AI phone agents in Chinese
ThunderPhone supports Chinese across the full customer experience: agents can speak and understand Chinese on calls, the dashboard ships with a Chinese interface, and the product documentation has a dedicated Chinese edition. This page covers Standard Chinese (Mandarin); Cantonese is supported separately as its own language.
Chinese is one of ThunderPhone's 47 supported voice languages. It is an included language, so choosing Chinese does not add a language surcharge to the selected Spark, Bolt, or Storm engine rate.
Chinese voice availability and pricing
The current catalog includes eight voices that support Chinese:
- six multilingual voices on the included Chinese language path; and
- two premium Chinese voices, Jing and Jianhao.
The two premium voices add 3¢ per minute to the selected engine rate; the other compatible voices carry no language charge on top of the Spark (2¢), Bolt (5¢), or Storm (9¢) per-minute rate. All figures are before telephony and other optional charges. The voice picker filters the catalog to voices that support every language selected for the agent, and each voice can be previewed in the builder before deployment.
Evaluate voice quality against the calls you actually expect. Test personal and place names, addresses, phone and order numbers, brand terms, English loanwords, and the amount of Chinese-English switching your callers really use.
Chinese in the dashboard and documentation
Chinese is a shipped dashboard locale, not just a call setting. A team can work in the Chinese interface while writing prompts, reviewing calls and transcripts, and managing the organization.
ThunderPhone also publishes a dedicated Chinese documentation edition on its docs site, giving Chinese-speaking builders localized product guidance alongside the Chinese-speaking agent experience.
Chinese and English in one call
An agent has one primary language and can have additional languages. If Chinese is primary and English is additional—or the reverse—the agent switches automatically when the caller changes language mid-call.
The chosen voice must support every selected language. For code-mixed conversations, test the transitions that matter to your business before going live: automatic switching is not a substitute for reviewing how domain-specific names and terms are pronounced in each language.
Sample Chinese call experience
The following flow is written in English to show what happens, not to prescribe exact translated wording.
Agent starts in Chinese: Greets the caller, identifies the business, and asks how it can help.
Caller answers in Chinese: Says they want to reschedule a delivery for later this week.
Agent continues in Chinese: Confirms the caller's name and order number, then offers the available delivery windows from the approved scheduling action.
Caller switches to English: "Actually, can you send the confirmation to my work email?"
Agent switches to English: Reads the email address back and confirms where the notice will be sent.
Caller returns to Chinese: Confirms the new delivery time.
Agent returns to Chinese: Repeats the final date and window, then closes the call according to the business's instructions.
The language switch happens within the same call; the caller never hangs up, presses a phone-tree option, or dials a separate number.
Build and test a Chinese agent
- Set Chinese as the primary language, or add it as an additional language.
- Choose one of the eight compatible voices that supports the complete language set.
- Write the operating prompt in the language your team can review most reliably; the agent's spoken language is configured separately.
- Attach only approved knowledge sources and integrations.
- Run browser tests and simulations with Chinese-only, English-only, and mixed-language scenarios.
- Review transcripts, pronunciation, tool actions, and escalation behavior before deployment.
Frequently asked questions
Does ThunderPhone support Chinese voice calls?
Yes. Chinese is one of ThunderPhone's 47 supported voice languages and currently has eight compatible voices in the catalog.
Does Chinese cost extra as a language?
No. Chinese is an included language, so it adds no language surcharge to the Spark, Bolt, or Storm engine rate. Two optional premium Chinese voices add 3¢ per minute.
Are premium Chinese voices available?
Yes. The catalog currently lists two premium Chinese voices, Jing and Jianhao, at an optional 3¢ per minute on top of the engine rate.
Is the ThunderPhone dashboard available in Chinese?
Yes. Chinese is a shipped dashboard locale, so builders can operate the entire product interface in Chinese.
Are ThunderPhone docs available in Chinese?
Yes. ThunderPhone publishes a dedicated Chinese documentation edition on its docs site.
Can a Chinese agent switch to English during a call?
Yes. Add English as an additional language and select a voice that supports both. The agent switches automatically when the caller changes language mid-call.