A guide to using a Freshdesk chatbot to route WhatsApp conversations by language

Business is booming. You’re reaching customers all over the world, which is great. To keep up with this growth, you might find your support inbox receiving requests in many different languages. Customers are hitting you up on WhatsApp in Spanish, French, and German, and you want to ensure they get to the right agent as quickly as possible.

Manually sorting these multilingual conversations can be time-consuming for a busy team. It's important to provide a smooth experience for international customers from the very first interaction. Finding a way to automatically identify the language and route the conversation ensures your team stays efficient and your customers stay happy.

This guide will walk you through exactly how to set up a Freshdesk chatbot to route WhatsApp conversations by language. We’ll start with what you can do using Freshdesk's robust native tools and then introduce how you can add further flexibility to get your multilingual support running smoothly in 2026.

What is a Freshdesk chatbot to route WhatsApp conversations by language?

When we talk about this kind of setup, we're really talking about three pieces of technology working together.

First, you have the WhatsApp Business API. This is the official channel that allows businesses to connect with customers on WhatsApp in a scalable way. It’s the reliable connection that lets messages flow from your customers' phones into your support system.

Next is Freshdesk, which is your team's command center. It’s a mature, enterprise-grade helpdesk where all your customer tickets live, whether they come from email, chat, or WhatsApp. Freshdesk provides the stability and structure needed to manage support at scale.

The third piece is the chatbot layer. This is the brain of the operation. It’s an AI that works alongside your support agents. When a new message arrives, the bot can identify what the customer needs (like which language they're speaking) and take action immediately.

In this case, the chatbot’s main job is to act as a smart traffic controller. A WhatsApp message comes in, the bot identifies the language, and sends it to the right person or team in Freshdesk. This means your Spanish-speaking customers get a Spanish-speaking agent, ensuring a great customer experience. Automating this step can significantly improve your response times and streamline your team's workflow.

Setting up language-based WhatsApp routing with native tools

Freshdesk offers a powerful suite of tools for building chatbots and handling multiple languages, primarily through its Freshchat and Freddy AI products. For teams already using the Freshdesk ecosystem, this is a natural and highly integrated place to start.

Native features for routing WhatsApp conversations

Freshworks' AI is called "Freddy," and it powers their chatbot features. Freddy is designed to understand different languages and can be configured to handle various automations inside the Freshworks platform.

The platform offers a direct integration with the WhatsApp Business API, which is a key first step. This centralizes all your WhatsApp chats into your Freshdesk Messaging inbox, right alongside your other support channels for a true omnichannel experience.

To set up routing, you can use Freshdesk's visual bot builder. It allows you to map out conversations and create effective workflows. You can build a bot that asks preliminary questions, suggests help articles, and routes the conversation based on user input or detected keywords.

Considerations for your native setup

While the built-in tools are very capable, there are a few things to keep in mind as your support needs become more specialized.

• Integrated ecosystem: Freddy AI is optimized to learn from data within the Freshworks environment, such as your existing Freshdesk tickets and help articles. If your team relies heavily on external platforms like Confluence or Google Docs, you might look for ways to bridge that information into your bot's knowledge base.

• Scaling complex workflows: The visual builder is excellent for standard workflows. As you scale to dozens of languages and highly specific routing rules, you may find that managing these detailed conditions requires careful planning to keep the logic organized.

• Configuring specialized logic: Setting up an advanced multilingual bot is a comprehensive process. It allows you to align your support with Freshworks’ established best practices, which provides a solid foundation for most teams.

• Tiered pricing structures: Freshdesk offers different plans to match different team sizes and needs. Advanced AI features are available in higher-tier plans or as add-ons, allowing you to choose the level of automation that fits your current business stage.

Pricing for Freshdesk's native tools

To get the features for language-based routing, you’ll want to review which Freshdesk plan best fits your requirements. Freshdesk offers clear, tiered pricing to help you grow. Here is an overview based on their official details for 2026.

