Setting up multilingual Bitrix24: 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 required 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, all fields can be synchronized 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 across 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. The card displays all variants or only the relevant one — via role-based field visibility settings.
- Automatic translation. When a CRM entity is created or updated, a business process calls an external API (Google Translate, DeepL) via webhook and fills in 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 are guided by this field.
Why does automatic client language detection simplify support?
Open channels (chat with clients via the website, messengers, social networks) receive requests in different languages. The setup works as follows:
| Task | Solution | Efficiency compared to standard |
|---|---|---|
| Client language detection | Auto-detection by text (CoPilot/API) or by channel source | 2 times faster first response |
| Routing by language | Separate queues for each language. Routing rule — by UF_LANGUAGE field or by channel | 60% reduction in misrouting errors |
| Greeting templates | Several versions of auto-reply: Russian, English, German. Selection — by the determined language | Up to 30% savings in manager time |
| Quick replies | Sets of quick replies for each language. The manager sees the set depending on the dialogue language | 25% faster response |
For each language, you can create a separate Open Channel linked to a language-specific channel (for example, a separate chat widget on the EN version of the site), 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, and the extranet. We identify all points that require translation.
- Architecture design — a scheme of fields, business processes, and routing. We approve it with you.
- Creation of custom fields — for each language via infoblocks and HL-blocks.
- Business process setup — automatic translation via REST API (DeepL, Google).
- Extranet localization — external users see the interface in their language.
- Testing — we check in 5+ languages and fix errors.
- Administrator training — we hand over documentation and access.
Multilingual readiness checklist
- Target languages identified
- Access to a translation API is available (DeepL/Google)
- CRM stage names are agreed upon for each language
- Roles for managing translations are assigned
- Document templates updated
What is included in multilingual setup work?
We offer comprehensive setup: an audit of the current portal, design of the field and business process architecture, implementation of custom fields using infoblocks and HL-blocks, setup of business processes and CRM robots for automatic translation, extranet localization, integration with external translation APIs (DeepL, Google), testing in 5+ languages, administrator training, and documentation handover.
Certified specialists with 10+ years of experience in Bitrix guarantee the correct operation of all elements in the required languages. Order the setup — receive a commercial proposal within 24 hours.
Comparison of approaches to CRM localization
| Approach | Implementation time | Complexity | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 exact calculation of timelines and cost — write to us by email or via the feedback form.