Speakeasy: telephone-based on-demand interpretation

Meeting the demand for language interpretation

Non-English speaking individuals, particularly new immigrants, face tremendous barriers that limit their ability to access day-to-day needs.  Communicating with sales personnel, reporting crime, and seeking medical attention or legal assistance all become dangerously difficult tasks when language barriers interfere. Communication barriers also compromise immigrant status in society, contributing to social isolation and community disenfranchisement. Although there have been attempts by the government and social service organizations to provide more multilingual services, the demand still far outstrips the capacity to deliver such services. As a result, non-English speakers are often unable to access essential services to improve their quality of life and hasten their participation in mainstream society.

The Speakeasy Solution

With seed money from AT&T Wireless/Cingular and the Boston Foundation, as well as technical innovation and leadership from Tad Hirsch (formerly of MIT’s Media Lab), ACDC is proud to introduce Speakeasy, an innovative new service that offers non-English speaking individuals convenient, free, and easy access to a network of well-informed, multilingual “Guides” who can provide confidential on-demand language interpretation via telephone.

Callers can place a call to Speakeasy from any telephone and are greeted by pre-recorded messages and prompts in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and other languages. After callers navigate the voice menu, Speakeasy then queues their calls and connects them to available Guides who would act as “linguistic liaisons” to city service agencies, community organizations and local businesses right over the phone.

In practice, Speakeasy is not a new concept as many multilingual individuals are already serving as informal interpreters for their family members and friends, but often with uneven results and compromising privacy. Speakeasy leverages the wide-spread use of cell phones and connects non-English speakers to Guides promptly, reducing the undue burdens placed on callers' families and friends.  Speakeasy provides individuals access to critical social services and resources while they learn English and acclimate to their new society.

Volunteer Guides

Volunteer Guides are multilingual individuals who are trained to provide on-demand language interpretation for non-English speakers who need to access social service agencies, government institutions and/or local businesses.  In addition to providing critical language interpretation, Guides also serve as the cultural and social bridge to help callers access and navigate complex and unfamiliar systems and institutions. Training will be provided to both users and Guides, and booklets containing instructions on using Speakeasy and a phone list of various Boston public and social service agencies will be distributed to the Guides.

Becoming Involved

If you would be interested in learning how to become involved in this exciting initiative, please contact Frank Yu at Frank.Yu@asiancdc.org [1]