About Us
Our History
Established in San Diego in 1988, Network Interpreting Service is one of the earliest private sign language interpreting referral agencies in the United States.
Our Mission & Philosophy
Our mission has always been simple: To improve the lives of those we work with and those we serve through flexibility, hard work, and quality service. We strive to make this a reality by listening to our employees, customers and contractors, and then responding in ways that reflect this commitment.
500,000+
Scheduled Appointments
~10,450
Deaf Clients Served
1,000,000+
Service Hours
~90%
Job Fill Rate
Timeline
1988
Our company was founded in Encinitas, California (San Diego County) in 1988
1993 - Expanded to Idaho
In 1993, the company’s founder and president relocated to Idaho for family reasons, while the vice president continued to operate from San Diego.
2004 - Gridcheck Completed
In 2004, we completed the development of Gridcheck for scheduling and business management, and shortly thereafter began leasing the software to other organizations.
2010 - Going Virtual
Although we’ve always had some employees working remotely, in 2010 we transitioned to being fully virtual by closing our office space in Burley, Idaho.
2018 - Spoken Languages Join In
In 2018, we expanded our services to include spoken languages. These services are available nationwide via video and telephone—both on-demand and by appointment. We also offer in-person scheduling for spoken language interpreters in select markets.
2021 - Gridcheck Spins Off
In 2021, we partnered with CSD to establish Gridcheck LLC, spinning off Gridcheck into its own entity.
Cliff Hanks - President
With the guidance of a business adviser in San Marcos, California, Cliff founded NIS in 1988, when the company relied on typewriters, landlines, pagers, notebooks, and pencils. He memorized the locations of almost every payphone in San Diego county and used a pocket-dialer to expedite the process. For over 30 years, he has led NIS with a true sense of kindness, compassion, and humor that we all appreciate. Cliff is a gifted storyteller, an open-minded and supportive leader who considers every idea, and he has a wealth of unread messages in his sprawling inboxes. In addition to researching email protocols, Cliff pushes his staff to embrace new apps and procedures to achieve continuous improvement. He is deeply involved in both the front and back ends of the business, and he isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and provide interpreting services when needed.
Before NIS, Cliff worked as:
- Staff Interpreter – Utah School for the Deaf
- Staff interpreter – Cal State Univ Northridge (CSUN)
- Community interpreter – OC-Deaf (GLAD) in Los Angeles and Orange Counties
- Interpreter Coordinator – Deaf Community Services of San Diego
- Staff interpreter – San Diego State University
If you haven't worked with us before, please be in touch!