Critical Latency Issue with German Language Processing in Voice Agents

Hey everyone,

I'm based in Germany and primarily build German-speaking voice agents, which means I'm heavily reliant on German language processing.

I've been facing an recurring critical issue:

Voice agents using German Language Processing tend to have noticeably higher response latency — enough that it disrupts the flow of conversation and feels unnatural to users. This is starting to affect the overall user experience and has been raised by several clients (7 out of 8) who asked whether response time could be improved.

I’m actively working to understand and find a solution. I’ve tested various approaches:

Reduced the number of characters in the prompt (2000–4000 range)
Tried fully scripted, fully prompted, and hybrid formats
Tested dozens of different voices
Unfortunately, none of these had a meaningful impact on latency

Then I ran a test where I used the exact same prompt, but switched the Language Processing from German to English.

Result: The latency issue disappeared. The agent became lightning-fast and fluid. This leads me to believe the problem is rooted in the current limitations of German language processing compared to English.

To back this up, I’ve attached audio files from both test cases so you can hear the difference in real time.

So my questions to the community are:

Is anyone else experiencing similar latency issues in languages other than English?
Has anyone found a solution or workaround?

Any insights would be incredibly helpful. This is an urgent issue for me, as it directly affects user experience and client retention — and I know these are key priorities for everyone here, including the platform team.

Thanks in advance for your support 🙏

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