From legal proceedings to healthcare consultations to executive boardroom meetings, COVID-19 has disrupted how businesses communicate. Both internal and external communications are now impacted by an inability to conduct face-to-face meetings and conversations, forcing those businesses to lean on cloud communications tools to facilitate remote collaboration and discussion.
Even with access to video platforms like Zoom, Cisco WebEx, GoToMeeting, and RingCentral Video, communication barriers can still exist across language barriers without access to professional interpreting services. Whether you’re a multinational business managing international virtual meetings, or you work with clients who speak a non-native language requiring the presence of a professional interpreter, remote interpreting services are essential to enabling these conversations across the digital divide.
Much like the interpreters brought into court rooms, business meetings and a doctor’s office, remote simultaneous interpreting can bring these language services into any video-based meeting, helping your organization maintain its regular business procedures and/or its service to your client base.
Here’s a look at some of the ways remote interpreting can overcome barriers created by virtual meetings and conferences.
Real-time interpreting to facilitate better communication
In a live meeting environment, simultaneous interpreting helps facilitate efficient communication by providing a live, real-time translation into one or more languages, keeping a multilingual audience engaged as the meeting takes place.
The same service is available through remote simultaneous interpreting. Interpreters can log into any virtual meeting and use the video and audio feeds from a speaker or presenter to provide an interpretation for meeting participants who speak a different language. Those participants can simply mute the audio from the primary source and use the interpreter’s audio to keep pace with the meeting as it takes place.
This provides a much more efficient form of interpretation that allows those individuals to participate in a meeting, using the interpreter to offer their own responses and feedback quickly and efficiently.
Visual feedback to inform interpreting
Interpreters don’t just use language when providing this service to their clients. They also rely on body language to contextualize the speech they’re translating, and to ensure that audience members understand what’s being said.
In healthcare, for example, an interpreter can use a patient’s body language to determine whether they understand the disclosures or other information they’re hearing. Alternatively, court proceedings require interpreters to appear visually to be sworn in—and interpreters, in turn, use video to make sure the individuals they are serving understand what’s being said in a formal court proceeding.
Without video, many of these interpreting services either wouldn’t be practical, or they would be far less efficient and accurate. The visual element plays a significant role in delivering high-quality, professional language services.
Improved speed and responsiveness of service
Traditional interpreting services can sometimes create accessibility issues, especially when organizations are making a last-minute request for service. Typically, these interpreters have to be brought to a physical location, which can force involved parties to sit and wait until a meeting or event can begin.
Even when interpreting is being scheduled in advance, businesses have to work around an interpreters’ schedule, which can include commuting time that restricts their availability. Remote interpreting solves that problem: Because interpreters don’t have to appear on-site, they can show up in any meeting, subject to availability, with as little as five to 10 minutes’ notice. Interpreters are able to serve a larger geographic area, and schedule more meetings into their day, which improves accessibility for businesses in need of these services—especially in a pinch.
Applicable across any industry
Just as interpreting services are needed, in varying degrees, by every major industry, remote interpreting has broad application across any type of business or meeting type.
Even if your organization requires interpreters with relevant subject matter experience and a familiarity with industry-specific keywords and terminology, remote interpreting makes it possible to find these specialized professionals and hire them to serve your business needs.
Remote interpreting: A permanent solution?
While remote interpreting services have been forced to scale quickly in response to an overnight global need, many industries are expected to continue using interpreting services even after social distancing rules have been relaxed. Businesses have already been forced to abandon routine and adopt new technology. Now, the benefits of improved interpreter access and more efficient cloud-based communication are likely to keep remote interpreting services in-demand for the foreseeable future.
In need of remote interpreting for your virtual meetings? Contact Protranslating today.
