The operator of a Tokyo-based call center is expanding services to target municipalities and companies in need of interpreters to communicate with foreign residents, tourists and customers.

For two months from February, LanguageOne Corp. offered call-center services to hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses in Semboku, Akita Prefecture, to help interpret their exchanges with foreign tourists in three languages — English, Chinese and Korean.

The service, for which the Semboku Municipal Government contracted LanguageOne, saw workers at hotels and restaurants call the company's toll-free number to get interpretation assistance to better respond to foreign customers' needs.