How to Start a Telephone Interpretation Service Business

Telephone language interpreters help limited-English-speaking consumers communicate with banks, utility companies, government entities and emergency services over the phone. Most consumers would prefer to conduct business in their native language. As there are more than 200 spoken languages, there is considerable potential for profit in the telephone interpretation business.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Telephones With Three-Way Capability

1. Create and register your business. Contact the Small Business Association (SBA) for free assistance completing all the paperwork required to legally start your business.

2. Gather the needed equipment. The most important piece of equipment in the telephone interpretation business is the telephone. Your phones must have automatic three-way capability since your client and the person he needs to contact will be on the same line as the interpreter.

3. Find your interpreters. Your company will need to offer support for more than 150 languages, especially the most widely spoken languages. It will be more cost-effective to hire people who can speak two or more languages. You can find qualified telephone interpreters by contacting the American Translators Association, by placing ads on Craigslist.com or by sending targeted mail through a resource like infousa.com.

4. Make sure your interpreters are certified by the American Translators Association (ATA). This will ensure that your interpreter is fluent, meaning she speaks the language as it is spoken natively.

5. Find your clients. Post your services in places such as ethnic supermarkets, travel agencies, clinics, places of worship and schools. You can also post your ads in different languages by copying and pasting your original English ad into the language translator website Babelfish.com.

Resources

• Telephone Interpretation
• American Translators Association Certification

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