Zendesk has just rolled out a powerful new feature for customer experience (CX) teams: the excluded terms enhancement to AI-generated translations. This update allows organisations to specify case-sensitive terms and phrases—such as brand names, product names, or industry-specific jargon—that should remain untouched during AI-powered translations. For Australian businesses striving for brand consistency and a seamless customer journey across languages, this is a game-changer.
What Is the Excluded Terms Enhancement?
AI-generated translations are a fantastic way to scale support and content for global audiences. However, one persistent challenge has been the mistranslation or alteration of critical terms. Imagine your brand name, 'Gravity CX', being translated into something unrecognisable in another language. Not only does this dilute your brand, but it can also confuse customers and erode trust.
With Zendesk’s new enhancement, you can now create an exclusion list—a set of words or phrases that the AI translation engine will leave as-is. This ensures that your brand identity, product names, and other key terms remain consistent, no matter the language.
Why Does This Matter for Customer Experience?
Brand consistency is at the heart of a great customer experience. When customers interact with your business, they expect the same level of quality and recognition, whether they’re reading your help articles in English, Mandarin, or Spanish. Inconsistent translations can lead to confusion, support friction, and even lost sales.
By leveraging the excluded terms feature, CX teams can:
- Protect brand integrity by ensuring names and slogans are never mistranslated.
- Reduce manual editing of translated content, saving time and resources.
- Enhance customer trust by providing clear, accurate information in every language.
- Streamline global support with less risk of embarrassing translation errors.
How to Use the Excluded Terms Feature
Getting started is straightforward:
- Ensure you have AI-generated translations enabled in your Zendesk instance.
- Navigate to your translation settings and locate the Excluded Terms section.
- Add your desired terms—such as 'Gravity CX', product names, or technical terms—to the exclusion list. The system is case-sensitive, so enter each variation as needed.
- Save your changes. From now on, these terms will remain unchanged in all AI-generated translations.
For a detailed walkthrough, see Zendesk’s official guide.
Real-World Example: Protecting Your Brand
Let’s say your company, Gravity CX, offers a product called 'CX Navigator'. Previously, AI translations might have rendered 'CX Navigator' into a local language, losing the product’s unique identity. With the excluded terms enhancement, you simply add 'CX Navigator' to your exclusion list. Now, whether your help articles are read in French, Japanese, or Portuguese, 'CX Navigator' always appears exactly as intended.
Best Practices for CX Teams
- Audit your content to identify all terms that should remain untranslated—brand names, product lines, technical terms, and even key slogans.
- Collaborate with marketing and product teams to ensure the exclusion list is comprehensive and up-to-date.
- Monitor translations after implementation to catch any missed terms or edge cases.
- Regularly review and update your exclusion list as your business evolves.
Impact on Australian Businesses
Australia’s multicultural landscape means businesses often serve customers in multiple languages. The excluded terms feature is especially valuable for local brands expanding into Asia-Pacific markets, where brand recognition is crucial. By maintaining consistency, you build stronger relationships and reduce the risk of costly translation errors.
Conclusion
Zendesk’s excluded terms enhancement for AI-generated translations is a significant step forward for customer experience teams. It empowers you to maintain brand integrity, reduce manual work, and deliver a seamless, trustworthy experience to every customer, everywhere.
Ready to take your CX to the next level? Learn more about optimising your Zendesk experience with Gravity CX.
