Account types
What an agency, an organization, and an interpreter account each see in Fluent, which one pays, which one to sign up for, and what is coming next.
What you'll learn
- What each kind of Fluent account is for, from agencies and organizations to interpreters and Freelancers.
- How to tell which account fits the work you do.
Agency
An agency schedules interpreters for its customers and bills them for the work. On the signup page, its card is labeled "Language Service Provider (LSP)".
An agency picks a plan at signup: Starter, Agency, or Agency Teams. After a 30-day Free Trial, it pays for the plan plus $0.50 per appointment. See Plans and your subscription.
Organization
An organization is a business that needs interpreters for the people it serves, such as a hospital, a school, a court, or a government office. Its team members request appointments, and an agency assigns the interpreters.
An organization is free, so signup asks for no plan and no card.
Interpreter account
Interpreters don't sign up on the website. An agency invites them from Team › Interpreters, and the invite creates their free account.
Interpreters take offers, confirm appointments, and submit vouchers in the mobile app.
Freelancer account
Coming soon: Freelancer accounts aren't available yet.
A Freelancer account is for an interpreter who runs their own interpreting business. It will be a paid plan.
- Your own customers: add the customers you work for directly, book your own appointments, set your rates, and invoice your customers from Fluent.
- Agency offers: keep taking offers from the agencies you work with, from the same account.
Connections
Coming soon: Connections aren't available yet.
Connections will link Fluent accounts so they can work together.
- Freelancer accounts: keep working with the agencies they take offers from.
- Organizations: work with more than one agency and choose where each request goes.
One appointment from both sides
An agency and an organization work on the same appointment, each in its own workspace.
Say a hospital needs an interpreter for a clinic visit:
- Someone at the hospital requests it in New Appointment, which has no Assignment step.
- The hospital's Summary shows Interpreter as Unassigned until the agency assigns one of its interpreters.
- The interpreter works the appointment and submits the voucher in the mobile app.
Both sides open that same appointment. 4 fields carry a different label in an organization workspace:
| Agency label | Organization label |
|---|---|
| LEP Client | Limited-English Speaker |
| Customer | Organization |
| Specialist | Provider |
| Customer Phone | Callback Number |
How they differ
Your account type decides what you pay, which apps you use, and who does what on an appointment.
- Cost
- A plan, plus $0.50 per appointment
- Apps
- Web app and mobile app
- Interpreters
- Its own interpreter team
- Appointments
- Creates them and assigns the interpreter
- Customers and Billing
- Yes
- Teams
- More than 1 needs the Agency Teams plan
- Roles
- Owner, Admin, Manager, Scheduler, Interpreter
- Cost
- Free, with no plan
- Apps
- Web app only
- Interpreters
- None of its own
- Appointments
- Requests them from an agency
- Customers and Billing
- No
- Teams
- No limit
- Roles
- Owner, Administrator, Manager, Scheduler, Requestor
Inside each account type, what a person sees also depends on their role. See Agency roles and permissions.
Which one you need
Choose by the work you do.
- You deliver interpreting and dispatch interpreters: Sign up as an agency.
- You request interpreters for the people you serve: Organization sign-up is coming soon.
- An agency invited you to interpret: You already have an interpreter account. Don't sign up again.
- You interpret for your own customers: Freelancer accounts are coming soon. Until then, an agency can invite you as an interpreter.
Rules and limits
- One email address is one Fluent account. See Sign up for Fluent if your address already has one.
- Someone who belongs only to an organization can't sign in to the mobile app. See Troubleshoot sign-in.