---
sourceDocument: Australia Conversational Interfaces
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/conversational-interfaces
Release :
- australia
ft:locale :
- en-US
ft:publication_title :
- Australia Conversational Interfaces
ft:clusterId :
- convint
bundleId :
- convint
workflow :
- Platform
---
# Localization options for Virtual Agent
# Localization options for Virtual Agent {#ariaid-title1}
* Release version: Australia
*
* Updated March 12, 2026
*
*  4 minutes to read
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## Summary of Localization options for Virtual Agent
ServiceNow enables you to serve international Virtual Agent users effectively by supporting multiple languages and locales.
You can choose professional localization, dynamic machine translation, or a combination to tailor conversations based on your users' linguistic needs.
This flexibility helps improve user engagement and satisfaction across diverse audiences.
Show full answer Show less
## Direct and Dynamic Language Support
**Professional Localization:** Involves expert linguists translating conversation topics, entities, intents, and vocabulary directly within Virtual Agent Designer. This method ensures higher translation accuracy, including localized NLU models for better intent recognition. However, it requires more resources, higher implementation costs, and is less scalable, with limited language support for NLU intents and entities.
**Dynamic Machine Translation:** Uses third-party translation services to translate user input and agent responses in real time without pre-translated topics. It offers faster deployment, lower costs, and supports many languages, but translation quality depends on the service and may vary, especially without NLU model localization.
## Multi-language Deployment Strategies
You can combine both approaches to balance quality and coverage. For example, professionally localize languages spoken by most users, and use dynamic translation for less common languages. Locale-specific fallback languages can also be designated to improve user experience where exact locale support is unavailable (e.g., Mexican Spanish falls back to Spanish).
## Key Capabilities and Configuration
* Activate ServiceNow language plugins and Dynamic Translation plugins to enable dynamic translation.
* Configure translation service credentials and set a default provider for translation and language detection.
* Enable Dynamic Translation for selected languages and unsupported languages in Virtual Agent settings.
* Specify fallback languages for locale-specific support to enhance NLU topic matching and prediction.
* Monitor localization performance and translation usage via the Localization Insights dashboard in Virtual Agent Designer.
## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
* Support diverse global users in their native languages with scalable translation options.
* Improve user experience and engagement through accurate, localized conversations.
* Reduce costs and maintenance by leveraging dynamic translation where professional localization is impractical.
* Customize language support strategies to match user demographics and business priorities.
The ServiceNow platform provides several methods for serving your
international Virtual Agent users, regardless of their language and locale.
Professionally localize your conversations, use dynamic machine translation, or a combination of
the two.
## Direct and dynamic language support {#multi-language-options-va__section_bfr_rjf_jtb}
If your chat audience is diverse, you should support them in their own language whenever possible. One option is to localize everything professionally using linguists who can translate your topics into the desired languages.
While this option produces the best user outcomes, it is often the most expensive. Another option is language detection combined with dynamic machine translation. Instead of using translated topics and models, dynamic
translation connects to a third-party machine translator. During the conversation, user utterances and responses are translated into the primary language on the instance. All results are translated back into the user's language
for the session. There are benefits and drawbacks for all options, as described in the following list. Before activating machine translations, you should carefully weigh the costs and benefits and set proper expectations for
your deployment objectives.
[Direct language support (professional
localization)](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/EJFLUJFBeZ3TxYlx6CxWsg "The ServiceNow platform provides several methods for localizing Virtual Agent conversations, depending on your needs. Use the Localization Framework to manage all aspects of the translation process, whether you are using machine translation, a third-party provider, or both.")
: A direct language strategy employs an expert linguist to configure entities, intents,
strings, keywords, and vocabulary, which are then used to match user utterances with
configured content. Since an expert provides translations that directly match the
conversation's content, the accuracy of the translated content will be high. In addition to
the translations themselves, experts can use the
[NLU vocabulary feature](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=using-nlu-vocabulary&version=australia&pubname=australia-intelligent-experiences&ft:locale=en-US)
to further define words and phrases that
it may encounter from your users. For example, a user may enter an acronym such as
MS, which you can define as the vocabulary item
Microsoft.
