My name is Yanis, and I am the Housing Manager at a large council. I am responsible for providing housing support and advice, whilst managing a team of advisors and maintenance crews.
Over the years we have seen a significant rise in the need for interpreting and translation services from initial application’s through to noise complaints and emergency housing needs. Being able to communicate effectively with a wide range of customers is vital for me and my team to get our jobs done.
As a public sector service, cost is always a major factor and interpreting costs are becoming one of our largest procurements. As a manager, part of my job is to try and minimise service costs without reducing the quality of our service.
I first came across Involve Interpreter’s video service at an event and I was very impressed with the technology and flexibility. Being able to access a range of language interpreters from any device would enable our mobile teams to get language services on the go. This is something we have found difficult especially if maintenance teams are delayed, resulting in wasted interpreter costs and having to rebook appointments.
From the first demonstration I was hooked! It was portable, practical and the cost savings compared to our current face to face contracts were significant. The company rep was very knowledgeable too which helped me have confidence that this service could deliver.
We often deal with emergencies and vulnerable customers, so getting access to language interpreters at short notice has been a lifeline for some customers. Asylum and deaf customers are amongst our most vulnerable and we have a duty to ensure their communication and housing needs are met as quickly as possible.
Involve Interpreter allows us to manage both pre-booked and short notice appointments using only qualified and registered interpreters. This simple approach has killed several birds with one stone!
So far, we have had a great response from staff and customers who have all applauded the simplicity of the portal and quality of the interpreters and their ability to meet our demands.
We have saved costs on minimum fees, travel costs and interpreter time by being able to only pay for what we need. Saving the council much needed funds which can be used for delivery of other vital services.
I can’t recommend Involve Video Interpreter service highly enough.
Thank you, Involve Interpreter!
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