Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month at the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation in Southwest Detroit Tuesday by highlighting the work the Michigan Department of State (MDOS) is doing to serve residents who speak languages other than English. Benson announced that by the end of October, every branch office in Michigan will be equipped with new Pocketalk handheld translation devices to ensure every customer can easily communicate in their preferred language during their visit.
Pocketalk devices resemble smartphones and provide real-time translation in Spanish, Arabic, Bangla, and more than 80 other languages. A user speaks into the device in their language, the device then translates it and provides the message to the second user in both audible and print formats. Thanks to the infusion of this new technology, customers who are not fluent in English are completing their transactions faster than ever before.
“Since I first took office in 2019, I have made it the mission of this department to meet people where they are and make state government work for them,” Secretary Benson said. “It is our responsibility to provide excellent, efficient service to every Michigan resident – regardless of what language they speak.
Our branch office employees came together to research and implement this innovative technology solution. We’ve received great feedback on the Pocketalk devices from customers and branch office staff – our customers felt less anxious and more welcome, and our staff was better able to serve customers and keep wait times down for everyone.”
“I am an immigrant. I was born in Mexico, but raised in Southwest Detroit, and for me, it’s incredibly important that we make sure that our government is accessible to everyone,” said Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Detroit City Council Member for District 6. “We all deserve to have information that we can understand, so that we can better engage in our cities and in our state. I am incredibly inspired by the work that our Secretary of State is doing to make sure that we are not just having accessible and safe voting, but that we’re also able to access the services from the Secretary of State office in languages that we speak.”
“I spent a good part of my career assisting folks who did not speak English, and I found that interpretation involving the use of family or friends or neighbors is demeaning and a real violation of confidentiality,” said Ray Lozano, executive director of Mexicantown Community Development Corporation. “Even worse, the use of a child to translate makes them become the interpreter of life for their family and involves them in matters well beyond their knowledge. It also forces them to mature much quicker and sooner than they need to be. Thank you, Secretary Benson, for your efforts to assist the public. Continue this great work, and I also hope that you continue to hire bilingual folks who can provide the cultural understanding that is so important to communication.”
MDOS initially ran a pilot project with a few branches to determine if the new technology would be helpful. The Pocketalk devices were so effective that over 98% of branch offices are using the new technology today. All 131 branch offices will have Pocketalk installed by the end of October. MDOS staff are also using Pocketalk devices at Secretary of State mobile offices and driver’s license restoration clinics as well as for driver assessment. In less than one year, Pocketalk has translated 279,318 interpretations into and from languages other than English.
Secretary of State office staff are calling the devices a “gamechanger” for connecting with residents who are not fluent in English. While the department has had a language support telephone line available for many years that staff call for interpreter assistance, the handheld devices provide an immediate, efficient, and more private way to translate a conversation.
“We usually refer to Pocketalk as ‘Buddy.’ It has been a gamechanger for my office,” said Marquita Cargill, manager of the Wyoming Secretary of State office in West Michigan. “You can see our customers’ anxiety melt away when they realize that we can communicate with them in their language.”
“Pocketalk has been a life saver at our office,” said Alison Grashuis, a Wyoming office employee. “I have even had customers ask where they can get one. Personally, it has been great to be able communicate with the customers without having to get a coworker to translate for me.”
At the Pontiac branch office, Manager Adrienne Chinn recalled a recent interaction with a customer using Pocketalk.
“I was sitting at the greeter podium and watched as two customers were in the vestibule struggling to type what they wanted to say into their phones,” Chinn said. “I spoke into the Pocketalk, ‘Good morning! How can we assist you today?’ as they walked up to the podium. I pressed the button, and it translated my words into Spanish before they could say anything. The expression of relief on their faces was priceless!”
“We use them all day every day,” said Hamtramck branch office manager Kila Finley. “We have a consistent need for it due to the fact I have four different languages here—Bangla, Spanish, Arabic, and Ukrainian. Only one of my employees speaks Bangla. We are learning some words and key phrases ourselves to better assist the customers, but Pocketalk is definitely much appreciated.”
Pocketalk is the latest example of how MDOS is making government work for the people of Michigan, but the department’s work to expand language access isn’t limited to in-office customer service.
The language services portion of the MDOS website translates customer service and voter information into 19 different languages, so residents can easily find what they need online.
Secretary of State self-service stations offer nine language options – residents can renew their tabs, renew or replace their driver’s license or state ID and eligible citizens can register to vote. There are 164 stations in communities throughout Michigan in convenient locations like Kroger and Meijer stores. To find a self-service station near you, visit www.Michigan.gov/SOS.
Finally, MDOS continuously works with community partners, nonprofits, and refugee assistance organizations to engage in active conversation and identify barriers encountered by non-English speaking or non-English proficient residents. Language access is also a critical component of the department’s voter engagement and education work. MDOS translates nonpartisan voter information into many different languages and has hosted several simultaneously interpreted voter education webinars and workshops in languages including Spanish and Arabic.
“I’m so proud of the work we’ve done and will continue to do to improve language access to our department’s services,” Secretary Benson said. “Embracing our state’s diversity and meeting people where they are improves outcomes for all of us.”
