Integrating Translate Desk with Intercom: A Step-by-Step Guide

Intercom is one of the most popular customer support platforms, helping teams manage conversations, build knowledge bases, and engage with customers. However, creating and maintaining multilingual Intercom content can be challenging without the right tools.

Translate Desk integrates seamlessly with Intercom to automate article translation and simplify multilingual support. This guide walks you through the integration process, from initial setup to managing translated content, so you can start serving customers in multiple languages quickly.

Why Integrate Translate Desk with Intercom

Before diving into the integration steps, it's helpful to understand the benefits of connecting Translate Desk with your Intercom workspace.

Automated Article Translation

Translate Desk automates the translation of Intercom articles, eliminating manual copy-paste workflows:

• Bulk translation: Translate multiple articles simultaneously instead of one at a time
• Automatic sync: Keep translations updated when source articles change
• Consistent quality: Use glossaries and translation settings to ensure consistent terminology
• Time savings: Reduce translation time from hours to minutes

Automated translation means your knowledge base can be multilingual without requiring extensive manual work.

Streamlined Workflow

Integration creates a smooth workflow for managing multilingual content:

• Single interface: Manage translations from within Translate Desk without switching between tools
• Status tracking: See which articles are translated, in progress, or need updates
• Version control: Track translation versions and manage updates systematically
• Quality review: Built-in workflows for reviewing translations before publishing

Streamlined workflows make it easier to maintain multilingual knowledge bases at scale.

Better Customer Experience

Multilingual Intercom articles improve customer experience:

• Native language support: Customers find answers in their preferred language
• Consistent information: All languages contain the same accurate information
• Faster self-service: Customers resolve issues independently without contacting support
• Professional appearance: High-quality translations reflect well on your brand

Better customer experience leads to higher satisfaction and reduced support volume.

Prerequisites

Before starting the integration, ensure you have the following:

• Intercom workspace: An active Intercom account with articles you want to translate
• Translate Desk account: A Translate Desk account with appropriate access
• Admin access: Permission to connect integrations in both Intercom and Translate Desk
• Language preferences: Know which languages you want to support

Having these in place before starting makes the integration process smoother.

Step 1: Connect Your Intercom Account

The first step is connecting your Intercom workspace to Translate Desk.

Access Integration Settings

Navigate to the integrations section in your Translate Desk dashboard:

1. Open settings: Go to your Translate Desk dashboard and access the settings or integrations section
2. Find Intercom: Locate the Intercom integration option
3. Start connection: Click the button to begin connecting your Intercom account

The integration interface guides you through the connection process.

Authorize the Connection

Connect your Intercom workspace:

1. Sign in to Intercom: You'll be redirected to Intercom to authorize the connection
2. Grant permissions: Approve the permissions Translate Desk needs to access your articles
3. Confirm connection: Return to Translate Desk to confirm the connection is active

The authorization process is secure and follows standard OAuth protocols. Translate Desk only accesses the articles and content you want to translate.

Verify the Connection

Confirm everything is working:

1. Check status: Verify the connection status shows as active in Translate Desk
2. Test sync: Trigger a test sync to ensure articles are accessible
3. Review permissions: Confirm Translate Desk has access to the articles you want to translate

A successful connection means Translate Desk can read your Intercom articles and push translations back when ready.

Step 2: Configure Translation Settings

Once connected, configure how translations should work for your Intercom articles.

Select Source and Target Languages

Choose which languages to translate between:

1. Source language: Identify the primary language of your Intercom articles (usually English)
2. Target languages: Select the languages you want to translate articles into
3. Language pairs: Configure translation direction for each language pair

You can add or remove languages later, so start with your highest-priority languages.

Set Up Translation Glossaries

Create glossaries to ensure consistent terminology:

1. Product names: Add your product names and how they should appear in each language
2. Technical terms: Include domain-specific terminology that needs accurate translation
3. Brand terms: Define how brand names and marketing terms should be handled
4. Common phrases: Add frequently used phrases from your support articles

Glossaries ensure translations use consistent terminology across all articles.

