The borderless contact center: real-time translation for fast-moving teams

Imagine you have a first-class agent on your team. They’re empathetic, they know the product inside out, and they can de-escalate any situation. But the moment a customer calls in a language that agent doesn’t speak, all that talent is locked away.

When language becomes a barrier, global support turns into a complex scheduling puzzle—juggling specialist queues and "who is on what shift" just to keep up. This creates a bottleneck that slows down your entire operation.

In a contact center, that lost speed is a liability.

Whether it’s a failed payment, a missed delivery, or a faulty device, customers want help fast. But when agents and customers don't speak the same language, friction grows. Calls drag on, customers get transferred, and simple issues turn into complaints and refunds.

Meet DeepL Voice API.

From February 2, DeepL API Pro users can bridge the language gap in real time. It’s the easiest way to give your team multilingual powers within their existing tools, without the need to add more headcount.

Language shouldn’t limit your ambition

For Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms and contact centers, DeepL Voice API changes the equation. Instead of asking, “Do we have an available agent for this language right now?” you can design for a better reality, where any agent can help—thanks to real-time transcription and translation supporting the conversation.

This means:

• Fewer handoffs: keep customers with the first agent they reach
• Faster resolution: solve problems without waiting for a language specialist
• Simpler operations: expand into new geographies without a hiring frenzy

Who benefits most from DeepL Voice API?

DeepL Voice API is built for organizations where spoken communication is the product. We’ve highlighted the roles that see the most immediate impact:

The BPO Program Director

The challenge: you’re measured on service levels and margins. Adding a new language can mean weeks of hiring and training, with no guarantee the volume will justify the headcount.

The fix: expand language coverage faster and support more programs with your core team. Entering new markets becomes less risky because coverage is no longer tied to specialist availability.

The Contact Center Operations Leader

The challenge: language barriers slow down every call and lead to too many customer transfers.

The fix: help your team solve problems on the first try by keeping the conversation moving naturally, so your agents never have to say, "Please hold while I translate".

The Quality Assurance Manager

The challenge: when calls happen in multiple languages, quality reviews are slow and inconsistent. Relying on a few bilingual reviewers makes it difficult to coach fairly.

The fix: use real-time transcripts to standardize QA across every language. This makes your evaluations easier and fairer for everyone.

The Training and Enablement Lead

The challenge: you need to ramp up new hires quickly, reduce avoidable errors, and turn what your best agents know into repeatable playbooks.

The fix: use transcripts and translations to spot patterns across every call. This helps you identify knowledge gaps and share best practices across all your sites instantly.

Putting the API to work: four key use cases

Here are the most effective ways to drive impact from day one:

Give every agent a multilingual co-pilot

Instead of struggling to follow a conversation, agents get a live feed of the call with instant translations on their screen. The agent stays present, the customer feels understood, and the conversation stays focused.

Enable smarter routing

Route calls to the person with the best skills to solve the problem. With the Voice API, you can prioritize an agent's expertise and the customer's intent, while supporting their language needs during the call.

Standardize quality across the globe

By turning every call into a searchable, translated transcript, you can apply one consistent standard of quality across every site and language—making it easier to spot patterns and coach your team.

Find and fix issues faster

When you can analyze calls across every language, you spot repeat problems and training gaps much sooner. Which means one clear view of what your customers need and how to help your team deliver it.

What makes DeepL Voice API different?

Most voice solutions come with tradeoffs. You either get speed with poor accuracy, or good translations that are too slow for a real conversation. Others are just too difficult to plug into a busy contact center.

DeepL Voice API works the way your business actually operates.

It provides both transcription and translation in one real-time flow, which means the text is ready exactly when it’s needed.

It also turns your operation into a single, global team. This is more than showing text on a screen; it’s about creating better workflows that allow you to move faster as well as provide value beyond the agent screen.

And as you’d expect from enterprise-level technology, your data is always protected. Security is non-negotiable in a contact center, so we don't store your information or use it to train our models. Find out more here. 

A sneak peek at what’s next 

We’re already working on the next step in the borderless contact center: voice-to-voice translation.

So instead of reading a translation on a screen, your agents will be able to hear the translated audio in real time. For high-urgency or emotional calls, this is vital. It lets the agent stay focused on the conversation without the effort of reading while they speak. 

We’re opening a beta early access program alongside the DeepL Voice API launch, and we’d love for you to be part of it. Stay tuned for further updates!

See DeepL Voice API in action 

If you’re looking to modernize a global contact center or build better agent experiences, the best place to start is our upcoming webinar on February 24.

We’ll show you exactly how the Voice API works and share practical ways to integrate it into your BPO or call center environment. You’ll also hear how other teams are already using real-time translation to improve their performance and customer experience.

Secure your spot now