Solution for a multicultural Europe: video remote interpreting

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36f64add-1038-41b6-a41b-c320913d9238Due to the increasing importance of linguistic diversity in a multicultural Europe and the arising need for the community interpreting at the same time, Austrian based SAVD Videodolmetschen GmbH is Europe’s leading company in the field of video remote interpreting (VRI) providing its services to a wide range of institutions such as hospitals, clinics, immigration detention facilities, public employment facilities, prisons etc.

VRI enables institutions across Austria to connect to qualified interpreters whenever necessary. Within 10-15 seconds on average an interpreter appears on the computer screen. There is no commute and no waiting. More than 500 interpreters offering altogether 30 languages work comfortably at home connected to the internet and are available from 7 am to 7 pm on working days. There is no expensive equipment needed, just a computer, internet access and a webcam. Thanks to high-resolution video and audio connection, patients or petitioners can see and hear interpreters as if they were right there in the room. Encrypted communication is guaranteed and liability risks are minimized.

For young and well-trained interpreters, this project, which was made up of only eight people at the beginning, has developed to be a large and interesting platform. It gathers interpreters from different cultural backgrounds and offers them challenging and varied assignments from different sectors on a daily basis within the flexible framework of working from their homes, wherever they are. The project has proved to be a great contribution to the quality assurance of interpreting services in public institutions.

By Agnieszka Jednoralska, MA

Translation and Interpreting

Member of Interpreters’ and Translators’ Association UNIVERSITAS Austria