Configure Translation Quality

Adjust quality settings to match your needs:

1. Formality level: Set appropriate formality for support articles (usually formal or neutral)
2. Domain optimization: Configure translations for technical or industry-specific content
3. Quality thresholds: Set minimum quality standards for automatic translation
4. Review requirements: Define when translations need human review before publishing

Quality settings help ensure translations meet your standards from the start.

Step 3: Sync Your Intercom Articles

After configuration, sync your Intercom articles to Translate Desk.

Initial Article Sync

Import your existing articles:

1. Trigger sync: Start the initial sync from the Translate Desk dashboard
2. Select articles: Choose which articles to sync (all articles or specific collections)
3. Wait for completion: Let the sync process complete
4. Review imported articles: Verify articles appear correctly in Translate Desk

The initial sync may take a few minutes depending on how many articles you have.

Verify Article Import

Check that articles imported correctly:

1. Article count: Confirm the number of articles matches what you expect
2. Content preview: Review a few articles to ensure content imported correctly
3. Metadata: Check that article titles, URLs, and other metadata are preserved
4. Formatting: Verify that formatting and structure are maintained

Correct import ensures translations will be accurate and properly formatted.

Set Up Automatic Sync

Configure ongoing synchronization:

1. Sync frequency: Choose how often to check for new or updated articles
2. Update detection: Enable automatic detection of article changes
3. Sync scope: Define which articles should sync automatically
4. Notification settings: Set up alerts for sync issues or new articles

Automatic sync keeps your translations current as articles change.

Step 4: Translate Your Articles

With articles synced, you can start translating them.

Select Articles to Translate

Choose which articles to translate:

1. Browse articles: View all synced articles in Translate Desk
2. Filter and search: Use filters to find specific articles or collections
3. Select articles: Choose individual articles or select multiple at once
4. Review selection: Confirm you've selected the right articles

You can translate articles individually or in batches, depending on your needs.

Start Translation

Initiate the translation process:

1. Choose languages: Select which target languages to translate into
2. Review settings: Confirm translation settings and glossaries are correct
3. Start translation: Begin the translation process
4. Monitor progress: Watch translation progress in real-time

Translation typically takes a few minutes per article, depending on length and complexity.

Review Translations

Check translation quality before publishing:

1. Preview translations: Review translated content in Translate Desk
2. Check terminology: Verify product names and technical terms are correct
3. Review tone: Ensure formality and style match your brand voice
4. Test formatting: Confirm formatting and structure are preserved

Quality review ensures translations meet your standards before customers see them.

Step 5: Publish Translations to Intercom

Once translations are ready, publish them back to Intercom.

Review Publishing Settings

Configure how translations are published:

1. Publishing method: Choose automatic or manual publishing
2. Article structure: Decide how translated articles appear in Intercom
3. Language organization: Configure how languages are organized in Intercom
4. Update behavior: Define what happens when source articles change

Publishing settings control how translations appear in your Intercom workspace.

Publish Translations

Push translations to Intercom:

1. Select translations: Choose which translations to publish
2. Review one more time: Do a final check before publishing
3. Publish: Push translations to Intercom
4. Verify in Intercom: Check that articles appear correctly in Intercom

Published translations become available to customers immediately in Intercom.

Set Up Automatic Publishing

Enable automatic publishing for efficiency:

1. Auto-publish rules: Define when translations should publish automatically
2. Quality gates: Set requirements translations must meet before auto-publishing
3. Review exceptions: Specify which translations always need manual review
4. Notification preferences: Get alerts when translations publish

Automatic publishing streamlines the workflow while maintaining quality control.

Managing Translated Content

After publishing, you'll need to manage translations as articles change.

