After a decade of offering language interpretation services on other companies' video platforms, Portland's Certified Languages International is taking control of its technology.
“We used to be an interpreting company, now we are a tech company that provides interpreting,” CEO Kristin Quinlan said.
The 27-year-old company has launched its own video platform called MERFi (Mobile, Easy, Reliable, Fast Interpreting) that will be used by its clients. The company works across industries including insurance, health care, banking and finance, customers services and government.
MERFi has been in development for about three years. The company decided to invest in and develop its own video tool as a way to continue to push its service forward and meet customer needs.
“We white-labeled another video solution for seven or eight years,” Quinlan said. “It was frustrating because we had no control over quality or features and benefits. At the beginning of the pandemic we realized there is a huge opportunity for video interpreting.”
The company is now migrating its clients over to its proprietary platform.
What Certified Languages International does
Certified Languages International offers language interpretation in 235 languages 24/7 via audio tools. The company serves about 20,000 to 30,000 calls per day, said Quinlan.
Video interpretation is offered for 21 spoken languages plus American Sign Language.
For example, CLI serves all Walmart pharmacies and vision centers around the country. If someone goes into a pharmacy and speaks another language the employee can use a pharmacy iPad and log into the CLI system. They select the language they need and the system connects them with an interpreter on video, said Quinlan.
The new video platform is device agnostic so clients can use whatever device they have for their own employees.
There is a chat function available in-language for written instructions, and the platform is a private encrypted network to meet security requirements.
CLI has invested millions into developing this platform, said Quinlan. The company hired outside help to conduct customer interviews that were used to scope the project and they hired a development team to built it.
The outside help worked closely with CLI’s in-house tech team to build the platform, she said, noting that the technology department within CLI is the company’s second largest team.
Certified Languages International tech focus
Quinlan is acutely aware that her company must stay on top of evolving tech trends. The company was founded by her father in 1996 and has seen the industry change.
“We needed a tech platform that was more nimble, flexible, easier to use and built for interpreting in mind,” she said about MERFi. She added that CLI is the third largest company of its kind in the world.
One element that was important for this new platform was the flexibility to plan for increased telemedicine use. Quinlan noted there are more than 300 telemedicine platforms, and CLI wants MERFi and its audio tool to easily integrate with any of them.
This new video platform is also available for other companies to use, she said. About 30% of CLI’s business is for other language services. The company is the remote service option for many other businesses that only offer in-person or written language interpretation.
This new product was built with white labeling in mind.
“We have always been led by the guiding principal of looking forward and imagining what we can do down the road,” she said. “We have consistently looked forward and look at how we leverage technology now to be faster, quicker and more intelligent in how we provide services. A lot of companies don’t grow. We have such a great team that we are always exploring what thing look like in the future.”
Quinlan stays on top of technology by following different business advising firms like Common Sense Advisory, Slator and Nimdzi. Plus, CLI is a founding member of The Association of Language Companies.
The next big technology shift Quinlan is investigating is how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to make the business run more efficiently.
At this point, she isn’t looking at AI to replace any of the spoken work, but instead is evaluating where it can fit into the workflow process.
“We are built to be as nimble as we can. We deal with such important verticals like health care and banking that can’t trust AI (to do the work),” she said.
Closer Look
Company: Certified Languages International
Based: Portland, with another call center in Phoenix
Employees: 270, which doesn’t include its thousands of linguists who are all independent contractors.
Service calls per day: up to 30,000
Founded: 1996
