A freight forwarder near the Waalhaven in Rotterdam took calls from Dutch hauliers, Polish drivers waiting at a terminal gate, a shipping line's office in Singapore, and customers in Germany who spoke English to everybody except the one colleague who spoke German. The receptionist spoke Dutch and English well and spent a lot of each day putting callers on hold while she found somebody who could help with the rest.
The businesses in this article are illustrative examples, not named StartAutomate clients.
Key takeaways
- Many Dutch businesses take calls in Dutch and English every day, and callers often switch between the two mid-sentence.
- A bilingual AI receptionist answers in either language, follows the caller when they switch, and can add German, Polish or other languages the business needs.
- It routes calls to the right colleague and notes the caller's language, so the person who calls back uses it too.
Dutch and English in one call
Dutch callers switch to English readily, and international callers often throw in a Dutch place name or a word they picked up at the terminal. An agent that insists on one language, or asks callers to press one for Dutch, sounds like a call centre from a different decade.
The agent greets callers in Dutch, or in English on the international number, and follows whichever language the caller uses, switching back without comment if they do.
Adding the languages you need
Rotterdam logistics runs on more than two languages. Drivers call in Polish, Romanian or Ukrainian, German customers prefer German, and the agent can be set up to answer in each of them, asking for the booking reference or container number in the caller's own language.
Status questions, such as whether a container has been released or a slot at the terminal booked, can be answered from the forwarder's transport management system when the business connects it, with the answer given in whatever language the question came in.
Routing to the right colleague
Calls that need a person go to the team that handles that customer or that trade lane, and the agent passes on a summary in Dutch or English, whichever the team uses internally. The caller's language is recorded, so the colleague who calls back knows to open in German.
Urgent calls, such as a driver stuck at a gate with a problem in the paperwork, go straight to the operations desk with the terminal, reference and vehicle registration already written down.
Privacy and the EU AI Act
Call data is processed under the AVG with EU hosting and a verwerkersovereenkomst, and callers are told at the start that they are speaking with a digital assistant, as the EU AI Act requires from August 2026.
The agent does not translate contracts, customs documents or anything with legal weight. It passes those to the people who do that work.
Common questions
Can an AI receptionist switch between Dutch and English?
Yes. It follows the caller's language and switches mid-call if they do, without asking them to choose a language first.
Can it speak other languages too?
Yes. It can be set up for German, Polish, French and other languages your callers use, and records each caller's preferred language.
Does it work for logistics companies?
Yes. It can answer status questions from your transport management system where it is connected and route operational calls to the right desk.