Multilingual receptionist for notary offices
Quick summary
- A published Greek number already takes English, German and French in the same week — buyers, a power of attorney before a flight, a relative in Greek.
- The assistant hears the language on the first sentence and continues in it. It covers 70+ languages, and it can switch if they mix.
- New deed or papers is still the first question. A name in English does not tell you which job it is.
- A tax question in German is still a tax question. Fluency does not let it name a rate or a form.
- The spoken rule does not change: the notary goes through the form at the appointment. This call takes a time.
- The confirmation SMS goes out in the language of the call, with the paper list you typed for that type.
TL;DR
You are reading a deed when a buyer rings in English, or a parent rings in German about a gift. They want a time, or they want to know which form is cheaper. They will not wait for the colleague who is comfortable in English to come out of the waiting room. An assistant answers in the language it hears — 70+ languages, and it can switch if they mix Greek and English on the same call. It asks new deed or papers first, takes the name, books a time that is free, and refuses anything that sounds like a contract form or a tax on the transfer. It will not read a Greek paper list aloud and tell them what it means.
Key takeaways
- Leave language detection on. Pinning the line to Greek is how the 09:40 English call never reaches you.
- Put the new-deed-or-papers question in every language you actually hear, not only the two you staff.
- Write the callback sentence once and never vary it: the notary will go through the form at the appointment.
- Do not let it explain a Greek certificate, name a tax, or choose a gift because they asked in English.
- Send the SMS in the language of the conversation, with the paper list for that type.
- Read the first multilingual transcripts with the notary. That is where a soft form sentence creeps in.
They started in English
The inner office is a Greek reading. The next voice is not. A buyer in Glyfada. A German parent asking about a gift. A power of attorney before a flight to Paris. They rang the number on the listing because someone told them they need a notary. They did not ring to wait for someone who “has a bit of English” to leave a deed.
The assistant hears the first sentence and stays in that language. 70+ languages. It can switch if they mix. You do not set a language per file. Pinning the line to Greek is how the 09:40 English call becomes a short ring in the provider’s log.
The job does not change because the language did. New deed or papers. A name. A time the diary can honour. No form. No tax.
Two ways this call goes wrong
The first way: nobody answers, because the only person who would have tried English is in a reading. The buyer hangs up and finds an office that picked up in English. You never see the folder.
The second way: someone answers and is helpful. They say the gift is usual. They name a round tax in German. They read last week’s Greek paper list aloud and guess which foreign document will do. That sentence is now yours, in a language you may not even have on the recording in a form you can defend.
Fluency is not permission. A German tax from a description of a flat is the same forbidden sentence as a Greek one.
New deed or papers, in the language they opened
The first question is still the type. A name in English does not tell you whether this is a first purchase or a Friday slot they already have. “The flat” in English may mean a sale, a gift, and a power of attorney. Ask what they said they want, in their words.
Then the name. Holiday buyers are often described by the building, or a WhatsApp pin, or the seller’s cousin. Take a surname. If they only have the seller’s name, write that down. Do not invent a file number.
Then the diary. Offer a time that is actually free. Text it in the same language. A Greek SMS after an English booking is a paper list they cannot pack.
If they want to sign this week because they fly on Sunday, that is still a papers check first, still a free slot, still not a form.
A tax question travels. Fluency does not answer it.
“Is the gift cheaper?” comes in English more often than in Greek. Buyers are used to being told a rate on the phone. Other offices may have already named one. They want you to match it on this call.
The assistant does not. The sentence is the same in every language you type it into: the notary will go through the form at the appointment. This call takes a time.
“What is the tax if I buy from my father?”, “can I use a foreign power of attorney?”, “will the bank accept this deed?” are still advice. Write them down. Refuse the answer. The office speaks at the appointment.
Do not put a bilingual tax table in the notes. It will read both columns out.
The relative in Greek, the buyer in English
The same purchase can produce two languages in one afternoon. The relative wants to know if Friday is on, in Greek. The buyer wants the papers list, in English. If the notes do not share a surname, you will book two papers checks and miss the signing, or book the buyer twice.
This is not automatically one slot. Ask who is coming. Ask whether they already have a time. A relative who says “we will bring the papers” is not the same as the buyer standing at the frosted door.
Spell the surname the same way in both notes. The assistant should not invent a transliteration that splits the file.
They photograph the Greek letter
They will photograph the SMS, a certificate, the plate on the door, and ask what it means. The assistant does not explain a cadastre extract. It does not tell them whether their foreign document will be accepted. That is the appointment.
It can send the paper list you typed in their language. That is a list, not a lecture.
A stamp with a Greek name is still a stamp. The assistant does not say which stamp they need.
