LanguageLine Solutions® has been ranked as the No. 1 interpretation provider in the world, the company announced today. The rankings were compiled by Nimdzi, an international language-industry research agency. The 2021 Nimdzi Interpreting Index takes a closer look at the language-services industry, reporting on its largest players, as well as the size of the global interpreting market and its current state.
The 2021 Nimdzi Interpreting Index ranks the 35 largest language-service providers based on 2020 interpreting revenues.
LanguageLine is the globe’s top interpreting provider by a significant margin. According to the Nimdzi Index, LanguageLine’s 2020 revenues were nearly four times those of the second-largest interpretation provider. In fact, LanguageLine’s revenues exceeded those of the next nine companies combined.
The Nimdzi Interpreting Index considers all interpreting revenue, including phone, video, mobile, telehealth, and in-person.
“This recognition is especially significant because 2020 was a year unlike any other in human history,” LanguageLine President and CEO Scott W. Klein said. “The index measures a period that I consider our ‘finest hour.’ The demand for our services spiked virtually overnight because of the pandemic. I told our team, ‘This is not a moment any of us would have chosen, but we have been chosen for this moment.’ That time came with many challenges, but it also triggered innovation. Our group rose to the occasion in unprecedented ways, and I could not be prouder.”
LanguageLine handled in excess of 40 million interactions in 2020, creating mutual understanding in more than 240 languages. As of 2023, the company employs more than 35,000 professional linguists.
LanguageLine was well prepared to take advantage of market shifts in 2019, when the company called remote interpreting “the new kid on the block.”
Years ago, LanguageLine anticipated an evolving market preference for remote interpreters — as well as a global event like a pandemic — by moving the majority of its interpreters to remote “secure call centers of one.” Not only did this work-at-home shift ensure platform stability in the event of a health crisis but it also enabled the company to recruit the highest-quality linguists in the world, as opposed to only those living in close proximity to a call center.
LanguageLine had also developed solutions for telehealth and distance learning, both of which have gained mass acceptance in recent years.
While other companies in the top 35 claim to have partners in health care and government, LanguageLine is the only one to also feature solutions for private businesses, many of which have shifted to virtual communication with customers and staff.
“The success we had in 2020 was the product of planning that occurred years before,” Klein said. “While our industry continues to progress, what will never change is our commitment to quality, speed, service, and total and complete client satisfaction.”
