Part 2: Unpacking the Volatia Affiliate Toolkit
By: Candace Bazile | Volatia -
Over-the-phone and video remote interpreter services are the new standard for safe, efficient on-demand language services but stopping there is like leaving money on the table … literally. Knowing how to set your brand miles apart from other language services providers (LSPs) by offering a more scalable OPI/VRI solution or scaling your current solution is how you can begin to set trends in the language access industry that you control, leaving your competition guessing.
The Bare Minimums
At a minimum, your OPI/VRI solution has to securely empower your interpreters to engage personally with limited English proficient end users (LEPs). Your scalability depends on how well you can solve connectivity issues that crop up and make OPI/VRI less reliable to clients and their patients and customers who may prefer onsite interpreters.
Select an OPI/VRI partner that offers high-definition, broadcast-quality video for on-demand interpretation services. When it comes to OPI services look for partners that guarantee static-free phone lines with a very small percentage of dropped calls. Verify performance through reporting and audits, which any potential OPI/VRI partner should be able to readily produce. Scaling your business using moderately reliable lines and video output can have negative impacts on your brand.
Shoot for secure data encryption as a part of a multifaceted data protection program that uses more than one method of preventing, containing, and remediating data breaches. Potential partners should be able to methodically list those methods without your prompting.
If you choose OPI/VRI technology from any of a number of capable interpreter technology companies, you still won’t be assured 24/7 access to OPI/VRI interpreters. Choose an integrated solution that also gives access to a national network of on-demand interpreters who can be reached by phone, mobile device, computer, and video cart without hidden costs for equipment rental. The hub of your solution needs to be focused on exceptional customer care for both your clients and their LEP end-users.
Speaking of customer service, your OPI/VRI solution should deliver contact center support 24/7/365. Quality customer service integration promotes and protects your brand with connection to a leading cloud-based interpreter management system that stores your clients’ information and makes it immediately accessible, on-demand. When your clients press “0” for customer service, they should get a customer service representative who knows about their account specifically and can give them information immediately, with little hassle. On-demand customer service, based on access to customer details, helps you deliver on your brand promise of quality and accessibility.
Finally, the OPI/VRI interpreter services you use should provide language interpreters that service at least 200 common and rare foreign languages, including sign language. Scaling your business is easier when you can access a tier of support interpreters that speak rare languages on-demand, without you having to employ them as W2 workers on your payroll. You need flexibility and cost efficiency to scale business quickly, to accommodate the ebb and flow of a client's requests.
Your goal as a competitive LSP is to provide the highest quality OPI and VRI services and guarantees while paying the most competitive buy rates in the industry. If you’re settling for just delivering the service bare minimums offered by your current OPI/VRI partner, you’re not yet positioned to deliver integrated OPI/VRI services that fit new demands brought on by game-changers like the pandemic and service delivery trends that are changing the language access industry, such as telemedicine.
OPI/VRI Integration Health, safety, and convenience should be the primary catalysts for OPI/VRI integration and adoption across all industries that use interpreter services to meet the basic needs of LEP people. Implementing OPI and VRI to successfully communicate and protect sensitive LEP end-user data in a culturally sensitive way will help you stand out from other LSPs. OPI/VRI integration starts with exceptional customer service tied to an interpreter management system. It becomes a comprehensive solution for scalability when it includes OPI/VRI integration with client information systems that help them conduct compliant, private health and human services appointments with LEP individuals.
OPI/VRI Interface Privacy and Compliance
To be a highly sought-after OPI/VRI provider don’t settle for meeting the service bare minimums. Seek an OPI/VRI partner that can provide you with flexible application programming interface (API) integrations at no extra costs for programming and implementation customizations. APIs allow your clients to make sensitive information available to your interpreters to be shared with LEP end-users using the strictest industry privacy and compliance protocols. Delivering privacy-focused integrated OPI/VRI services will increase your visibility to decision-makers.
The Volatia Difference If you could achieve it, wouldn’t you rather go beyond the OPI/VRI bare minimums to deliver a complete package of services and win fans that become loyal customers? Volatia Language Network Inc. (Volatia) emphasizes delivering excellence in four service areas:
Service and industry compliance.
Verifying interpreter qualifications and medical interpreter certifications.
On-demand customer service that is uniquely designed to seal gaps and cracks that occur when bridging cultural differences between LEP individuals and their providers.
Records management that allows for real-time updating when a client requests it.
Volatia created an affiliate partnership program featuring an integrated OPI/VRI solution that delivers every “must-have,” to give Volatia affiliates and their clients end-to-end access to quality, privacy, and compliance support. Volatia’s solution is also designed to give you more by helping you comply with your clients' service requirements while helping them improve their language access programs.
terpX™, Volatia’s cloud-based interpreter management platform enables LSPs to store, update, sort, and search for interpreters based on unique interpreter qualification filters.
Volatia accelerates unlimited scalability through on-demand customer service support, 24/7/365, using advanced system automation and Contact Center staff who are trained to access, manage, and update your client information in real-time to protect and promote your brand reputation. The Volatia quality seal that affiliates can opt to use on their websites also symbolizes cultural harmony which our national network of on-demand interpreters works to achieve through our bidirectional language access LEP call-in phone lines.
To have the most effective and inclusive language access program, access to interpreters must be bidirectional, allowing LEP end users to contact their medical providers in their own language in addition to medical providers initiating contact. In many organizations that have a language access program, connection to an interpreter can only be initiated by the organization’s staff, resulting in gaps in service delivery that decrease the effectiveness of OPI/VRI service models.
Volatia has empowered affiliates to give their LEP end-users access to interpreter services whenever they want. With an LEP Call-In line, your LEP end-user can initiate a connection to an interpreter that speaks his or her native language first, and then connect to a client staff member, limiting the stressors of digital disparities and cultural limitations.
This integrated solution prepares Volatia affiliates to deliver high-quality, security encrypted OPI/VRI services at a 25% cost savings across the board, in addition to innovative user-initiated language access for any member of an LEP household who is interacting with agencies across multiple facilities and industries.