Every client enquiry, understood - day or night.
Every customer at the counter, understood.
Intake calls, appointment booking, document chasing, case updates - the everyday communication of running a practice breaks down the moment a client cannot explain their situation in English. Phone Interpreter puts a live interpreter on speaker in two rings, 24 hours a day, so the enquiry gets captured properly instead of lost. For formal proceedings you will still instruct a qualified interpreter - and we say so plainly below - but for everything around them, this line does the talking.
30+ languages. Answers in two rings. No contract, cancel any time.
The enquiry you never got to hear
A potential client rings your out-of-hours line at 11pm - distressed, limited English, trying to explain an employment dispute or a family emergency. Reception cannot establish the basics: name, matter type, urgency. The call ends with somebody-will-ring-you-back - and by morning they have found a firm that could talk to them. Practices in areas with large Polish, Romanian, Urdu and Arabic-speaking communities lose matters this way every week, silently.
The arithmetic is starker in law than any other trade on this site: a single conveyancing matter is worth hundreds of pounds in fees, a family or immigration matter often thousands. One intake call rescued per month pays for the Pro plan several times over - and clients who were understood at their worst moment refer their whole community.
Why a live interpreter beats a translation app here
Legal client communication has a constraint most industries do not: precision is professional duty. A translate app passed across a desk is not a defensible way to capture instructions, and the-clients-nephew-translated is a sentence no fee earner wants in a file note. An interpreter line with a written transcript of every call gives you speed AND a record - what was asked, what was said, in both languages, timestamped on your account.
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 practice
The conversations where the interpreter pays for itself.
New client intake, any hour
The enquiry call comes in - reception or the fee earner dials the interpreter line, puts it on speaker or conferences it, and takes the details properly: name, matter type, key dates, urgency. The enquiry is captured accurately at first contact instead of lost to a language gap.
Appointment booking and reminders
Confirming appointments, what to bring, where the office is, rearranging - short calls that fill diaries and cut no-shows, conducted clearly in the client's own language.
Chasing documents and information
Proof of ID, bank statements, tenancy agreements, medical letters - the interpreter explains exactly what is needed and by when, so files stop stalling on misunderstood requests.
Case updates between milestones
Searches are back, the other side has responded, the hearing date has moved - routine updates delivered clearly keep anxious clients informed and cut the repeated any-news calls that eat fee-earner time.
Conveyancing completions
Exchange and completion involve dates, figures and instructions where a misunderstanding is expensive. Amounts and dates are repeated carefully as full spoken words in the client's language, with the transcript on your account afterwards.
Out-of-hours triage
The 2am call from a distressed client - the line answers with them, establishes who they are and what has happened, and captures enough for the on-call solicitor to act. For police station attendance itself you instruct a qualified interpreter as always; this line makes sure the call that starts everything is not lost.
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 solicitors and law firms
Can we use this for police interviews or court?
No - and we are direct about this. Police interviews, court and tribunal proceedings, immigration hearings and anything evidential require a qualified, certified human interpreter, in several cases by law. Phone Interpreter is for the everyday client communication around your matters: intake, appointments, documents, updates. Firms use both, for different jobs.
Is there a record of what was said?
Yes. Every call produces a written transcript stored on your account - what was asked and answered, in both languages, timestamped. For client communication, that is a better file note than memory.
Is it confidential?
Calls are processed to provide the service and transcripts are stored against your account only - no human listener, and no third-party interpreter drawn from the client's own community, which some clients strongly prefer for sensitive matters. See our privacy policy for full details.
Which languages come up most for law firms?
All 30+ languages are on every plan. Firms tell us Polish, Romanian, Urdu, Arabic and Portuguese lead for intake, with Ukrainian rising fast. The same line covers all of them - no guessing which interpreter to book.
Does it work out of hours?
Yes - the line answers in two rings at 3am exactly as at 3pm, with no out-of-hours surcharge. For firms offering emergency contact numbers, that changes what the first call can achieve.
How does this compare with our interpreting agency?
Keep the agency for certified work - that is what it is for. For everyday client calls, the comparison is speed and cost: two rings versus booking lead times, and from 25p a minute versus one pound ten to two pounds fifty plus minimums.
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.
What businesses say
"We are a high street practice with a large Romanian-speaking client base. Reception uses the line for first enquiries and appointment calls, and the transcript goes straight on the file. Certified interpreters still do the hearings - this handles everything in between."
Languages solicitors and law firms ask for most
All 30+ languages are on every plan - these are the pairs this industry uses most.
What it costs for solicitors and law firms
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 solicitors and law firms 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
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From £19 a month. 30+ languages. No contract, cancel any time.
Get your interpreter line