Con Edison is one of the largest energy companies in the United States. It provides electric and gas service in New York City and Westchester County, New York.
The communities that Con Edison serves are highly diverse, as you might imagine. To accommodate people of all languages, cultures, and abilities, the utility company is piloting an exciting new program in which it is placing LanguageLine On-Demand Video Interpreting in six walk-in centers across New York City’s five boroughs and Westchester County.Visitors simply press a button on a tablet indicating their preferred language. Within seconds, a live, professional LanguageLine video interpreter appears on screen, ready to assist them with their needs.
The program will empower mutual understanding between service representatives and non-English speaking, deaf, and hard-of-hearing customers.
“It’s fantastic that we can address each and every concern (a customer may have), whether it has to do with safety or their bill,” Con Edison’s Evelyn Escobar said.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Con Edison Helps Non-English Speaking and Hearing Impaired Customers
Known as LanguageLine InSight, the application delivers on-demand video interpreting in 36 languages, including American Sign Language for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. It also provides one-touch, audio-only interpreting in more than 240 languages.
“We always have to think about the communities we serve,” Con Edison Community Service Representative Patrick Prieto said. “We want to give alternate options to anyone that comes through our walk-in centers.”
For Escobar, the technology is especially personal. Her brother is Deaf.
“I grew up seeing his need to communicate (and) his need to have others understand him,” she said. “I think (this technology) is very important. It’s close to my heart.”
LanguageLine Can Help
LanguageLine On-Demand Video Interpreting empowers understanding across multiple industries, including healthcare, government agencies, first responders, utilities, and retail. The application works on laptops, tablets, and smartphones, meaning users have the ability to put the power of LanguageLine’s 11,000 interpreters in their pockets.
We would love to learn more about your organization and the challenges you may be facing. Please contact us to schedule a consultation at your convenience.
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