Setting up Bitrix24 multilingual support: where to start?
The company employs staff from five countries.
The Bitrix24 portal is in Russian — the German office does not understand CRM stage names, Polish managers get confused by the fields in the contact card, and English-speaking contractors in the extranet see an interface they cannot read. Switching the interface language is easy.
The harder part is keeping CRM fields, documents and notifications in the right language. We help synchronize these elements so that every employee and client works in their native language.
Over 5 years we have set up multilingual support for 50+ projects, including companies with distributed offices. In 95% of cases we manage to synchronize all fields within 3 days. Contact us for a consultation — we will assess the scope of work within 1 day.
Interface language settings
Bitrix24 supports changing the interface language at the portal level and at the user level. Portal level: the administrator sets the default language in the portal settings.
This language applies to new users and to system elements (names of standard CRM stages, task types, statuses).
User level: each employee can switch the language in their profile. The interface — menus, buttons, system notifications — switches to the selected language.
Supported languages: Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Turkish and others.
Important: switching the interface language does not affect user data — CRM stage names, custom fields, document templates and business processes remain in the language in which they were created.
How to synchronize CRM fields in all languages?
Standard CRM fields (company, contact, deal) do not support multiple language versions out of the box. The solution is through custom fields and business processes:
- Field duplication. For each language we create a set of custom fields: UF_COMPANY_NAME_EN, UF_COMPANY_NAME_DE, UF_COMPANY_NAME_RU. All variants are displayed in the card, or only the relevant one — by configuring field visibility by roles.
- Automatic translation. A business process, when creating or updating a CRM entity, calls an external API (Google Translate, DeepL) via webhook and fills in the fields in other languages. This reduces request processing time by 40%.
- Contact language selection. The UF_LANGUAGE field in the contact or company card determines the preferred communication language. Business processes and document templates rely on this field.
Why does auto-detecting the client's language simplify support?
Open Channels (chat with clients via the website, messengers, social networks) receive inquiries in different languages. The setup works like this:
| Task | Solution | Efficiency compared to the standard |
|---|---|---|
| Detecting the client's language | Auto-detection by text (CoPilot/API) or by channel source | 2x faster first response |
| Routing by language | Separate queues for each language. Routing rule — by the UF_LANGUAGE field or by channel | 60% fewer misrouting errors |
| Greeting templates | Several versions of the auto-reply: Russian, English, German. Selection — by the detected language | Saves the manager up to 30% of their time |
| Quick replies | Sets of quick replies for each language. The manager sees the set depending on the language of the dialogue | 25% faster response |
For each language you can create a separate Open Channel linked to a language channel (for example, a separate chat widget on the EN version of the website), or use a single channel with internal routing.
How do we set up multilingual support in 7 steps?
- Portal audit — we check CRM, documents, notifications, extranet. We identify all the points where translation is needed.
- Architecture design — a scheme of fields, business processes, routing. We approve it with you.
- Creating custom fields — for each language via information blocks and HL blocks.
- Configuring business processes — automatic translation via REST API (DeepL, Google).
- Extranet localization — external users see the interface in their own language.
- Testing — we check in 5+ languages, fix errors.
- Training administrators — we hand over documentation and access credentials.
Readiness checklist for multilingual support
- Target languages defined
- Access to a translator API (DeepL/Google) available
- CRM stage names agreed in each language
- Roles allocated for managing translations
- Document templates updated
What does multilingual setup work include?
We offer comprehensive setup: an audit of the current portal, design of the field and business process architecture, implementation of custom fields using information blocks and HL blocks, configuration of business processes and CRM robots for automatic translation, extranet localization, integration with external translator APIs (DeepL, Google), testing in 5+ languages, training administrators and handing over documentation.
Certified specialists with 10+ years of experience in Bitrix guarantee that all elements work correctly in the required languages. Order the setup — receive a commercial proposal within 24 hours.
Comparison of CRM localization approaches
| Approach | Implementation time | Complexity | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom fields + business processes | 5–10 days | Medium | Low |
| External module from Marketplace | 1–2 days | Low | Medium |
| Full customization via API | 10–15 days | High | High |
Contact us for an accurate estimate of timelines — cost calculated after audit. Write to us by email or via the feedback form.