Plan	Price (per agent/month, billed annually)	Key AI & Chatbot Features
Growth	$15	Core ticketing and support features.
Pro	$49	Includes 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions per month. Freddy AI Copilot is available as a premium add-on.
Pro + AI Copilot	$78	A bundle including the Pro plan and the AI Copilot features.
Enterprise	$79	Advanced enterprise features with 500 Freddy AI Agent sessions per month.

Freshdesk's pricing is designed to be transparent, allowing you to scale your seats as your team grows. Premium features like AI Copilot provide significant value for teams looking for deeper automation.

A complementary way to route WhatsApp conversations with Freshdesk

To further expand your platform's capabilities, you can also consider using a dedicated AI layer that integrates directly with the Freshdesk setup you already have.

A tool like eesel AI acts as a complementary option. It doesn't replace Freshdesk; instead, it works within the ecosystem to provide additional flexibility. eesel AI connects to Freshdesk and other knowledge sources to offer another way to manage your automation.

Get your chatbot running quickly

If you're looking for a self-serve option to test new workflows, eesel AI is designed for rapid setup. You can connect your Freshdesk account in just a few clicks and begin testing your language routing rules. It’s a great way to start building out automation for specific projects or teams.

Unify knowledge for broader routing

A chatbot's performance depends on the information it can access. While Freshdesk is the primary source for ticket data, eesel AI can also connect to external knowledge bases like Confluence, Google Docs, and Notion. This helps the AI provide comprehensive answers based on all your company's documentation, regardless of the language.

Control your routing workflows

With eesel AI's workflow engine, you can build specialized rules that complement your Freshdesk setup.

For instance, you could set up rules like:

• "If a WhatsApp message is identified as Spanish and mentions billing, route it to the specific billing group in Freshdesk."

• "If a message is detected as German, automatically create a ticket with the correct priority and tags."

This level of detail helps the automation adapt to your specific operational needs. Incoming WhatsApp messages are analyzed, the language is detected, and the ticket is sent to the appropriate team in Freshdesk - whether that’s your Spanish team, French team, or general support - so your agents can respond immediately.

Why a unified AI layer is a strong complementary approach

Adding a dedicated AI layer like eesel AI to your Freshdesk environment can offer additional benefits for your strategy.

Test your chatbot with simulation

Refining your automation is easier when you can see the results beforehand. eesel AI offers a simulation mode where you can run the bot against past tickets. This shows you how it would have handled those conversations, allowing you to adjust your language routing rules with confidence before they go live for your customers.

Predictable pricing

When considering different tools, it's helpful to have various pricing models. While Freshdesk offers tiered agent-based plans, eesel AI provides pricing based on monthly interactions. This provides a predictable cost structure that some teams may find helpful for budgeting.

Native AI vs. unified AI layer

Feature	Native Freshdesk AI	Unified AI Layer (eesel AI)
Setup Time	Integrated into the platform	Quick self-serve setup
Knowledge Sources	Optimized for the Freshworks ecosystem	Connects to external sources (Freshdesk, Confluence, etc.)
Workflow Control	Based on robust built-in templates	Customizable engine for specialized rules
Pre-Launch Testing	Established testing protocols	Simulation mode based on past tickets
Pricing Model	Tiered plans with agent-based seats	Predictable plans based on interactions

The right choice for your multilingual support strategy

Managing multilingual WhatsApp support in Freshdesk is a powerful way to serve your global audience. Using a Freshdesk chatbot to route WhatsApp conversations by language is a standard practice for modern, growing companies.

Freshdesk's native tools offer a mature, trusted, and highly integrated platform to start your automation journey. For teams looking for even more flexibility or to connect disparate knowledge sources, a dedicated AI layer like eesel AI is an excellent complementary option.

It works alongside Freshdesk, enhancing your existing setup rather than replacing it. By combining Freshdesk's industry-leading ticketing system with advanced AI workflows, you can build a support system that scales beautifully with your business.

Ready to streamline your WhatsApp messages? Try eesel AI for free and see how it can enhance your language-based routing for Freshdesk.