LanguageLine Solutions is an American company headquartered in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It provides on-demand and onsite language interpretation and document

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

services worldwide for law enforcement, healthcare organizations, legal courts, schools, and businesses in over 240 languages. LanguageLine claims to have more than 28,000 clients. LanguageLine is the largest interpretation services provider in the world. The company's global workforce is claimed to include over 9,000 interpreters who handle more than 36 million calls each year. In addition to phone interpreting, the company also offers video remote and onsite interpreting, translation and localization services, and language proficiency testing and training.

Competitors

They compete with other language specialists like Straker translations, One Planet, and Spot On Interpreting.

Company history

In its earlier years, the company was known as CALL (Communication And Language Line) and was formed by Jeff Munks and Michael McFerrin. Jeff Munks was a

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, policeman Michael McFerrin mastered the

Vietnamese language Vietnamese ( vi, tiếng Việt, links=no) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language originating from Vietnam where it is the national language, national and official language. Vietnamese is spoken natively by over 70 million people, ...

as a

US Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

stationed in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. He returned to Northern California and worked as a refugee advocate. The two men founded Language Line Services in 1982 to help police officers communicate with 65,000

Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

acquired the service on February 14, 1990, as a

strategic business unit A strategic business unit (SBU) in business strategic management, is a profit center which focuses on product offering and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition, and marketing campaign, even though t ...

. AT&T Language Line Services received significant investments in technology and interpreter quality, creating standards for the emerging telephone interpreting industry. For a decade, the company served as a vital resource for business, government and health care clients who faced changing demographics and state and federal laws and regulations in the 1990s. In 1999, the company became an independent entity, today known as LanguageLine Solutions. In addition to phone interpreting, the company also began offering video remote and onsite interpreting, translation and localization services, and language proficiency testing and training. Scott W. Klein was named CEO on June 21, 2012. On September 16, 2016, LanguageLine Solutions was acquired by Teleperformance, a French company. Teleperformance has stated that LanguageLine will continue to operate as a stand-alone business, headquartered in Monterey, California.

Unpaid Wages

LanguageLine Solutions has been ordered by the US government to pay nearly $1.5 million in missed wages, back pay, and damages to over 2,400 interpreters. According to the US Department of Labor, LanguageLine Solutions was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the McNamara–O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA).

Notes

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External links

"Speaking of success"
''Smart Business'' interview. June 26, 2009.

''Arizona Star'', 8 June 2009. Companies based in Monterey County, California Language interpretation Translation companies