Language
hotline service
Our language
hotline service connects callers directly to
an interpreter who speaks their language. It
circumvents the often unwieldy process of language
identification and allows organisations to be
far more responsive to the needs of non-English
speakers. The service is sometimes public access
telephone interpreting or ‘TalkBack’.
The service is available
from 8.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday (not
including Bank Holidays). Our standard telephone
interpreting service is available 24 hours-a-day
on our main freephone number: 0800 731 7878.
Frequently asked questions
How does the language hotline
service work?
Your organisation will be
allocated a series of telephone numbers, each
of which corresponds to a target language. For
example, your numbers could be the following:
01430 ###531: Arabic
01430 ###532: Bengali
01430 ###533: Chinese Cantonese
01430 ###534: Dari
01430 ###535: Estonian
01430 ###536: French.
The numbers you are allocated
will only be used for your organisation.
Calls to these numbers will
come through to our operations centre.
A non-English speaking member of the public who
dials one of these numbers (‘the caller’)
will hear the following message in the target
language:
“Thank you for calling
[your organisation’s name]. Please stay
on the line and we will connect you to an interpreter
who speaks [target language]. This service is
only available from 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday
to Friday, not including Bank Holidays.”
This message will be played
twice. Hold music will then be played while the
caller is waiting.
A member of our operations
team (‘the operator’) will telephone
an interpreter who speaks the target language.
The operator will then call a member of your
organisation (‘the service provider’)
on a telephone number that you have nominated.
For example, this could be the telephone number
of your main reception or call centre.
The operator will tell the
service provider that a non-English speaking
caller is on hold. The operator will then introduce
the service provider to the interpreter.
When both parties are ready,
the operator will take the caller off hold and
set up a three-way conference between the caller,
the interpreter and the service provider.
What if the service provider
is unobtainable?
The operator will make up
to three attempts to contact the service provider.
If the service provider is unobtainable (for
example, there is no answer or the number is
engaged), the operator will ask the interpreter
to say the following to the caller:
“I’m sorry,
the person you need to speak to is not available.
If you can tell me your name and telephone number,
I’ll arrange for someone to call you back.
Or, if you prefer, you may call again later.”
If the caller decides to
leave their name and number, the interpreter
will pass this information to the operator. The
operator will then send an e-mail to the service
provider, at an e-mail address you have nominated,
which includes the time of the call, the target
language, the caller’s name and the caller’s
telephone number.
The service provider may
return the call at any time by telephoning our
main telephone number (0870 701 2020) and requesting
a three-way conference call. The service provider
will be asked for the target language and the
name and telephone number of the person they
wish to speak to.
Will calls be monitored?
The operator will monitor
the beginning of the call to make sure that the
caller and the interpreter speak the same language.
If this is not the case (for example, where the
caller has dialled the wrong number) the operator
will endeavour to obtain another interpreter
who does speak the caller’s language.
All calls may be monitored
at any other time for quality purposes. |
