Studies reveal that more than 25 million Americans require language assistance for daily activities. With the help of over-the-phone interpretation (OPI), you can connect multilingual customers with interpreters who speak their native language and help your business provide the same level of support that native English speakers receive.
It is easy to connect multilingual customers with industry-focused interpreters across healthcare, government, technology, insurance, and nearly every other industry.
Telephone interpretation should open doors for multilingual customers, not create additional obstacles for your call center operations. When implemented effectively, OPI offers significant benefits for both your business and its customers. However, inefficient implementation can create new problems, increase dissatisfaction, and drive customers away.
To help you realize the full benefits of OPI, here are four call center issues to avoid:
1. Access Issues
Customer support should be easy to access, regardless of the language a customer speaks. However, technical issues can get in the way. Muffled audio, choppy connections, and dropped calls frustrate customers and representatives alike.
For customers, these problems may mean calling back multiple times to resolve even simple issues. From the representative’s perspective, the same quality issues increase resolution times and lower customer satisfaction rates.
For multilingual call centers, these problems are amplified by language barriers.
Below are several actions you can take to set customers and representatives up for success:
- Implement a user-friendly interface that customers can easily navigate.
- Invest in quality equipment so your call center can provide clear and reliable connections when customers need live support.
- Create specialized support teams so callers can be routed to the appropriate service team without delay.
- Adopt a multichannel approach by allowing customers to reach support through phone, web, and mobile applications. This flexibility can distribute call volume more evenly and improve overall efficiency.
2. Linguistic Quality Issues
High linguistic quality is critical for over-the-phone interpretation. It depends on three key factors: interpreter skill and training, subject-matter expertise, and cultural competency.
- Interpreter skill and training: Interpreters must be highly skilled and well trained to handle the subtleties of real-time interpretation. Rigorous training programs help interpreters communicate complex information accurately and efficiently without losing meaning.
- Subject-matter expertise: Different industries have their own terminology and jargon. Interpreters with subject-matter expertise can navigate these complexities and provide accurate interpretations in fields such as healthcare, technology, and finance.
- Cultural competency: Understanding cultural context is essential in addition to understanding language. Culturally competent interpreters can bridge both linguistic and cultural differences, leading to more effective and respectful communication.
When these elements are lacking, the risk of misinterpretation increases, leading to misunderstandings and frustration. Ensuring that your OPI solution includes well-trained, knowledgeable, and culturally aware interpreters can significantly improve the customer experience.
Regular staff training is also important. Ongoing training sessions for interpreters and call center staff can help maintain high performance levels and ensure that everyone remains current with the latest tools and techniques.
3. Outdated Technology
Call centers move quickly, and OPI solutions must keep pace. Outdated technology causes delays and call-quality issues, and these problems are magnified for multilingual callers.
When multilingual customers wait on the line to be connected with an interpreter, the customer experience suffers. This reduces a call center’s capacity, increases average handling times, and lowers customer satisfaction.
By using the appropriate technology, your call center can make it easier for multilingual customers to receive help efficiently. Here are several ways to streamline the process of connecting callers with interpreters:
- Implement OPI solutions on mobile and web platforms so customers can connect from anywhere in the world with only a few clicks.
- Connect customers with an interpreter in their language from the beginning. Rather than rerouting multilingual customers from an English-speaking representative, call centers can use automated call menus to connect callers with the appropriate support on the first attempt.
- Invest in scalable technology that can grow with your business. Scalable platforms help accommodate increasing call volumes without compromising service quality.
4. Lack of Quality Assurance
Another priority for call centers is quality assurance. This involves monitoring overall performance metrics and individual calls to ensure that each interaction is handled appropriately.
When callers receive incorrect information or cannot resolve their issue during the first call, they may begin to lose confidence in a company’s support services. Without a quality assurance process, customers can become impatient, call times may increase, and the company’s reputation and profitability may suffer.
Regular quality assurance checks improve the user experience by identifying and addressing issues promptly. This can increase customer satisfaction and enhance overall call center performance.
Stay on top of your call center’s quality assurance by monitoring several key metrics:
- Average speed of answer (ASA)
- Average handling time (AHT)
- First-call resolution (FCR)
- Hold times
- Call volume
- Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
Finding Your Ideal Language Solutions Partner
Finding the right language solutions partner can help you develop a plan for offering OPI services efficiently and effectively. Choose a partner that prioritizes technical support, quality assurance, operational efficiency, and cost-effective implementation.
We can help you establish an effective call center language-access program. Our team can connect your callers with skilled interpreters in a matter of seconds. With 24/7/365 assistance in more than 300 languages, callers can receive the help they need the first time they contact your organization.