Professional translations are implemented directly in Virtual Agent Designer. For details, see [Localizing Virtual Agent conversations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/EJFLUJFBeZ3TxYlx6CxWsg "The ServiceNow platform provides several methods for localizing Virtual Agent conversations, depending on your needs. Use the Localization Framework to manage all aspects of the translation process, whether you are using machine translation, a third-party provider, or both.").
{#multi-language-options-va__table_a4p_whg_jtb__entry__2}
| Benefits | Constraints |
|-|-|
| * More accurate translations * For supported languages, NLU intents and entities are localized {#multi-language-options-va__ul_zxw_xhg_jtb} | * Requires more resources to build and maintain * Longer completion time * Higher implementation costs * 5 languages have NLU intent and entity support * 12 languages have NLU intent support only * Increased coverage is not typically scalable * Not easily extensible {#multi-language-options-va__ul_xzw_xhg_jtb} For more information, see [Language support for NLU services](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/iZ2CJ3aiKyy7CLS1PrViMQ "Entity extraction is supported on ServiceNow NLU models for specific languages only. The remaining languages support intent matching only. If you are using IBM Watson Assistant, supported languages vary."). |
[Table 1. Using translations from professional linguists and corresponding ServiceNow language plugins]
{#multi-language-options-va__table_a4p_whg_jtb}
[Dynamic language detection and machine translation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/5uibCxjg7xuvjsjUDEE~Ng "The ServiceNow platform provides several methods for serving your international Virtual Agent users, regardless of their language and locale. Professionally localize your conversations, use dynamic machine translation, or a combination of the two.")
: Dynamic machine translation relies on the translation service to translate all content in real time. The accuracy of the translations is dependent on the translation service. Translation services typically use algorithms
to translate words based on the context of the conversation or sentence. There may be times when there is minimal context for the algorithm to use. Accuracy may be diminished in this situation. Check with your translation
service provider about the ability to exclude words from translation or associate vocabulary with specific synonyms.
{#multi-language-options-va__table_bw2_f3g_jtb__entry__2}
| Benefits | Constraints |
|-|-|
| * Lower implementation costs * Faster completion time * Less human maintenance * ServiceNow provides 22 language plugins with basic translations {#multi-language-options-va__ul_rvp_g3g_jtb} | * Limited scalability * Limited extensibility * 5 languages have NLU intent and entity support * 12 languages have NLU intent support only {#multi-language-options-va__ul_ylb_z3g_jtb} For more information, see [Language support for NLU services](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/iZ2CJ3aiKyy7CLS1PrViMQ "Entity extraction is supported on ServiceNow NLU models for specific languages only. The remaining languages support intent matching only. If you are using IBM Watson Assistant, supported languages vary."). |
[Table 2. Using dynamic translation with the supported ServiceNow language plugins]
{#multi-language-options-va__table_bw2_f3g_jtb}
Dynamic machine translation for languages that are not supported on the ServiceNow platform provides coverage, but the quality of the user experience may be lower.{#multi-language-options-va__table_yjl_3jg_jtb__entry__2}
| Benefits | Constraints |
|-|-|
| * Lower implementation costs * Faster completion time * Less human maintenance * Support for many languages * Highly scalable * Highly extensible {#multi-language-options-va__ul_ysl_kjg_jtb} | * User experience may vary * Potential for mistranslation may reduce user outcomes {#multi-language-options-va__ul_ij5_qjg_jtb} |
[Table 3. Using dynamic translation with unsupported languages]
{#multi-language-options-va__table_yjl_3jg_jtb}
## Multi-language deployment strategies {#multi-language-options-va__section_fnh_bnf_jtb}
Depending on the needs of your user base, you may want a mix of solutions to maximize both
user experience and access. For example, you may choose to professionally localize prioritized
languages and dynamically translate others. For example, if 95% of your users speak six
languages, you may decide to use a linguist to translate your topics into those six. You might
then use Dynamic Translation for the remaining five percent.
