As a pioneering Deaf entrepreneur, David Birnbaum founded Birnbaum Interpreting Services on the basis that it should first be steeped in Deaf culture and therefore best able to serve its accessibility needs. Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Birnbaum Interpreting Services (BIS) has since expanded services to include several forms of accessibility, from our core sign language interpreting business to spoken language and transcription services—only providing the most qualified, certified, and experienced access resources.
However, Birnbaum Interpreting Services will always been rooted in Deaf culture. Since opening in 1995, we have been Deaf-owned and operated. With Brian Birnbaum recently taking the lead as CEO, Birnbaum Interpreting Services is now CODA-led (Child of Deaf Adults), with nearly every staff member either Deaf or CODA. BIS provides everything from sign language interpreting to captioning and foreign language translation. Today, we’ll talk about who we are and why we’re Washington, D.C.’s best Deaf access provider.
Birnbaum Interpreting Services
BIS Origins
BIS reached its first agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over 27 years ago. Since then, BIS has developed an unparalleled database of nationally certified interpreters and captioners whose technical capabilities represent the vanguard of the access industry.
BIS Services & Customers
Birnbaum Interpreting Services provides Deaf access and foreign translation services for a wide variety of customers. Our services include:
Onsite sign language interpreting
Video remote interpreting (VRI)
Remote live captioning
Onsite live captioning
Post-production and closed captioning
Foreign language interpreting
Document translation
Over-the-phone interpreting (OPI)
Deaf consulting services
Birnbaum Interpreting Services provides the services listed above for clients throughout countless industries, sectors, and all levels of government:
Federal government
State & local government
Education
Commercial businesses
From federal contracts with dozens of agencies and departments to the federal government’s biggest contractors like Booz Allen Hamilton, Birnbaum Interpreting Services can do it all. Give us a call or visit us online to learn more about how we can help you with your interpreting and translation needs.
Birnbaum Interpreting Services Standard of Excellence
Trained, Certified & Experienced Interpreters and Captioners
Birnbaum Interpreting Services works with a pool of thousands of trained, certified, and experienced interpreters and captioners nationwide. Our interpreters and captioners boast the highest levels of training and certification, including but not limited to:
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
National Association of the Deaf
Comprehensive Skills Certification
Certificate of Interpretation
Registered Professional Reporter
Certified Real-Time Reporter
Certified Real-Time Captioner
National Court Reports Association
BIS has continuing education and professional development programs for staff and partners. We also have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to the Registry for Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Code of Professional Conduct.
Resource Matching
Birnbaum Interpreting Services is known for providing only the most qualified and suitably interpreters for each assignment. We’re able to accomplish this in large part due to our integrated coordination system.
Our integrated system uses historical data and metanalysis to match the best and most suitable resources for any request, whether it’s interpreting, captioning, or translation. Our system has retained decades of job data, complete with countless details that allow us to match the best resources.
Technical government assignments require a different skill set from medical appointments at a private practice. While most Deaf access and translation agencies use whoever is available, BIS does everything we can to assign the right resources for the job.
Our coordination system integrates all imaginable operations, from dialect specification and job notes to cross-referenced quality control mechanisms, under one digital umbrella. This holistic approach has been revolutionary, helping BIS provide thousands of clients with tens of thousands of hours of sign language interpreting and captioning services.
Recent Developments: Federal Relay Services
Birnbaum Interpreting Services has been one of the nation’s most trusted access providers for the federal government. We currently work with a score of federal agencies and departments including but not limited to the Department of Agriculture, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, and many more. Only a high-quality, trusted Deaf access agency works with so many important institutions for such a long period of time.
Our recent Federal Relay service contracts with over a dozen agencies includes state-of-the-art video remote interpreting (VRI) and remote captioning (CART & RCC) services. From our headquarters in the Washington, D.C. metro area, along with call centers in Wisconsin and Louisiana, Birnbaum Interpreting Services provides more than 70,000 minutes of VRI and remote captioning per month.
Birnbaum Interpreting Services has taken over the majority of FedRelay services formerly contracted to international communications company, Sprint. Again—only a company as trusted as Birnbaum would be trusted to take over such a crucial contract, which thousands of Deaf, low-vision, and foreign language speakers rely on daily for access to everyday work.
Reach Out to Birnbaum Interpreting Services Today!
Birnbaum Interpreting Services reached its first agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over 27 years ago. Since then, BIS has developed an unparalleled database of nationally certified interpreters, captioners, and translators whose technical capabilities represent the vanguard of the access industry. Reach out to us today for more information about how we can help you with your access needs!