After hours, from another time zone
Buyers ring at 19:40, or at breakfast in Hamburg. The published number still rings. The rule does not relax because they are abroad. New deed or papers. No form. No tax. If you do not run evenings, the honest answer is the next slot you run, in their language, with an SMS they can read when they land.
Do not let a recording of “we are closed” in Greek be the only thing an English buyer hears. That is a short ring and a next notary.
August needs its own dates in every language you use on the SMS.
The rule the assistant must obey
Answer in the language they opened. Keep the split. Keep the refusal. Text in the same language. Name the person so a Greek relative and an English buyer can be the same file on paper.
It does not explain certificates. It does not explain tax. It does not promise a signing because their Greek is limited and Friday would be kind. Kind is a papers check on a time that exists.
Late-this-hour and at-the-door still go to a phone. Language does not make them a booking.
What you configure first
Leave detection on. Write the split and the refusal in the languages you actually hear — Greek, English, German, French at a minimum if those are your weeks. Connect the diary. Turn on SMS in the language of the call. Give it the surname field so two languages can share a file. Read the first multilingual transcripts with the notary. That is where “people usually do the gift” creeps in, in English, because it sounded helpful.
Rates live on the pricing section of the home page. They are not repeated here.
What these calls sound like
English opening, English split, English refusal, English SMS. Or German. Or French. The reading is still a Greek deed in an inner office. The forbidden sentence does not get a passport.
If the assistant is fluent and still names a rate, you own that rate in a language the buyer will quote back to you at the door. Put the Glyfada purchase on a papers check, not on a form said to win the call.
AI receptionist, in-house staff, or a call centre
| CITT | In-house | Call centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caller opens in English during a reading | Continues in English | If you have it, and if you can leave the deed | If that shift has it |
| First question in their language | New deed or papers, then a name | Varies by who picked up | Often jumps to what time |
| Names a tax in German from a description | Never | Tempting, to be helpful | Risk, if the script wants a number |
| Advises gift versus sale in English | Never — the form is at the appointment | At the appointment, if at all | Tempted, if they ask which is cheaper |
| English, German, French, Greek | 70+ languages, same rules | Greek, and English if they have it | Whoever is on that shift |
| SMS they can read before they pack a folder | Language of the call | If someone types it | Often Greek |
| Relative in Greek, buyer in English | Same file name in both notes | If they remember it is the same deed | Two messages, two spellings |
What four unanswered English and German calls hide in a week
Worked from these assumptions — change any of them and the answer changes:
- Two people. A mixed week — Greek files, buyers who ring in English or German, a power of attorney in French, a relative in Greek.
- About 6 inbound calls that week start in a language you do not staff in the inner office.
- This example assumes 4 of those 6 ring out while a deed is being read. 2 leave nothing.
- A first appointment that becomes a signed deed is worth about €450 here — put your own figure in first.
- Treat 1 of those 2 silent calls as a purchase that then went to an office that answered in English.
- 4 English or German calls reach nobody in one week.
- 2 leave nothing. 1 of those 2 was a new deed.
- 1 × €450 = €450 of work that week that never reached the diary.
- A week like that through the months buyers travel, 5 months — use 5 × €450 if it is one lost deed a month.
About €2,250 over those five months on one lost deed a month. Change the ticket and how often an English call rings out.
What it costs
CITT is pay as you go: no packages, no minimum, no contract. The current rates — the monthly fee per number and the per-minute rate — are on the pricing section of the home page, which is the only place they are published.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to staff English in the waiting room?
No. The assistant takes the language it hears — 70+ languages — and stays in it. You still do the deed. The note has to name the person in a way you can read, even if the call was in German. The appointment itself can be slower, with an interpreter you arranged. The booking cannot wait for a colleague who has English.
Can it translate last week's Greek paper list for them?
It can send the list you typed in their language. It must not explain what a cadastre extract is, or whether their foreign document will be accepted. That is the appointment. A wrong explanation in a second language is a sentence you own.
They mix Greek and English on the same call. What then?
The assistant can switch. The rule does not switch. New deed or papers, then a name, then a time that is free, then no form and no tax. The SMS follows the language they used most, or the one you marked as the booking language. Do not send Greek to a buyer who booked in English.
A relative rings in Greek about the same purchase. Is that two files?
It may be the same deed. The note must share a name in both conversations, or you will book two papers checks and miss the signing. It is not automatically one slot. Ask who is coming. Ask whether they already have a time.
Can it explain the tax in German because they asked?
No. A tax on a transfer is still a tax in any language. It takes the request and books a time. Whether a gift is “cheaper” is not a sentence on a recorded line.
What does the SMS look like after an English call?
English. Time, type, paper list you typed. No tax. No form. See [pricing](/en/#pricing) for how answered overflow is treated.