You can also enable locale support by [designating translated languages
as fallback languages](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/JQgMB1ZOviLArA~fTExUDQ "Provide language locale support by specifying a fallback language for Virtual Agent to use for topics, keywords, and NLU prediction. For example, the ServiceNow platform doesn't support Mexican Spanish (mx-es), but it does support Spanish (es), which you can designate as the fallback language for a better user experience."). For example, you can support Mexican Spanish users by designating
Spanish as the fallback language for that locale.
In the following example, French, German, and Spanish are professionally localized, including the NLU models, intents, and entities. This localized content provides the best user experience. Polish is supported as a language on
the ServiceNow platform, and when the plugin is installed and activated, it includes some translated content. In this imaginary scenario, the business decision was made to dynamically translate Polish
content because it accounts for a smaller percentage of users. The quality of this experience may vary since NLU models are not localized. Instead, utterances are dynamically translated to English, and NLU topic discovery is run
through the English model. Since Czech is currently not a supported language on the ServiceNow platform, dynamic machine translation is the only option. Admins can add Czech as a language and enable Dynamic Translation for the language in Virtual Agent.
Figure 1. Example language support strategy
## Localization insights {#multi-language-options-va__section_vys_djc_dtb}
You can view dynamic translation and localization insights from the Virtual Agent Designer page. Navigate to AllConversational InterfacesAssistant Designer, and select the Asset library tab. Select Localization Insights from the list of links in the side panel.
For more information, see [Localization Insights dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=localization-insights-dashboard&version=australia&pubname=australia-platform-administration&ft:locale=en-US).
* **[Language detection and dynamic translation in Virtual Agent enhanced chat](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/FAOAWXX~LUc8m4nk189xGg)**
Enable a combination of language detection and machine translation for Virtual Agent to improve the chat experience for diverse users. You can designate fallback languages for locales or dynamically translate languages that are not professionally localized or are not supported in topic discovery.
* **[Language detection and dynamic translation in Virtual Agent NLU and LLM standard chat](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/H6FnfersDX2o2FH9vAo_DQ)**
Enable a combination of language detection and machine translation for Virtual Agent to improve the chat experience for diverse users. You can designate fallback languages for locales or dynamically translate languages that are not professionally localized or are not supported in topic discovery.
* **[Prerequisites for using Dynamic Translation in Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/USaPBoWw7TjpZ72xNUaOdg)**
To enable dynamic machine translation, install ServiceNow® language plugins and Dynamic Translation plugins. Then configure Dynamic Translation for your instance.
* **[Configure Dynamic Translation service integration credentials](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/HWfPYoJeiIgqLKZvGTUwLg)**
Configure the credential and connection for your translation service.
* **[Activate your translation service in Dynamic Translation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/_z8iYXkTQnm6G0vUXRW9Kg)**
Activate your preferred Dynamic Translation provider and mark it as the default service for both translation and language detection.
* **[Enable Dynamic Translation for languages in Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/PD0hebnyYlzG6bh0nfI4Iw)**
Enable Dynamic Translation for one or more languages in Chat Settings for Virtual Agent.
* **[Configure multilingual service for ServiceNow Otto applications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9m6THZ17Ceamuav3qq1aOQ)**
Turn on multilingual service for user-entered text with native translation or Dynamic Translation in ServiceNow Otto applications.
* **[Enable Dynamic Translation for an unsupported language](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/5RDBnQjcSGoKJe8Q1wR8gA)**
The ServiceNow® platform supports several languages, but you can enable dynamic machine translation for additional languages in Virtual Agent.
* **[Specify a fallback language for locale-specific languages and NLU prediction](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/JQgMB1ZOviLArA~fTExUDQ)**
Provide language locale support by specifying a fallback language for Virtual Agent to use for topics, keywords, and NLU prediction. For example, the ServiceNow® platform doesn't support Mexican Spanish (mx-es), but it does support Spanish (es), which you can designate as the fallback language for a better user experience.
* **[Localizing Virtual Agent conversations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/EJFLUJFBeZ3TxYlx6CxWsg)**
The ServiceNow platform provides several methods for localizing Virtual Agent conversations, depending on your needs. Use the Localization Framework to manage all aspects of the translation process, whether you are using machine translation, a third-party provider, or both.
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