HispanicBusiness

AT&T and Language Line Services have teamed up to create and introduce an over-the-phone interpretation service for consumers calling participating businesses.

The patent-pending "Your World. Your Language" technology was developed by Language Line Services, a global language interpretation company. Language Line Services will provide the interpreters while AT&T operates the network and routes calls. Businesses joining the Your World. Your Language WorldPartner network are charged per call that connects the service to their customer representatives. When consumers choose to use this option, a Language Line Services interpreter comes on the line, connects the caller to the business and stays on the line to interpret the conversation.

Launched Thursday in Southern California, "Your World. Your Language" offers eight language translations, including Spanish, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

According to the U.S. Census, Los Angeles is home to the largest Hispanic population in the United States, has more Koreans than anywhere outside of North and South Korea, and more Filipinos than anywhere outside Manila.

This service will allow limited English-speaking consumers to communicate in their language with service providers in their local service areas, according to AT&T. "The variety of languages spoken in the U.S. makes it virtually impossible and uneconomical for business to provide adequate interpreters of their own," Language Line Services' president and COO Louis Provenzano said in a release.

"Limited English-speaking consumers are four times as likely to buy a product or service in their preferred language," Jody Garcia, AT&T West's vice-president of Specialty Customer Care, said in a release. "More and more companies are realizing that providing multi-language channels is not only a convenience for customers, but a necessity for growing business in an increasingly diverse marketplace."

The service will be available nationwide by 2008.