ElevenLabs launches live voice translation in more than 90 languages

ElevenLabs has launched Eleven Realtime Translation, a tool that translates speech while people are talking. Each person speaks their own language and hears the other person in theirs, in a natural-sounding voice. It supports more than 90 languages. For now it is an early test version, open only to large business customers.

What it does

The tool listens, translates and speaks the result back during the conversation. It detects the language automatically, so callers do not need to pick one first. ElevenLabs says one voice stays consistent across languages, so a brand or an agent sounds the same in every market.

Businesses choose the voice. They can pick from more than 17,500 voices in the ElevenLabs library, or build a copy of their own voice. That voice stays the same for the whole session.

Who it is for

ElevenLabs is aiming at companies with big customer operations. The company says language is one of the hardest limits to scale, because callers often wait for an agent who speaks their language. It describes three uses:

• Phone carriers can build it into the calling layer, so calls on their network work across languages.
• Contact centers can place it between agent and caller, so one agent helps customers in many more languages.
• Live events can let each attendee hear the speaker in their own language.

Early customer

Deutsche Telekom is already using it to build new calling features for its Magenta AI Call Assistant. Lena Drubel, VP Consumer AI at Deutsche Telekom, called it "a complete new era of how voice can actually work and connect people, and also break down barriers."

Speed or quality

Teams can set how quickly translation starts. A slower start gives higher-quality translation, which suits complex calls about billing or claims. The fastest setting suits quick back-and-forth talk. The tool runs on Eleven v4 Turbo, a model built to respond with little delay.

What is not known yet

The material does not give a price or a date for wider release. It is in alpha, meaning an early test stage, and available only to enterprise customers through ElevenAPI, the tool developers use to connect to ElevenLabs. Small businesses cannot use it yet. Interested companies are told to read the integration guide or contact sales.