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Award Winning Innovation Breaking Down Language Barriers

Published: August 28, 2025

At the Government Innovation Summit on August 27 in Sacramento, we were proud to receive two Best of California Awards — including one that recognizes our work to remove language barriers and improve access for all communities we serve.

This isn’t just about technology. It’s about making government more human.

Innovation Serving the Agency’s Business Needs: Using Technology to Break Down Barriers

Every month, our message hotline receives nearly 1,700 voicemails, and many in languages other than English. Before this project, those messages were translated manually, often requiring multiple replays, delayed referrals, and in some cases, longer wait times — especially for non-Spanish languages. Some translations could take days.

A Smarter and Faster Solution

Our Speech-to-Text Translation Project has reduced processing time for voicemails by 40–50% and brought faster resolution to more Californians, no matter what language they speak. With this new system, voicemails are:

  • Automatically transcribed and translated into English within minutes.
  • Detected in over 150 languages.
  • Reviewed more quickly and securely by staff.
  • Flagged for common issues like silence or unclear audio to speed human review.

For our team, this means less time spent listening and re-listening! And more time solving cases and helping customers. Translation delays are now a thing of the past for this hotline.

Made Possible by People, Powered by Purpose

This award celebrates not just the technology, but the people who made it possible. Thank you to Lalitha Chebiyam, Jason Martinez, Delondi Kintaudi, Richilda Cacal, Shavana Fisher, Vicente Mercado, Zorawar Grewal, Julie Din, Harry Souders, Brenda Maguire, Erica Chovva Ruiz, Aleli De Asis, Alejandra Pereda-Aguilar, Maria Reginalds, Emily Clark, Donald Rogers, and Stephanie Gyles for their vision, technical expertise, and dedication to making public service more accessible.

Award Winning Innovation Breaking Down Language Barriers blog post

We’re honored by this recognition. But more importantly, we’re inspired by what it represents: a shift toward government that listens better, responds faster, and includes everyone! Regardless of the language they speak.

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