NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/dcom/telecom/11956

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-17 | 2.8 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!wupost!uwm.edu!lll-winken!telecom-request
From: [e-mail] (Will Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: AT&T Language Line -- A Practical Query
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Date: 16 Nov 92 14:47:41 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 853, Message 3 of 13

There's been some mention in recent Digests about the AT&T Language
Line service, and I've seen ads for it in various law-enforcement
magazines.  While the people who've used it and reported on it here
have given clear descriptions of how it works, I am still confused by
one aspect of using it. While it is pretty obvious how one can set up
a conference call when one knows what language interpretation will be
needed, how does it work in the opposite situation -- when a call
comes in to you in an unknown language?

I usually see these ads in the context of something like 911 service,
where a non-English-speaking individual is calling in an emergency
situation.  It has never been explained just how the caller's unknown
language is identified.

For example, suppose you are a 911 dispatcher for an agency that
subscribes to AT&T Language Line. You get a call from a
frantic-sounding individual and what you hear sounds like "Deegle
bangle skoov YAWP!". What do you do if your inquiries in English (or
any other languages you know) get no intelligible responses? After
all, you have no idea if this is Uzbek, Tamil, Xosa, or whatever (and,
face it, the average US native knows zilch of foreign tongues).

Does the AT&T LL have some sort of "Identification Service" where you
can patch in a person trained to recognize different languages who
will then route the call to the proper interpreter? If so, how do you
make clear to the individual on the other end that they have to wait
and hold on while this conference call is set up? Considering that the
caller is in some form of emergency, it is not unlikely that limited
English-language skills may have deserted him due to the emotional
state he is in. How long does this call set-up process take, anyway?
(I can't see putting the caller on "hold" and then expecting him to
still be there when the emergency center and the LL people come back
on-line ...)

I've never seen this situation addressed in any of the AT&T LL ads
I've seen, so I suspect it might be an insoluble problem, or at least
one they have not yet been able to cope with. Yet it would seem to me
to be one of the prime reasons a government operation like a 911
dispatch center would subscribe to an LL-like service. Anybody know
just how this situation is handled by AT&T LL?


Regards,

Will   [e-mail] OR [e-mail]