3 Reasons Why You Should Choose Over-The-Phone Interpreting

Remote types of interpreting have been  experiencing a dramatic rise over the last decade or so and there are some good reasons for that trend. In this blog post, we will focus on just the three that our clients consider to be the most important ones.

Over-the-phone interpreting, also referred to as “telephone interpreting” or  “telephonic interpreting” is a service that brings interpreting to the user(s) quickly, conveniently, and typically without the need for scheduling. This type of a service actually originated in Australia in the early seventies, in response to growing – and frequently remote – immigrant communities. The service started gaining popularity in the U.S. in the late eightees and early ninetees but the real boom has come with the improvement of communication networks, faster and better connectivity and improving skill levels of telephone interpreters.

Over-the-phone interpreting is only one type of interpreting, with the others including interpreting over video, in person consecutive interpreting and simultaneous (conference) interpreting.

So why does this specific type of interpreting deserve your attention?

1. Lower Cost 

Let’s face it. Interpreting services are not cheap, especially the in-person kind. The typical minimum for hiring an in-person interpreter is two to four hours, with the cost per hour starting at about $80 for even the most common of languages. Fees for transportation, travel time, waiting time, or even hotel accomodations can quickly pile up and exceed even the most generous of budgets. 

In the case of over-the-phone interpreting you typically pay only for the time you actually use, in one minute increments. This is a much friendlier scenario to most users and one they can easily accomodate. There should also be no monthly fees, no minimum fees and definitely no project management fees.

2. Accessibility

Forget phone calls to customer service or issuing purchase orders. Getting an interpreter on the telephone line takes seconds and providers of this service now offer apps for your computers, phones, or tablets so that an interpreter can literally be in your pocket and ready at a moment’s notice, without the need for prior scheduling.

Remote interpreters also come in handy if the location of your meeting is, well, remote, or if you are in need of a language combination that is more on the exotic side. You can use the service in your office, in the field, or wherever you do business.

3. Applicability

Over-the-phone interpreting is conducted in the consecutive mode. This means the speaker delivers a chunk of speech, first, usually a paragraph or two, and the interpreter repeats it in the target language. This makes for the most versatile type of interpreting that is ideal for business conversations, interviews, short speeches, appointments, consults, hot lines, etc. Today’s interpreting delivery platforms are also fully encrypted and HIPAA compliant. No matter what your immediate need is, a telephonic interpreter can likely help you. The types of scenarios for which this type of interpreting should be avoided are the following:

•  Scenarios requiring simultaneous (conference interpreting)
• Extremely serious, “life or death” situations such as court appearances, delivering difficult news, etc.
• Communication that relies on visual aids (unless you can provide those to the interpreter ahead of time)

There is a number of things you can do to make your interpreter’s job easier and in turn receive the most effective result. The most important ones are:

• Speak slowly and enunciate carefully
• Describe any visuals in detail
• Allow for only one person to speak at a time
• Introduce people in the room to the interpreter
• Avoid using industry-specific acronyms; spell them out or describe them instead

Telephone interpreting has many advantages ranging from flexibility to increased productivity and reduced costs. We are hoping that our blog has provided more detailed information on at least some of these items that might help you decide to give the service a try.

To find out more about this topic, read our blog on interpreting services here!