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From 
Magazine
September 2000
#5
CanTalk Canada Inc
Winnipeg
Founded:]995
1999 revenues: $3.1 million
Two-year revenue growth:
4,735%
What it does: provides on-demand language interpretation services
TALKING SUCCESS
Need to call an overseas client, but don't speak the
language? Maybe you need to decipher a
menu in a foreign restaurant? Maureen Mitchells and her company, CanTalk Canada
Inc., are going to put an end to such communication crises. The Winnipeg-based
firm offers 
rapid, on demand. over-the-phone language
interpretation and fax translation: "value-add" services, says
Mitchells, to help customers open up new global markets, break down
communications and cultural barriers and improve customer relations.
Mitchells, a former CBC-TV
journalist and international marketing consultant, first got the idea after
hearing a radio interview about a U.S.-based company that provided emergency
translation services. Canada has a rich
multicultural and linguistic make-up, she mused: "I thought, why not throw
it into hospitality, finance or even tourism?"
But five years ago, those
industries weren't yet ready to embrace the global marketplace or her
translation services. Instead,
Mitchells found a niche providing telecommunications companies such as
Teleglobe Inc. with foreign-language operator services such as international
collect calling and directory assistance.
The huge, ready-made customer base of "slow and big" telecom
companies made a ready market for CanTalk's services, says Mitchells. The demand for language services was
growing, and their in-house divisions couldn't keep pace. CanTalk stepped in, offering third-party
translation services through its certified interpreters and translators. CanTalk's edge, says Mitchells: "We are
nimble, quick and highly customized."
Another key advantage:
proprietary software that helps track, analyze and then forecast call volumes
and the different languages that come into CanTalk's call centre. The tool allows CanTalk to staff and
schedule employees on justt-in time basis, thereby cutting costs and improving
service.
Clearly the concept is
working: Today, CanTalk's 150 employees manage more than 300,000 calls a month,
offering services in 93 languages to 160 countries - some 45 of those languages
can be translated 24/7. Its 1999 sales
revenues soared to $3.1 million, up 4,735% from 1997. While telcos account for 75% of CanTalk's revenues, Mitchells is
now gaining more clients in finance and tourism, she says, as businesses
realize how CanTalk's services can help them reach more customers in
international markets.
And CanTalk is still looking
forward. The company is now developing
new methods of service delivery, including applications for wireless communications
devices, Internet conferencing, and a new service (expected to launch in
September) that Mitchells won't reveal, hinting only that "it's very hot,
it's very global, and no one's doing it."
Mitchells foresees CanTalk as
a virtual global network of translators and interpreters capable of translating
any language into any other. The
combinations are staggering, says Mitchells.
"But it's nothing more
complex than helping people
communicate."
Susanne Baillie
More Articles from Profitguide.com about CanTalk
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400-136 Market Avenue, Winnipeg, MB., Canada, R3B
0P4 e-Mail: info@cantalk.com |
