Aramark and Avendra International cuts international meeting times by up to 50% while empowering global experts
By integrating DeepL Voice into their global operations, Aramark and Avendra International has turned linguistic diversity into a competitive advantage. The ability to communicate in real-time has eliminated up to 30 minutes of manual translation from hour-long calls, ensuring that subject-matter expertise is never sidelined by a language barrier.
Key takeaways
Reclaimed time: Real-time, multi-lingual captions have effectively halved the duration of international meetings.
Expertise unlocked: Specialists in China and other regions now lead sessions in their native languages, ensuring technical nuances and personal authenticity are preserved.
Immediate interaction: The removal of translation lag allows for instant Q&A and spontaneous collaboration that was previously impossible.
Scalable inclusivity: Aramark has moved beyond "getting by" with English, to a model where every employee can contribute at their highest potential.
The challenge: The high cost of the language "buffer"
For Aramark and Avendra International’s global teams, communication was once a game of endurance. A standard 60-minute meeting would routinely stretch to 90 minutes or more due to the time required for traditional interpretation. This impacted schedules, diluted the energy of the conversation and led to translation fatigue across the organization.
The company recognized this as a significant loss in business potential: their most brilliant subject-matter experts were often hesitant to participate in global forums because they weren't comfortable in English. This created a knowledge silo where vital insights stayed localized rather than benefiting the entire global enterprise.
The solution: Real-time connection through DeepL Voice
Aramark took the decision to replace their previous, "speak-stop-translate" solutions with DeepL Voice, and integrated it directly into their existing Microsoft Teams environment. This meant a nearly-invisible solution: experts could speak Mandarin while their colleagues followed along with live English captions, all without needing to leave the Teams interface.
Capturing the expert’s own words
The shift allowed team members to communicate in "their words, not somebody else's words", ensuring that the expertise of Aramark's global workforce was captured accurately and instantly – removing the uncertainty that defined their previous process.
The results: Transforming minutes into momentum
The results were immediate: meetings that once took over an hour are now completed in 60 minutes or less. By reclaiming ~50% of their collaboration time, Aramark has significantly accelerated its project lifecycles. This efficiency gain allows teams to focus on execution rather than interpretation.
Culture-shifting inclusivity
The true ROI, however, is measured in human potential. Experts who previously sat silently are now glued to the screen, engaging instantly with their peers. By enabling people to speak in their own words, Aramark has fostered a culture of total inclusivity, proving that when everyone is understood, the business moves faster.