Over-the-Phone Interpretation Services - Our Process

Pre-Booked Over-the Phone Interpretation Service Request

To request our telephone on-site interpretation service, you can complete the Interpretation Service Request Form or Contact US. Indicate the language pair to be interpreted, the nature and purpose of the assignment, the subject matter to be discussed, the number of parties requiring interpretation, and particulars of the assignment including date, time, location...etc. The more details you can provide about your participants (e.g. country of origin, cultural background), the better it would help us find the most suitable interpreter for you.

If certain requirements are critical, (e.g. telephone interpreter needs to have knowledge in a certain industry), these must be stated at time of request.

Interpretation Quote

Upon finding an interpreter who is qualified for your job, we will provide you with a quote based on the specifics of your assignment, based on consecutive interpretation. In most cases our published standard rates apply.

Service Booking & Pre-Payment

You can confirm your booking by
       a)  Signing a Job Sheet confirming the particulars of the assignment; and
       b)  Pre-paying the fee for the assignment. This fee is based on the requested time duration of the telephone conference.

Please specify any necessary requirements for the session, e.g. if telephone interpreter needs access to a computer to view materials that will be referenced during the session.

When making a booking, you may want to allow for some time at the beginning for introduction of all parties, a quick briefing for the interpreter, and familiarization with the interpretation rules. If you are not certain of the exact time when the session ends, it is advisable to book for a longer duration, otherwise the interpreter may have other subsequent commitments.

To ensure interpreter availability, please confirm booking at least two days prior to the assignment.

We will provide you with a conference bridge number and access password for calling in on the date and time of the interpretation session. Be sure to pass this information on to the other party(ies) who will be phoning in.

Frequent user clients with accounts with us go through a more streamlined booking process. If you are interested in opening a frequent user account with us, please Contact Us.

Preparatory Materials Collection

You are requested to provide, where available, official (or previously in use) translations of the following:

• Proper names: names of persons, company / organization names, position titles, trade names, names of places, names of products / services, and product features...etc.
• Company taglines, advertising slogans...etc.
• Highly technical or specialized terminology relating to subject matter.

Where feasible, it would be helpful if you could allow the interpreter to access background information or documents and materials to be discussed at the actual phone conference.

Interpretation

At the appointed date and time, call into the conference bridge number and provide password when prompted. Make sure that the other participant(s) to the call does (do) the same. Identify yourselves. The interpreter will call in as well. For the benefit of the interpreter, please introduce all participants and allow the interpreter to explain the rules of interpretation before starting the actual meeting.

Please refer to Client Best Practices for more details on how to reap the benefits of an interpretation session. A lot of the tips apply to over-the-phone interpretation as well.

Service Duration Confirmation

The duration of the interpretation service will be based on the time the interpreter attends the telephone conference to the time of his/her exit. In case of any dispute, the conference bridge log will be used to determine the duration of telephone interpretation provided.

Feedback Form Completion

At the end of each assignment, we will send you a service evaluation form, which you are requested to complete and return to us. We also ask our interpreter to provide us with his/her comments on the assignment and any recommendations.

Final Payment

If the actual service hours rendered exceed the booked time, then we will charge your credit card for the extra time.

Process, Personnel and Service Review

Your feedback helps us with the following:

• continuous process improvement
• refinement of guidelines for our professionals
• performance review for individual interpreters
• management of supply pool to assure excellent service delivery

We value your business. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with our service, we are ready to offer you free interpretation service of equivalent value on your next interpretation assignment.

Communication

Throughout the entire process, we keep in touch with you and our interpreter to ensure that requirements are well understood and met, that any changes in assignment particulars are communicated promptly, and that the service is completed to your satisfaction.