If you need to work with a remote interpreting services provider, it’s important to understand how the process works to align your expectations accordingly. In many cases, working with a company remotely can completely fulfill your requirements. However, there might be situations where a remote interpreting service is less ideal as an option.
At The Language Doctors, our extensive experience serving our clients has provided us with lots of valuable insights into the ups and downs of the industry, which we’ve summarized below. Let’s start!
Pro: Better Utilization of Your Budget
One of the best things about working with a remote interpreting service provider is that it allows you to make the best use of your budget. You don’t need to restrict yourself to companies that are geographically close to you, which means you can freely explore the market and the many deals available.
The lower overhead involved in remote interpreting work compared to traditional interpreting services allows companies to be more flexible. Often, they can provide a wider range of potential solutions to their clients’ problems.
Pro: Flexibility
Working with a remote company means having regular access to its services. Issues like time zone differences and physical distance should be irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if you need urgent services in the middle of the night or on a holiday. A good remote interpreting services provider, like The Language Doctors, will always be able to adapt its services to your unique requirements in this regard and will prioritize flexibility when it matters.
Pro: Availability
That brings us to another important point. Remote interpreting service providers usually offer unmatched availability compared to traditional companies. It’s not rare for these types of companies to offer 24/7 services and other attractive features. Often, you will not find these elsewhere on the market. This can be crucial if you work in a sector like healthcare where you frequently need to provide urgent services. You will appreciate knowing that you can always count on your interpreting services provider.
Pro: Diverse Range of Expertise
Generally speaking, remote interpreting service providers are able to hire a more diverse range of experts to service their customers, because they typically hire from all over the world. This can expose you to a much wider range of expertise, improving the likelihood that the company will be a good match for your needs.
And while that’s not always the case, it certainly is for The Language Doctors. We spend a lot of time scouting the market for the best interpreting specialists and work with them through our Connected Care platform. We also put a lot of effort into retaining their services and developing a long-term partnership with them. You can see the results of our efforts in our Connected Care platform.
Pro: Leverage New Technological Trends
If you’re looking to take advantage of some recent technological advancements, you should definitely direct your search to a remote interpreting services provider. Companies in this sector of the market always work with cutting-edge solutions and additionally frequently experiment with new tools as they become available.
True, not every new technology catches on. Sometimes these solutions are just passing trends. But in many cases, they can unlock new opportunities for you and your business.
Con: Technical Issues
Video remote interpreting has many advantages and disadvantages. According to ReachingVictims, the main challenges faced by the sector are related to technological issues. For example, many people still don’t have access to connections that can handle the necessary bandwidth.
When you want to work with a remote interpreting services provider, you need to be prepared for a certain degree of other technical issues too. Ideally, your chosen partner should already be experienced enough to anticipate such challenges as audio or video quality and lag or latency and prevent them from happening. The Language Doctors understands your concerns in this regard, and we’re prepared to work with you to resolve any last-minute issues that may come up in our cooperation. This includes:
- Software problems
- Connectivity issues
- Technological aptitude of interpreting specialists
Con: Lack of Personal Interaction
One of the benefits of remote interpreting services can also be seen as one of its main challenges. Specifically, the lack of personal interaction involved. You need to come to terms with the fact that you rarely, if ever, meet the interpreters you’re working with in person. This might not matter much to you. But it could make a difference in your relationship with some of your clients or business partners. Make sure that everyone is on the same page about the use of remote services before you enter into a contract for that.
Con: Insufficient Cultural Context in Some Cases
Sometimes, interpreting specialists might not handle certain situations involving cultural context in the best way possible. For example, they might be unaware of the double meaning of a certain word or phrase. That’s not the case with The Language Doctors, however.
We place a strong emphasis on understanding cultural differences and navigating them with grace in every interaction. For example, we would never use idioms or similar structures in translated work. “It’s raining cats and dogs” makes perfect sense in English, but sounds like gibberish in most other languages.
Con: Security and Confidentiality Concerns
You must always carefully vet the company you’re working with to minimize the risk of confidential information leaking. Don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions during your initial consultation. This will help you verify that the company understands the implications of its work.
This is something you should always do, regardless of the scope of your project. But it becomes particularly important when working with certain clients. Government agencies are a common example.
Here are some things you can do to verify the company’s legitimacy:
- Look into reports about previous work
- Explore customer reviews
- Check messaging boards and other relevant places where complaints might be raised
How The Language Doctors Can Help
At The Language Doctors, we understand these concerns and we are prepared to work with you to put your mind at ease and resolve any additional issues that might arise. Our extensive experience with interpreting work has taken us through various clients, including government agencies. We can also answer any questions you might have about our potential partnership. Don’t worry if you’re doing this for the first time and feel like you have no idea how to even begin. Our experts can guide you through the whole process and relieve all of your concerns. Contact us today: https://thelanguagedoctors.org/
Conclusion
Getting the most out of working with a remote interpreting service provider mostly boils down to several factors. You need to understand your own requirements and know how to navigate the specific issues that remote work imposes. As long as you have adequately prepared for that, and you have taken some time to research the market carefully, you should be able to get good value out of this partnership.