Handling Article Updates

When source articles change, translations need updates:

1. Detect changes: Translate Desk automatically detects when articles update
2. Review changes: See what changed in the source article
3. Update translations: Translate only the changed sections or retranslate entirely
4. Republish: Push updated translations to Intercom

Efficient update handling keeps translations current without unnecessary work.

Maintaining Translation Quality

Keep translations high-quality over time:

1. Update glossaries: Add new terms as your product evolves
2. Review feedback: Incorporate customer and agent feedback into translations
3. Refine settings: Adjust formality and quality settings based on results
4. Monitor metrics: Track translation quality and usage metrics

Ongoing quality maintenance ensures translations remain accurate and helpful.

Scaling to More Languages

Add languages as your customer base grows:

1. Identify new languages: Determine which languages to add based on customer demand
2. Configure language pairs: Set up translation for new languages
3. Translate existing articles: Translate your current articles into new languages
4. Maintain consistency: Ensure new languages follow the same quality standards

Scaling languages enables growth into new markets without operational complexity.

Best Practices

Follow these practices to maximize the value of your Intercom integration.

Start with High-Priority Articles

Don't try to translate everything at once:

• Identify important articles: Focus on articles with high traffic or critical information
• Prioritize by language: Translate into languages with the most customer demand first
• Iterate and expand: Add more articles and languages as you validate the approach
• Measure impact: Track which translated articles get the most use

Starting with priorities ensures you get value quickly while learning what works best.

Build Comprehensive Glossaries

Invest time in glossaries early:

• Product terminology: Include all product names, features, and key terms
• Industry terms: Add domain-specific terminology your customers use
• Common phrases: Include frequently used support phrases and responses
• Regular updates: Keep glossaries current as your product evolves

Comprehensive glossaries ensure consistent, accurate translations from the start.

Establish Review Workflows

Create processes for reviewing translations:

• Review criteria: Define what makes a translation ready to publish
• Review assignments: Assign team members to review translations
• Feedback loops: Create ways to gather and incorporate feedback
• Quality metrics: Track translation quality over time

Review workflows maintain quality while enabling efficient translation processes.

Monitor and Optimize

Continuously improve your translation process:

• Track usage: See which translated articles customers use most
• Gather feedback: Collect feedback from customers and support agents
• Measure quality: Monitor translation quality metrics
• Refine approach: Adjust settings and processes based on data

Monitoring and optimization ensure translations remain effective as your business evolves.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Here are solutions to common integration challenges.

Connection Problems

If you have trouble connecting to Intercom:

• Check permissions: Verify you have admin access in Intercom
• Review authorization: Re-authorize the connection if it seems stale
• Check API status: Ensure Intercom's API is operational
• Contact support: Reach out if connection issues persist

Most connection problems resolve with re-authorization or permission checks.

Sync Issues

If articles don't sync correctly:

• Verify permissions: Confirm Translate Desk has access to your articles
• Check article status: Ensure articles are published and accessible in Intercom
• Review sync logs: Check sync logs for error messages
• Manual sync: Try triggering a manual sync if automatic sync fails

Sync issues usually indicate permission or configuration problems.

Translation Quality Concerns

If translations don't meet quality standards:

• Review glossaries: Ensure glossaries include relevant terminology
• Adjust settings: Fine-tune formality and quality settings
• Add context: Provide more context about your product or industry
• Request review: Use review workflows to improve translations

Quality issues often improve with better glossaries and settings.

Conclusion

Integrating Translate Desk with Intercom automates article translation and simplifies multilingual support. The integration process is straightforward, and once set up, it streamlines your workflow for maintaining multilingual knowledge bases.

By following these steps and best practices, you can quickly start serving customers in multiple languages through your Intercom knowledge base. The automated workflows, quality management features, and seamless integration make it easy to scale multilingual support as your business grows.

Ready to get started? Learn more about translating Intercom articles or explore how Translate Desk simplifies multilingual support.