AT&T; Begins Pilot Program to Aid Callers Who Speak Spanish

When Spanish-speaking phone customers call the operator today and say either “espanol” or “Servicio en Espanol,” they will be automatically transferred to Spanish-speaking operators in AT&T;’s new “Servicio en Espanol” service.

AT&T; instituted the service this week “because we feel there is a need for it and a market for it,” said Helen Baker, public relations manager for AT&T;’s western region. Before “Servicio en Espanol,” Spanish-speaking callers were forwarded--along with all other foreign-language-speaking callers--to an outside translation service, which determined the needs of the caller.

“Servicio en Espanol” is the first of its kind for AT&T.; The pilot program will operate from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. in San Diego and Imperial counties on a six-month trial basis. Services offered by the new service include rate information, person-to-person, collect, billing to a third party, public telephone calls, AT&T; card and local calling card calls, Baker said.

According to Baker, AT&T; determined the need for the program in a three-day test. Out of 2,000 calls in the test, about 1,000 callers needed Spanish-speaking assistance.