Journeys are measured in memories, not miles ✈️

Journeys are measured in memories, not miles ✈️

As lockdown restrictions continue to relax and the world as we knew it starts to return, what does the future hold for us interpreters? 🤔

We’ve been hearing a lot in the last few weeks about the proposed ‘travel corridors’ between countries, allowing the residents to travel freely between the two countries without necessarily having to quarantine on arrival.

Before Covid-19, I travelled a lot for conferences and events, and it’s a part I have really missed the last few months.

With the potential for travel corridors, do you think travel is on the horizon for us again?

Let me know your thoughts 👇

Reviewing RSI platforms: An Interpreter’s View on Interprefy

Despite a growing roster of RSI platforms, Interprefy is one that I keep going back to again and again, thanks to its user-friendly interface and unrivalled tech support.

For those who aren’t as familiar with RSI (aka Remote Simultaneous Interpreting), it’s a great solution for international training courses, webinars, presentations, board meetings and more with a global attendee list. The attendees can listen to the presentation in their own language via the remote interpreter, whilst simultaneously following along with the speaker. You, your attendees and the interpreter can be anywhere in the world.

What is Interprefy?

Interprefy is a cloud-based platform offering remote simultaneous interpreting for events and meetings. It has been built specifically to integrate seamlessly with online conferencing platforms and features an array of tools to optimize the user experience.

For clients, there’s no limit to the number of languages supported, and Interprefy works with hundreds of partners worldwide so, no matter the mix of languages required, you will always be supported with your requirements. Plus, because event and meeting organisers don’t need to fly in interpreters, pay for hotels and organize for interpreting equipment to be installed, they can enjoy a stress-free and cost-effective service.

For interpreters, Interprefy offers extensive training delivered by its in-house training team, technical support both before and during assignments as well as the opportunity to apply for new assignments directly through the platform.

Take a look at Interprefy’s introduction video to find out more about the platform.

I’m a self-confessed digital enthusiast and when Interprefy first launched five years ago I was immediately impressed with it. So much so, I was delighted to meet the founder and CEO of Interprefy Kim Ludvigsen whilst I was working in Zurich to hear first hand from him all about the platform over a delicious dinner!

What sets Interprefy apart from other RSI platforms?

Interprefy defines its USP as “extensive event support and the flexibility and scalability of the platform”, and in this, I would have to agree: Interprefy’s technical support is second to none.

I’ve spoken about my experience with Interprefy in the past and was particularly impressed with their event tech support – and it’s reassuring to know that someone is there to help if the worst should happen and the technology fails on the day!

Final thought: Is Interprefy worth investing in?

For interpreters new to RSI assignments, Interprefy may be a good choice because of its ease of use and the technical support available by its team which is invaluable when setting up for and during assignments, especially when you’re still developing the skills.

That said, even for seasoned pros Interprefy’s in-house training options and bank of online resources and tips are very helpful to further your learning of RSI and develop a competitive edge.

I highly recommend Interprefy as an RSI platform. For further reading on the platform and RSI as a whole, take a look at Interprefy’s Learning Area.

What is your experience of using Interprefy? Have you got any tips or tricks to share? Let me know in the comments below.

✨YOU are your best investment✨ – TechItalian Women in Tech Meetup, June 2020

Last week I joined a TechItalia Women in Tech meet up, with panels on Start-Up Resilience and Stakeholder, Employee and Client Engagement During Covid.

🥁 During the Covid-19 lockdown, I made a commitment to dedicate time to my professional and personal development, and I was so inspired by the women I heard on the panels. Both panels were insightful, honest and empowering 👏

If you didn’t catch it, TechItalia have posted the webinar online to view at your leisure. What learnings did you take from the webinar, and are you being flexible in understanding your clients’ needs?
Let me know your thoughts👇

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jygvLQ4rTFZ_zuaN_XnIkGO9phc4WAtu/view 

🚀 2020 innovation time: Homeworking and the interpreter’s digital booth 🏡💻

2020 will no doubt be remembered for the Covid-19 pandemic, an acceleration of digital processes, and the proliferation of online events and digital meetings.

This acceleration and “rethinking”💡 of the way we work has also affected my sector, specifically the area of “simultaneous interpreting”. 🎙

⬇️
The work I used to do in the presence of others I now perform from home: my offices have become a digital booth where I translate the language of a speaker into another language and put it up on an online platform; the participants link up to that platform on their PCs or smartphones and talk to the speaker in their chosen language.

In fact, remote simultaneous interpreting allows you to organise events at any time and wherever you want all over the world, and also considerably reduces your environmental footprint.

🌍
If you are organising a videoconference or a workshop and need an interpreter quickly for a last-minute company meeting, you will have access to support from a highly-qualified remote interpreter in real-time.

Let me help you continue to organise meetings and conferences!

Get in touch 🙂

Interpreting for Betty Williams (Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1976) – National Meeting of UNICEF Volunteers

During my professional career, I have had, and still have, the privilege of working alongside (in the literal sense of the term) personalities of international stature from the world of politics, institutions, and entertainment.

In 2011, during the second National Meeting of UNICEF volunteers, I was the interpreter for Betty Williams (Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1976), who passed away, sadly, on 17 March 2020.

Betty was a Catholic activist from Northern Ireland who, in 1976, along with Mairead Corrigan, founded the Women for Peace movement, then renamed Community for Peace People.

But Betty also had strong ties with Italy, especially the Basilicata Region: an idea of hers led to the creation of Fondazione Città della Pace (City of Peace for Children Foundation) in the Municipalities of Sant’Arcangelo and Scanzano Jonico.

