Language Translation

Nothing is more powerful than the freedom to speak and be understood. For CanTalk, that is an absolute truism. CanTalk is a Canadian language service company that provides immediate access to multilingual language specialists. Organizations of all sizes use the company's services to extend their marketing reach within North America and globally. In 1995, CanTalk (Canada) Inc. opened its doors in Winnipeg, Manitoba, becoming the first language service company in the country to deliver immediate over-the-phone interpretation (IOP). The company's services are based on the belief; language is the world's oldest commodity. If applied wisely, it can energize businesses, synthesize cultural diversity and harmonize relations. 

For 25 years, CanTalk's language platform has been connecting businesses to their customers, within countries and across continents. The company offers live frontline immediate language services to governments, corporations, utility companies, healthcare, hospitality and travel. In addition to these, it also provides services, such as insurance and warranty programs, legal support, immigration and refugee services, education facilities, telecom services, call centre support, white label services, school divisions and more. 

Since service provision is based on the convenience of a phone, smart device, or laptop, CanTalk's services and products can be quickly accessed and localized to any market. This means it can deliver access to over 200 languages and dialects through voice and remote technology within a minute or even seconds. CanTalk offerings include a broad range of language applications and represent an enhancement to traditional language service provision. 

Since its inception, CanTalk Canada runs on a mission to foster a greater understanding and create new relationships between diverse groups. This is achieved by providing immediate high-quality customized language services that are rapid, affordable, and easy to access for clients and equitable for customers, irrespective of their location. 

Today, CanTalk is a language accelerator making language differences and delivering both a practical and positive experience. 

 

The Business Pioneer Overcomes Language Barriers 

Maureen Mitchells is the Founder and CEO of CanTalk. Armed with a journalism and international marketing background, Maureen knew that removing the language barriers can bring people together and foster a more robust understanding between groups. She witnessed the melting away of language and cultural tensions, time and time again during her work with the Canadian International Grain Institute (CIGI), a unique marketing arm of the grain industry. However, there was no sophisticated delivery or time-sensitive system for rapid language response. 

Maureen saw the potential and with a strong passion and tenacity she laid the foundation of CanTalk. Using her funds and orchestrating a local telecommunications partnership, she set up the first voice network of scheduled language interpreters/translators and a unique language delivery infrastructure based upon rapid response. 

According to Maureen, the mid-'90s was the beginning of the big shift in global communication. Distance between countries was becoming less of a factor in conducting business, as long-distance telephone rates were decreasing. The reach of the internet created a new wave of potential entrepreneurism. 

The rising tide of new immigration patterns nationally and locally redefined consumer markets. But North American companies could no longer afford by just believing that English or French would prevail in all business situations. Offering immediate language services seemed, for many businesses, either unnecessary or a luxury. The general thinking was that English was a universal language. New immigrants and country citizens would learn to speak the common Western language. However, what was overlooked that how long it takes to become comfortable with a new language and understand cultural nuances. 

Also overlooked was the value of new markets at home and abroad if access to goods and services was not impeded by language barriers. Initially, Maureen didn't find companies who wanted over-the-phone language services. They may have liked the idea but did not want to pay for the service, so she took the concept of immediate language support and canvassed the telecommunications companies. 

Being the first Canadian company offering immediate language services was a challenging journey for Maureen. 

 

Delivering Scalable Language Infrastructure 

Although there was initial interest by the telecoms, delays and setbacks kept dominating until TeleGlobe Canada (USA), the world's third largest telephone carrier company, became the big break for CanTalk.

The company was contracted to provide language services into 90 countries to support several products and services in-language for each country. CanTalk was later recognized as having an established reputation for the provision of Tier One language operator services and the development of a language forecasting tool, a first for the call centre industry, which enables CanTalk to forecast within a 97% accuracy – language calls flow from those countries. Today, the company uses its forecasting tool to benefit all its clients from every sector. 

From the very beginning, CanTalk has always been an innovator. A tight team approach ensures information is widely shared, contributions encouraged, and potential recognized. Discussions are stimulating and solution-driven. 

Having a long history of serving the telecom industry and call centres, CanTalk is call centre metric and technology savvy. The company's ability to do more for its clients is larger than most. CanTalk is routinely customizing language applications, keeping it simple and seamless to the client's operating systems. Its performance drivers have always provided a highly reliable, consistent rapid language response. 

 

Empowering Customer Experience with Unified Language Platform  

CanTalk's well-honed customization capabilities and the provision of human connection at all levels within the company make it uniquely different from other language providers. CanTalk believes a company's physical presence is indispensable. Access to a cloud-based interpreting platform enables an individual to easily start up a language company, but they may be unqualified to operate it. They may not understand service levels, language KPIs or even the nuances of languages and cultures, and not offer the same degree of confidentiality and security, customization, or flexibility to make quick changes to changing circumstances that clients often undergo. 

All of CanTalk's services are delivered from a single platform within one infrastructure and location. Its multi-channel communications suite, instead of a shared user platform as the case with cloud-based interpreting, gives the company complete control of the technical environment. It maintains a proprietary, in-house, end-to-end platform, which incorporates a complete network solution from phone switching capability to live reporting. Because of this self-contained language platform and proprietary forecasting engine at its site, customization and security are absolutes. These are two of the company's core competencies supporting its language services. 

Moreover, a client can always be assured that they can reach a human voice to assist from the moment an interpretation call begins to its end, and from a supervisor to an account manager to a decision-maker. Individuals can ask questions, receive information on their account, at any time of the day. This is crucial and integral to the CanTalk client experience. 

 

The Future of Human and Machine Collaboration 

In many quarters, machine translation or AI is touted as the next great promise. But is it? With the advent and growing momentum of artificial intelligence and machine translation, the potential threat of removing live interpreters/translators have become inevitable. There is a considerable debate within the industry as to which path should dominate. 

"Today the debate is not at all about whether such solutions will be able to produce useful output anymore, but more about ethical, moral and economic implications of the actual use of such systems,"Joss Moorkens, Assistant Professor at the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies at Dublin City University says. Machine translation"is best used in informal, low-risk situations, where errors can hopefully be laughed off,"he adds. 

CanTalk is confident that machine translation and human interpreters/translators can co-exist but will never replace human factors. AI has place for on-the-spot translation of a few words or expressions. It can never replicate the accuracy of immediate live interpretation and especially the warmth and intimacy of a human voice. 

 

EnsuringContinuous Flow of Communication 

CanTalk proactively shares collected information and educates clients on language usage expectations. For example, clients cannot always project potential language volume, specify geographical languages, or offer industry-specific terminologies, etc. 

CanTalk collects meta-data as language calls are requested, including the language type, the time, and length of the calls. This statistically based information can be used for strategic business development and trending. The importance of this analysis allows clients to have the benefit of expertise derived from the accumulation of historical and amalgamated patterns that can be mined to assist future clients in determining their language requirements. 

As consumers move from a more connected to a virtual business model, continuance of mobile access to services is the new normal. CanTalk has developed applications that align mobile users with language at various venue sites. This helps to preserve as well as showcase language and culture in real-time. All of this complements a deeper appreciation of languages for the connected generation. 

CanTalk is an industry leader. Its objectives have not changed, rather they have broadened. Indeed, in this millennium, the world is no longer language independent; it is language interdependent. Understanding the importance of this makes all its citizens the beneficiaries.