[EAS] ?Que Habla Myzplc?

[Bill Ruck]

It is serendipity that after Wednesday's session discussing among 
other things how to translate NWS messages into other languages today 
I was at the Northern California APCO meeting and the keynote speaker 
was Manny Solis from LanguageLine Solutions.  His presentation was 
"Language Barriers on 911 Calls".*   While we're in a different 
business he did explain in his presentation that there are more than 
200 different languages commonly used in the United 
States.  LanguageLine Solutions provides interpreters for dispatchers 
and supports 91 different languages regularly.

After lunch I discussed the EAS translation issue with Manny.  He's 
in a different business and was not aware of what EAS needs to 
do.  But he did say that they're working on text translations because 
the next generation 911 systems will accept text messaging.  He is 
interested in learning about what we do and what we need.  After all, 
LanguageLine Solutions is in the business of translating.

I'm recommending that we invite Manny to join our forum.

Contact info:

Manny Solis
Strategic Account Executive
msolis at languageline.com
831-648-5526
1 Lower Ragsdale Drive, Bldg. 2
Monterey, CA  93940
www.languageline.com

Bill Ruck
San Francisco

* PS.  His presentation will probably be on the Northern California 
APCO website and when I have the URL I'll post it.