In FreePBX i noticed incorrect or misleading default voice prompts in Dutch. These translations cause confusion for Dutch callers because they use the wrong wording or even phrases that carry a completely different meaning.
1. “Leg daarna af en kies #” – Wrong and even inappropriate in Dutch
The default voicemail message says something like:
“Spreek uw bericht in en leg daarna af en kies #.”
In Dutch, “leg daarna AF” literally translates to “lay yourself down / die” or “drop something / lose something.”
It does not mean “end the call.”
The correct Dutch instruction should be:
“Leg daarna OP” — this is likely where things went wrong.
In Dutch, “Leg daarna OP” means hang up, while “Leg daarna af” means the thing i told above!
or
“Sluit daarna af met een #.”
So the current phrase is not only incorrect but can sound harsh, rude or completely out of context to native Dutch speakers.
2. Queue position announcement – Incorrect meaning
Another issue appears in the queue announcements. Instead of saying:
“You are first in line.”
The current Dutch prompt says something like:
“Kies 1 om in te schakelen.”
Which translates to:
“Press 1 to enable.”
“Enable what?”
This makes no sense in the context of a queue and gives the caller the impression that something must be activated manually, which is completely wrong. It causes confusion and disrupts the normal flow of a queue system.
Conclusion
Both prompts are incorrect:
-
Voicemail prompt: misleading and unintentionally inappropriate
-
Queue prompt: uses wording that has nothing to do with queue position
These issues affect the caller experience and should ideally be replaced with properly localized Dutch prompts.