Company History

Birnbaum Interpreting Services (BIS), a Deaf-owned communications access agency, was formed in 1995 and has quickly become one of the nation's largest and most respected interpreting services. What started with a single contract to provide onsite sign language interpreting for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration has turned into a comprehensive Deaf and foreign language access agency that complies with ADA, Section 508, and Professional Code of Conduct.

Birnbaum Interpreting Services staff is composed of nationally certified interpreters, CODAs and Deaf employees. 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.

We have been recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the top 500 small business successes in the country and have repeatedly been recognized by Deloitte with its Technology Fast 500 award. After growing to take up two floors in a Silver Spring office, BIS has become a nationwide company with full WFH capabilities and call centers in Wisconsin, Texas, and near headquarters in Washington, D.C. We are one of few agencies that have survived the radical changes seen within the Deaf and foreign languages interpreting and translation industry.

In March 2021, David Birnbaum’s son, Brian, officially took the reins as CEO of Birnbaum Interpreting Services. A CODA in his own right, Brian desires nothing less than to uphold BIS’s tradition of holistic, comprehensive access service. Within the span of a year, BIS tripled in size, and we continue to expand upon onsite and remote infrastructure built to scale as mass—all while retaining our standard of excellence which calls for fully trained, certified, human captioners and interpreters.

Never have interpreting and translation services been more accessible. Birnbaum Interpreting Services seeks to maintain this momentum as we move toward the quarter-century mark and beyond. We are committed to remaining a Deaf-owned and -operated business that puts quality access first, while at the same time staying apace with the industry’s latest developments.

Staffing

The BIS staff consists of full-time coordinators, schedulers, and full- and part-time sign language interpreters within the area and region who are governed under the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Code of Professional Conduct. We maintain a database of sign language interpreters throughout the U.S. Our administrative team consists of a combination of Deaf and hearing staff, as well as certified working interpreters. Thanks to our extensive experience and the fact that we are a Deaf-owned company, we have full knowledge of the needs and expectations of both the Deaf community and our hearing consumers.

BIS hires interpreters who have been certified by RID’s qualification standards. Ongoing training, along with close supervision and support from administration, keeps our interpreters among the top in their field. Our staff interpreters hold a number of degrees including Associate, Bachelors, and Masters Degrees, and certifications including RID, National Association for the Deaf (NAD), Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) and additional state screenings.

At BIS, an exemplary staff, flexible ideology, and a multidisciplinary philosophy combine to create a solid working relationship with our clients based on honesty, integrity and confidence. It's a powerful team approach that assures rapid response, unwavering ethical commitment and accurate communication with the people you want to reach.