Plans change after dark
Rain, heat or a broken harvester can move tomorrow's start time. If only the crew leader speaks Spanish, every change waits on him, and a few workers still show up at the wrong block.
For growers, farm labor contractors & H-2A employers
Reach your whole crew. Before sunup.
Start times move with the weather, and the crew needs to know tonight, not at the field gate. intelecho lets a farm labor contractor, grower or office manager call a farmworker's phone and talk through a live translated call: you speak English, they hear Spanish, and their answer comes back in English. Use it for schedule changes, pay questions and housing issues with H-2A workers and local crews alike.
- 46 languages
- No app for either side
- Free 5-minute demo calls
~385,000
H-2A positions certified in fiscal year 2024
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Farm Labor27%
Hired crop workers (not counting H-2A) who said they can't speak English at all, 2021-2022
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, NAWS Research Report 1722%
Hired crop workers employed by farm labor contractors rather than growers, 2021-2022
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, NAWS Research Report 17The challenge
Where the conversation gets stuck
Pay questions turn into rumors
A missing hour on a pay stub or a new piece rate gets explained secondhand. Small misunderstandings grow into distrust when nobody hears it straight from the office.
Housing problems go unreported
A broken stove in employer housing or a bus that keeps running late gets mentioned to a friend, not to you. Workers who don't speak English often never call the office at all.
Calls you can make today
Real situations, handled by phone
Next-day start times
A contractor calls workers the night before to say picking starts at 5:30 a.m. because of afternoon heat, which block to report to, and where the bus will stop.
Pay stub questions
The payroll clerk calls an H-2A worker who asked about a deduction, walks through his hours and piece-rate totals, and confirms the date of the next check.
Housing repairs
The housing coordinator calls a worker who reported no hot water, confirms which unit and bathroom, and says the plumber is coming Tuesday morning.
Lining up next season
A grower calls last season's local crew members (the ones with U.S. numbers) in late winter to ask who is coming back for the spring harvest and when they can start.
What it sounds like
A sample call, English ⇄ Spanish
Each person speaks naturally in their own language. intelecho translates every turn so each side hears the other in a clear AI voice.
Languages that come up most
- Spanish
- Haitian Creole
- Punjabi
- Filipino (Tagalog)
- Brazilian Portuguese
Spanish covers most crews: 57% of hired crop workers said it is the language they are most comfortable speaking (DOL NAWS 2021-2022). The others reflect smaller farm communities, such as Haitian crews on the East Coast and Punjabi-speaking growers and workers in California's Central Valley.
Translating both waysEnglish ⇄ Spanish
Farm labor contractor · EnglishHi Javier, it's Tom from the farm. Rain is coming, so tomorrow we start at 5:30 instead of 7.Farmworker hears: Hola, Javier, habla Tom, del rancho. Viene lluvia, así que mañana empezamos a las 5:30 en vez de a las 7.
Farmworker · EspañolEstá bien. ¿Vamos a la misma parcela de fresa o a la del norte?You hear: Okay. Are we going to the same strawberry block or the north one?
Farm labor contractor · EnglishThe north block. The bus leaves the housing at 5:00. Bring water and a rain jacket.Farmworker hears: A la parcela del norte. El autobús sale de las viviendas a las 5:00. Traiga agua y una chamarra para la lluvia.
Farmworker · EspañolEntendido. Le aviso a mi primo también.You hear: Got it. I'll let my cousin know too.
How it works
Three steps from this page to a translated call
- 01
Build a phone list with languages
At hiring or orientation, write down each worker's phone number and the language they want for calls. Ask directly instead of assuming Spanish.
- 02
Start the call from the office or the truck
Enter your number, the worker's number and both languages on the website. intelecho calls you, then rings the worker, who hears a short introduction in Spanish saying this is a translated call from you.
- 03
Give one instruction, then confirm
Say the time, the place and what to bring, then ask the worker to repeat it back. Each call is one worker for up to five minutes, so keep it short and move down the list.
Get it right
Tips for smoother calls
- Use the field names workers actually use. "The block by the pump house" works better than "Block 14B."
- Say morning or afternoon with every time: "five-thirty in the morning," not just "5:30."
- Call in the evening after the shift, not from the field. Tractors, fans and wind make it harder for the translation to hear clearly.
- If a worker seems lost in Spanish, stop and ask a trusted crew member what language they speak. Many workers from Oaxaca or Guatemala are more at ease in Mixteco, Zapoteco or K'iche'.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I call H-2A workers or recruits back home in Mexico?
No. intelecho only connects U.S. and Canadian numbers on both sides. Once H-2A workers have a U.S. phone number here, you can call them, but you can't reach phones in Mexico, Guatemala or other countries.
Do farmworkers need a smartphone or an app?
No. intelecho calls their regular phone number, so a basic flip phone works fine. You start the call from the website on your own phone or computer.
Does it work for Mixteco, Zapoteco or other Indigenous languages?
Not yet. Indigenous languages of the Americas aren't supported, and many farmworkers from Oaxaca, Guerrero and Guatemala speak them as a first language. For those workers, use a bilingual crew member they trust or a professional Indigenous-language interpreter.
Can I brief the whole crew in one call?
No. Each call is one-to-one between you and one worker, and free calls end after five minutes. For crew-wide messages like safety talks, speak in person with a trained bilingual trainer.
What does it cost a farm labor contractor?
Nothing right now, because intelecho is a free demo. Up to three calls can run at once across the whole service, so at busy times you may need to try again. If you need longer calls or regular use across a large crew, contact us.
Make your first translated call
Enter your number and theirs, pick both languages, and pick up when we ring you. It takes about a minute to set up.
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