4 Ways Your Business Will Benefit From Inline Translation Technology

Inline translation technology opens the door to a new level of connectedness with your entire staff, making our world smaller (in a good way). Language has always been the toughest barrier in globalization, but we've made great strides in breaking it down with tools like Google Translate, Facebook's own translation system, and countless others that can be tailored to fit specific needs.

Hiring translators and individually translating every important piece of information isn't sustainable—it's far too costly and time-consuming. That's why businesses have turned to AI (machine learning) to do the hard work for them and create an environment that's more open and connected.

Here are four ways your business will benefit from adopting inline translation technology:

1. An inclusive workforce

The global workforce is a beautiful blend of different ethnicities, cultures, and languages. Everyone should feel comfortable at work, and sometimes that means putting in a little extra effort to be more inclusive.

Workplace diversity is something to be celebrated and contributes to global expansion efforts by making non-English speaking customers feel at ease. If your staff speaks a multitude of languages, you'll have more avenues in which to communicate with customers from all over the world. And if you employ inline translation technology, you can communicate directly with your staff.

Additionally, your staff will feel a bigger sense of belonging with the ability to make friendships within the workplace through peer-to-peer communication that was previously hampered by the language barriers within workgroups and departments.

2. Improved safety

Workplace safety depends on everyone speaking the same language, figuratively speaking. The entire company must be on the same page and management should do everything it can to ensure nothing gets lost in translation when distributing critical information both internally and externally.

Some miscommunication risks may be minor (like misunderstanding a cleaning schedule), but many risks are much more serious—even fatal. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported that language barriers contribute to 25% of all workplace injuries and loss of life, according to estimates from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Problems arise when workers are not able to communicate hazardous working conditions or cannot fully understand safety protocol.

3. Faster and comprehensive information sharing

Speaking different languages at work is a global challenge for corporate communications. For example, 21% of U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home, and more than 25 million U.S. residents report they either don't speak English very well, or don't speak it at all. And these are just U.S. numbers—the gap between everyone speaking the same language is even larger globally.

Employees should be able to read as much content in their preferred language as possible for maximum comprehension. With an effective inline translation system in place, you give everyone the ability to be a part of the dialogue, without the back-end hassle.

4. Room for expansion

Targeting your business to fit an international market opens the door to limitless opportunities. But to be successful, management must be able to communicate business goals with the entire team. Poor communication and language barriers cost companies tons of money each year. And 64% of senior executives polled said poor communication skills have negatively affected their plans to expand internationally. By utilizing an inline translation technology, everyone could communicate efficiently and with understanding, allowing globalization to occur faster.

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