In 2017, US consumers and corporations learned that:

• A major credit bureau was hit with a cyberattack that compromised names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of 145 million people
• A hack on a rideshare app netted thieves the data of 57 million customers
• Nearly 200 million voter records were stolen when a data firm’s cloud storage was breached

The overarching theme: Even the largest and most powerful vendors are finding it challenging – if not impossible – to protect the customer data they’re storing.

The Growing Danger of Data Breaches

These breaches do real harm to customers whose data is compromised. Victims of the Yahoo! Attack – another compromise announced in 2017 – have filed suit against parent company Verizon for damages caused by fraudulent credit card charges and tax filings. And recent rulings in the Yahoo! Case and others have lowered the bar, making it easier for customers to pursue companies that fail to protect their private information.

Partnering with Secure Vendors to Eliminate Potential Vulnerabilities

Contact center leaders should, of course, take steps internally to secure their customers’ data. But it’s also critical that vendors providing services to your center take those same steps – especially if those services bring the vendor into contact with customer information.

This is particularly true for providers of multilingual support. Relying on a vendor for phone interpretation means their interpreters will hear and repeat every word your non-English speaking customer says – names, addresses, dates of birth, credit card numbers and PINs, etc. Before partnering with a vendor and entrusting them with that sensitive information, be sure to ask the following questions:

Do they record calls or store call notes?

If so, those notes and recordings – and the potentially sensitive personal information they contain – may be vulnerable to the efforts of a skilled hacker.

Calls to Voiance are never recorded, and the interpreters who take them – in large-scale, US contact centers - are required to destroy any notes they take during the call, placing them in a locked receptacle for secure shredding.

Where are their interpreters located?

Many language services providers outsource their interpreter calls to bilingual individuals working at home overseas, some of whom may be outside the reach of the justice system should a breach occur.

Every Voiance call is handled by an interpreter living and working in the continental US, subject to monitoring and legal accountability, should the need arise.

How are their interpreters vetted?

Vendors who rely exclusively on independent contractors working overseas may not have the resources or ability to verify their identities, qualifications, and level of experience. Depending on the country, there may not be an adequate background system in place to verify that your customer data is not passing through the hands of unethical individuals.

Voiance relies on thousands of employee interpreters working in large-scale US contact centers to ensure client calls are handled securely and professionally. Each employee interpreter is thoroughly vetted (including background checks) prior to hiring and receives 120 hours of dedicated classroom training – covering ethics, privacy, and security – prior to taking client calls. The centers are secured, monitored, and ISO 9001:2008 compliant.

Want to learn more about how Voiance delivers reliable, secure, professional multilingual support to some of the nation’s largest corporations – as narrated by television’s Michael O’Neill? Take two minutes to watch this video, then contact us at info@voiance.com to see what we can do for you: