice still fits">
    Changing the language filters the voices available to you, because not every voice speaks every
    language. If your previous voice does not cover the new language, pick a new one. See
    [Choose a voice](/agents/choose-a-voice).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save and call it">
    Save, then call your agent and speak the language you just chose. Reading the setting is not the
    same as hearing it. See [Test your agent yourself](/go-live/test-your-agent-yourself).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## You will know it worked when

You call your agent, speak in the language you selected, and it answers in that language without you
prompting it. Your greeting, your knowledge, and your instructions are all still in whatever language
you wrote them, so check those read correctly too.

## Callers who switch language

If your callers move between languages inside one call, a single fixed language will fight them.
Brilo has a **Multilingual** option for this. It uses a voice that detects the language of each thing
the caller says and mirrors it back, so a caller who opens in English and switches to Hindi is
followed rather than corrected.

<Note>
  **Multilingual** is available on workspaces in the India region. If you do not see it in the picker,
  your workspace region does not offer it yet. Contact [support@brilo.ai](mailto:support@brilo.ai) if
  you need it.
</Note>

Two things to know before you switch to it:

* Write your instructions and greeting in the language you expect most callers to open with. Your
  agent translates as it goes, but the material it starts from is still what you wrote.
* Knowledge works the same way. A price list in English still answers a question asked in Telugu.

## What else you can do here

* Set the accent as well as the language. English covers American, British, Australian, Canadian,
  Indian, Irish, New Zealand, and South African. See [Available voices](/supported/voices).
* Run a second agent in a second language and point a different phone number at it, if your two
  audiences are cleanly separated. See
  [Assign a number to an agent](/phone-numbers/assign-a-number-to-an-agent).
* Teach it words it keeps mishearing, like your business name or a local street.
  See [Teach it names and terms](/knowledge/teach-it-names-and-terms).

## If it did not work

**The language you want is not in the list.** The picker only shows languages your workspace region
has voices for. Check [Supported languages](/supported/languages) for the full list, and contact
support if yours is listed but not showing.

**Your agent replies in the wrong language.** Almost always because the instructions are written in a
different language from the setting. Your agent follows the instructions it reads, so rewrite them in
the language you selected.

**It mishears callers but the language is right.** That is a vocabulary problem rather than a language
one. See [Teach it names and terms](/knowledge/teach-it-names-and-terms).

**Your voice disappeared after switching.** The voice did not cover the new language and was cleared.
Pick a new one in **Voice**.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can my Brilo agent speak more than one language on the same call?">
    Yes, with the **Multilingual** option in the **Language** picker. It detects the language of each
    thing the caller says and replies in the same language, which is what you want when callers switch
    mid sentence. A fixed language choice stays in that language for the whole call.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I change the language my agent answers in?">
    Open your agent, go to **Configure**, and change **Language** under **Agent Information**. Save,
    then check the voice still covers the new language. The change applies to the next call.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need to rewrite my instructions when I change the language?">
    Yes, in practice. Your agent reads the instructions as written, so instructions in English tend to
    pull replies back towards English even after you switch the setting. Rewrite them in the language
    you selected.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does the language setting affect how well my agent hears callers?">
    It does. The setting selects the transcription as well as the speech, so a caller speaking a
    language your agent was not set up for is both misheard and answered wrongly. This is the most
    common cause of an agent that seems to understand nothing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I use one agent for English and Spanish callers?">
    You can, but two agents usually works better when the two audiences are separate. Give each its
    own number and its own instructions, so each set of callers gets material written for them. See
    [Assign a number to an agent](/phone-numbers/assign-a-number-to-an-agent).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Which Indian languages does Brilo support?">
    Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, and Odia, plus
    Indian accented English. See [Supported languages](/supported/languages) for the current list.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does my knowledge need to be in the same language as my agent?">
    No. Your agent reads what you uploaded and answers in its own language, so an English price list
    can answer a question asked in Spanish. Keep one copy in the language you find easiest to maintain.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

* [Choose a voice](/agents/choose-a-voice) for the voice that speaks your chosen language
* [Supported languages](/supported/languages) for every language and accent available
* [Teach it names and terms](/knowledge/teach-it-names-and-terms) for words it keeps mishearing
* [Write what your agent says](/agents/write-what-your-agent-says) to rewrite instructions to match
* [My agent sounds wrong](/agents/my-agent-sounds-wrong) if it speaks the wrong language