A phone interpreter for builders and trades
Quotes, snags and site talk - understood both ways.
Trades hit the language barrier from both sides: customers who cannot describe the job in English, and crews and subcontractors who work in Romanian, Polish or Lithuanian first. Both cost money when a detail slips. Phone Interpreter puts a live interpreter on any mobile in two rings - at the door, on the scaffold, or pricing a job at the kitchen table.
30+ languages. Answers in two rings. No contract, cancel any time.
The quote agreed by nodding
A homeowner wants the bathroom done. Their English is limited, your Romanian is nonexistent, and between pointing and phone-app fragments a scope emerges - roughly. Three weeks later the argument arrives on schedule: the tiles they meant, the socket they wanted moved, the price they thought included the towel rail. Nobody lied. The job was simply agreed in mime.
On the crew side the same failure costs differently: a subcontractor who half-understood the spec does the wrong first fix, and rework eats the margin. Between mis-scoped quotes and misread instructions, the language barrier is one of the quietest profit leaks in the trades - and one of the cheapest to plug.
Why a live interpreter beats a translation app here
Building conversations are made of exactly what breaks in translation apps: measurements, materials, scope boundaries, prices, dates and access arrangements - often discussed in a noisy half-built room. A live interpreter on a speakerphone handles the whole conversation and repeats the numbers both ways, so the quote, the spec and the schedule mean the same thing to everyone who agreed them.
Scope and compliance details carry real weight - work covered by building regulations approval is exactly the kind of thing a customer needs to genuinely understand before agreeing, not nod through.
Translation apps were built for typed phrases and patient tourists. A working business conversation is neither: real telephone audio, background noise, interruptions, and details - prices, dates, names, addresses - that cost money when they land wrong. The interpreter manages the rhythm of the conversation itself: it waits for a complete thought, carries it across whole, and confirms the details that matter instead of guessing at them.
It also removes the awkwardness. Nobody passes a phone screen back and forth or leans into a mishearing microphone. The call sits on speaker, both people talk normally, and the conversation belongs to them - the interpreter is simply the bridge in the middle, the same way a professional human telephone interpreter works.
Where it earns its keep in your firm
The conversations where the interpreter pays for itself.
Quoting and scoping jobs
Walk the job with the customer, interpreter on speaker: what is included, what is not, materials, price and timeline - agreed in both languages, disputes prevented at the source.
Coordinating crews and subbies
First fix, second fix, what changed since Tuesday - instructions to Romanian, Polish or Lithuanian-speaking crews delivered exactly, so the work is done once.
Mid-job changes and extras
The customer wants the extra socket, the wall turned out to need work - variations priced and agreed clearly in the customer's language, in writing-quality detail, before the tools move.
Snagging and handover
Walking the finished job, agreeing the snag list, explaining what to expect as things settle - the conversation that turns a completed job into a five-star review and a referral.
Payments and schedules
Deposits, stage payments and final balances repeated as careful spoken numbers both ways - because payment disputes are almost always comprehension disputes wearing a disguise.
Suppliers and deliveries
A delivery driver at the gate, a merchant query, a returns conversation - the line works for any business call, not only customers.
How it works
No apps, no logins, no equipment. Any phone with a speaker.
Call your interpreter line
Your business gets its own dedicated number. Ring it from the desk phone or any mobile.
Name the languages
Say the pair you need, or just start talking - it recognises the language and confirms in seconds.
Talk through it
Put it on speaker. One person speaks, pauses, and the interpreter carries it across - both directions, as long as you need.
Questions from builders and trades
Does it work on site - noise, gloves, no wifi?
It is a phone call, so it works anywhere a call does - no app, no wifi, no screen-passing. Step to the quieter side of the site, speaker on, talk. Gloves stay on.
Can it handle measurements and technical terms?
Yes - dimensions, materials and trade vocabulary are interpreted naturally, and measurements and prices are repeated as full spoken numbers in both languages, confirmed back.
Which languages come up most in the trades?
Romanian, Polish and Lithuanian dominate on the crew side; customer-side languages track the local area. All 30+ languages are on every plan.
Is it worth it for a sole trader?
The Starter plan is £19 a month - less than an hour's labour. One quote that lands right, or one avoided rework, pays for the year.
Can several people on a firm use one line?
Yes - the number belongs to the firm. The office, the foreman and every van dial the same line; larger plans pool minutes with call summaries.
What about written quotes and contracts?
Agree the scope through an interpreted conversation first, then send the written quote reflecting it. The line is for the live conversation - which is where scope misunderstandings are actually created and prevented.
Will it cope with strong accents and noisy backgrounds?
It is built for real telephone audio - accents, background noise, people talking at natural speed. If a phrase is genuinely unclear it asks once for a repeat, in the speaker's own language, rather than guessing at something important.
How quickly can we be set up?
Same day. Choose a plan, your interpreter number is provisioned, and the first call can happen minutes later - there is no onboarding process, no training and no equipment to install.
Languages builders and trades ask for most
All 30+ languages are on every plan - these are the pairs this industry uses most.
Lithuanian
Live English to Lithuanian interpreting on the same line.
English to Lithuanian interpreterWhat it costs for builders and trades
Simple monthly plans, no contract, cancel any time.
Starter - £19 a month
Your own dedicated interpreter number with 40 interpreting minutes a month. All 30+ languages included from day one.
Business - £49 a month
150 minutes a month with call summaries and a discounted top-up rate - the plan most builders and trades choose.
Pro - £99 a month
400 minutes a month, the best top-up rate and priority support for busy counters and multi-site teams.
Just want to try it once? An instant session starts at £4.99 for 5 minutes - no account needed. Human telephone interpreting agencies typically charge £1 or more per minute with hourly minimums; every plan above works out well under that.
Other industries using the interpreter line
Garages and MOT centres
How this trade uses live interpreting day to day.
Interpreting for Garages and MOT centresLetting agents and estate agents
Counter and phone scenarios for this industry.
Interpreting for Letting agents and estate agentsRecruitment and temp agencies
Where the language barrier costs this trade most.
Interpreting for Recruitment and temp agenciesPut an interpreter on the counter today.
From £19 a month. 30+ languages. No contract, cancel any time.
Get your interpreter line