Dear fellow interpreters,
Some of you might have watched me on March 19, 2020 during the GALA meeting online. Here is my speech dealing with remote interpreting services as an interpreting consultant based in France. But hey, do you still think my location is relevant 😉 ?
I am still reviewing remote interpreting platforms and exploring videoconferencing tools possibilities, but I mostly focus on my clients needs before anything else. Here is my speech, what is your take?
GALA ONLINE MEETING ONLINE
First of all, my deepest thanks to Professor Olsen for having me on this prestigious roundtable. I’m honored. Thank you also to the GALA organizers and KUDOway for setting up these remarkable meeting on such a short notice. Special thanks to Julia Poger for her ongoing support.
1. What do you need to ensure business continuity over the next three months?
It’s straightforward. I need the proper tools and by this, I mean the remote interpreting platform to deliver top-notch performances for my clients. I already have a team of conference interpreters with some experience in remote interpreting platforms. They operate in the most demanded language pairs in my South of France private market nevertheless I urgently need the adequate platform to deliver these services. I also have a remote interpreting studio in the making located in the center of Nice, France but due to the current crisis we cannot use it. consequently, I would need to produce some lockdown requirements to deliver quality remote interpreting from our home offices.
My urgent requests? A remote interpreting platform OK to play ball with me and be the tech provider I don’t need another competitor. Plus, I need affordable rates when I order a packaged solution to this interpreting platform to make it work for my clients, I’m not with the UN and don’t have pockets as they have. By the way, there are dozens of small consultant interpreters like me eager to buy this type of services. Just my two cents, here.
I need a tech solution because my clients are happy with my services and they won’t accept to change interpreters just because of online communication solutions.
2. What resources are lacking for you to do this?
As I said before:
- I need lockdown requirements to deliver quality remote interpreting.
- I also need to improve the digital skillset of my interpreters, so they can navigate from one video conference platform to another and share their knowledge with the rest of our community. It’s the way forward to not entirely rely on turnkey solutions we currently have in store. Also, a way to globally improve the quality of remote interpreting.
- I need feedback from remote interpreting moderators to give me tips and tricks so my interpreters can dedicate 100% of their abilities to interpreting and not bother at all with online management. As a remote interpreter, myself, I suffered from the lack of guidance and had to cope with technical aspects more often than not.
- Finally, I need a remote simultaneous interpreting forum to gather all the knowledge available + ongoing experimentations within the interpreting community.
3. 3. How do you see interpreting adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic and to a post-COVID-19 marketplace?
I can see a perfect opportunity for the interpreting community to raise awareness on the urgent need to embrace remote interpreting. I talk to many colleagues eager to learn and share discoveries with each other, with interpreting schools and professional associations.
This is the perfect timing for us to dive into the unknown, the technical aspect of interpreting that many of us conference interpreters fear to approach. The right USB headset, the best mic on the market, the right connectors and adapters required for modern laptops which lack of USB ports, HELLO APPLE, the right laptop of course, the best video conference web applications on the market, the tutorials that may exist or need to be created, the kind of HDMI monitors you need to actually SEE the floor when working from a distance…
This is the perfect timing for platforms and LSPs and independent conference interpreters to put everything there is on the table and strike some win-win agreements because in the end we all need each other.
Thank you for your time
Here is the link to the entire video of the event: https://www.gala-global.org/ondemand/interpreting-tech-and-business-continuity-delivering-interpreting-services-during-world#video
NB you need to create an account and log in to access the contents
If you are interested in remote interpreting, you should also read my presentation of The French Riviera Hub: first remote interpreting hub in Nice, France.