This Foundation, which is still active, has a mission to provide hospitality, information, and integration services to allow those who are forced to flee to contribute to the development of the local community which welcomes them.

I like to remember her with this phrase: “To say that on a daily basis you can make a difference, well, you can. One act of kindness a day can do it.”

Reviewing RSI platforms: Spotlight on KUDO

KUDO is one of the key players in Remote Simultaneous Interpreting and a platform that I regularly use for my RSI assignments.

For those who aren’t as familiar with RSI, it’s a great solution for international training courses, webinars, presentations, board meetings and more with a global attendee list. The attendees can listen to the presentation in their own language via the remote interpreter, whilst simultaneously following along with the speaker. You, your attendees and the interpreter can be anywhere in the world.

What is KUDO?

I first started using KUDO in 2018 and have had consistently positive experiences of using the platform.

KUDO describes itself as a ¨language-as-a-service¨ platform for multilingual web conferencing and live events. Businesses use it to expand their global audience by offering content in their audience’s mother-tongue through a remote interpreter.

KUDO has a roster of 6500 interpreters (and climbing) that are on call 24/7 in case of an emergency across 80 countries with more than 70 languages available. Interpreters are certified through its Interpreter’s Journey course.

Take a look at this video by Ewandro Magalhaes, Chief Language Officer at KUDO, to find out more about the platform:

Ewandro Magalhaes recently said during an Instagram Live, hosted by Mike Lemay, that it was a platform built for conference interpreting, and on that I’d definitely agree, but it has many more capabilities beyond that too. It recently launched an integration with Microsoft Teams, which has been a revelation over the last few months.

Why become a KUDO certified interpreter?

What sets KUDO apart from its competitors is the ability to become an official ‘KUDO certified’ interpreter by taking its Interpreter Journey course, which isn’t something I have seen any other platforms offer as officially yet. It’s clear that it’s a platform built by interpreters for interpreters.

According to KUDO, there are a number of tasks an interpreter must complete or be assessed in, in order to complete the Interpreter’s Journey course:

• Screened online and trained in the use of KUDO
• Trained under the supervision of a former Chief Interpreter in the UN system
• Rely on AI-driven terminology and workflow assistance
• Have preemptive NDAs signed and kept on file
• Available on short notice

There are seven chapters to work through, covering all aspects of the platform onboarding with a final quiz at the end.

I personally found the experience very straightforward and was able to complete it very quickly. There are definitely benefits for interpreters to become KUDO certified, as clients know you have the experience, expertise and can be trusted to do a good job. For interpreters looking to get assignments through KUDO, it’s a no-brainer.

Final thought: Is KUDO worth investing in?

KUDO is an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution for RSI assignments and I highly rate it as an RSI platform. If you’ve not had had a chance to try out KUDO as an interpreter, it’s well worth a look.

To find out more about KUDO, a good place to start is some of its online videos and tutorials.

What is your experience of using KUDO? Have you got any tips or tricks to share? Let me know in the comments below.

Is Remote Simultaneous Interpreting the future of interpretation?

Remote Simultaneous Interpreting is having its finest hour. 

I love all things tech, and there’s been a real flurry of activity in the RSI world over the last couple of months.

Out of a difficult situation for everybody has come something positive, and both interpreters and clients are really starting to see the benefits of RSI. It’s really exciting times and the future is looking bright!

For those who are not familiar with RSI, it allows the user to host conferences, training sessions, business meetings and more online with an experienced interpreter based remotely, interpreting your message in real-time to your participants in their native language. It’s quick, it’s easy to set up, I love it.

What platforms are available?

RSI itself is not new technology, but it has seen an obvious boom in use over the last few months.

I’ve been offering RSI services for quite some time, however. In the past, I’ve worked with Andrea Baccenetti, co-founder and COO at Voiceboxer, and have been KUDO certified for several years. I’ve worked with these platforms on many occasions and I’ve been really impressed by their functionality for both clients and interpreters.

I’ve also been working with Interactio and Interprefy and am taking assignments through those platforms too. I’ve spoken about my experience with Interprefy in the past and was particularly impressed with their technical support – and it’s reassuring to know that someone is there to help if the worst should happen and the technology fails on the day!

There are other options that aren’t exclusively RSI technology too, such as Zoom (interpretation services are available through its Pro-Plan) and GoToMeeting. I’ll be covering all of these platforms in more detail over my next few blogs, so keep an eye out for those to find out more about them and their USPs.

So, with all of its benefits, does this mean the end of in-person interpreting?

The traditional interpreting model has been travelling all over the world, which I absolutely love about my job and I’m very lucky, but this is obviously a more expensive option for clients to contract and arrange. What RSI offers is a modern, fuss-free solution to help organisations continue to do business with each other, no matter where they – or their interpreters – are in the world.

Although RSI is the logical solution for the challenges we currently face, I don’t think it will completely replace in-person interpreting, and I personally hope that it doesn’t. RSI offers us interpreters more choice and more flexibility in how we can work – taking on a remote assignment is perfect for days where I may have some gaps in the diary to fill – but nothing can quite match up with face-to-face contact when it comes to building relationships with one another. I think they both have their part to play alongside each other.

That being said, there’s a growing expectation that remote working will have a much bigger role in the way that businesses work together, both during this crisis and beyond, so RSI is definitely here and here to stay.

Would you consider using RSI over in-person interpreting? Have you used RSI in the past? Let me know what you think in the comments below!