Telephone Interpreting

Telephone Interpreting
It is common to hire a professional interpreter to translate conversations between two parties who
do not know each other’s language. However, when there is a geographical restriction between the
parties, e.g. one side in the UK and the other in Japan, telephone interpreting will provide the
suitable solution.

Global Communication
Telephone Interpreting is carried the same way as face to face interpreting, but with all the parties
including the interpreter over the telephone or video-conference. Telephone Interpreting is
increasingly used within international businesses due to the rapid globalisation of trades. Companies
with many different vested business interests in other countries need constant communication with
their counterpart. It is not viable to be flying over to another country every time a board meeting is
held. Hence, telephone interpreting provides an innovative and cost effective remote solution to the
clients.

Telephone Interpreting Solutions

Telephone interpreting is also the best choice in urgent interpreting with very short notice. The
interpreter can carry out the translation immediately regardless of where they are in the world. With
telecommunication advancement today, it is easy to set up a conference call with the interpreter in
a short period of time. Telephone interpreting offers the clients a flexible solution and it is
particularly useful during unexpected circumstances where language is a barrier to negotiating a
business deal or even accident emergency cases.

Confidentiality Maintained
Furthermore, telephone interpreting provides another distinct advantage over traditional face to
face interpreting and that is privacy. Many clients prefer not to have a third party physically
presence at the meeting due to anonymity concerns. They would prefer to keep their identity
confidential. Telephone interpreting allows this to happen but still empowering helping the clients to
beat the language barrier.

Telephone Interpreting Limitations

However, the strength of telephone interpreting might also be its weakness. It should be noted that
telephone interpreting will not allow the interpreters to take into account of the body language and
facial expression of the speakers. As we all know, human body language also conveys certain
message during a conversations. Nevertheless, this pitfall can be overcome by using video-
conferencing so that the interpreter will be able to view the parties face to face.

Conclusion
All in all, telephone interpreting does provide a flexible and immediate solution to unexpected
circumstances but it also has its limits depending on the client’s personal needs.