STANDARDS & PROTOCOLS

Many times, as Over the Phone Interpreters, we can encounter a number of different complex
situations. This is why we have put together the most common situations you may face during
your interpreting sessions and also, instructions on how to manage these situations.

SITUATION WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, I apologize but I wasn't able to hear

Didn't hear The Customer or Need what you said, could you repeat that for me, please?" "Thank you." The
for interpreter should try to shortly justify the reason for the repetition.
repetition/clarification/verification Especially if the reason is background noise or a speakerphone that does
not allow for proper audio.

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, I wasn't able to understand what your

Didn't hear the LEP (Limited English
customer/patient said. Can I ask them to repeat, please?" or “The
Proficiency) Person or Need for
interpreter needs a moment to request repetition/clarification/verification
repetition/clarification/verification
from your client.” TO LEP: “Disculpe, puede repetir, por favor? No le pude
from LEP
escuchar/entender muy bien.”

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, could you please clarify the meaning of
so I can interpret correctly to your customer/patient." TO LEP: (first
Didn't understand the meaning of a
we need to inform the client and then ask the lep) “Disculpe está usando
word or text
un término que no conozco bien. Me puede explicar que es para usted,
por favor?”

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, would you mind speaking in short

Customer saying long sentences
sentences/segments for accuracy purposes, please?"

TO LEP: "Ma'am/Sir, this is your interpreter, please use short phrases"

LEP Person saying long sentences
"Please, give me a moment" (begins interpreting right away).

TO CLIENT "This is your interpreter, it seems there are problems with the
system, I apologize for the inconvenience. Please, allow me to continue to
assist you?" We should do this once and if it is still really impossible to
IT Problems
interpret accurately we should inform the client again and ask them to
either call back and request another interpreter or, if our system allows it,
transfer them to customer service in order to get another interpreter.

Background Noise
Usually comes from the side of the LEP and it might be pets, babies crying,
radio and/or TV noises, sounds of cars on the road, a construction site, etc.
TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, there seems to be large amounts of
background noise where your caller is located. Can I ask him/her to go to a
quieter place or speak up, please?" TO LEP: “Disculpe, hay bastante ruido
de fondo de su lado, podría ir a un lugar más tranquilo o hablar más fuerte
para entendernos todos, por favor?”

TO LEP: "Ma'am/Sir, I will be your interpreter for today. How can I help
you?" or “Ma’am/Sir, can you hear me? Are you still on the line?”(Repeat 3
You're left on the line with The
times with 10 second intervals). If there's no reply, TO CLIENT: "This is your
Customer
interpreter, it seems your client/patient has disconnected from the call.
How would you like me to proceed?"

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter. Ma'am/Sir/Name of agent, are you on

You're left on the line with the LEP
Person
the line?" (Repeat 3 times with 10 second intervals). If there's no reply: TO
THE LINE THAT’S BEING RECORDED: "This is the interpreter, unfortunately
we cannot hear you on the line. I will disconnect the call and advise your
client/patient to call back." TO LEP: "Ma'am/Sir, it seems that the agent has
disconnected. I don’t know why. Unfortunately I cannot assist you since I’m
only the interpreter. We ask you to please call back and request another
interpreter, please."

Politely interject and say TO CLIENT: “This is the interpreter, it seems your
customer and you are communicating well on your own. Would you like me
LEP Person begins speaking in
to stand by or disconnect or HOW WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO PROCEED?”
english or CLIENT begins speaking in
The client might ask you to stay just in case they need you at some point or
spanish and the Interpreter is left
they might ask you to disconnect. If it is the former, the interpreter should
out of the conversation
be attentive to whatever the parties may need, even when not interpreting
actively.

The interpreter should hold for a maximum of 10 minutes*, and politely

Interpreter is placed on hold
avoid engaging in side-conversation with the LEP Person. After ten minutes
the interpreter will say TO THE LINE THAT’S BEING RECORDED: “This is
your interpreter, unfortunately I cannot hold on the line any longer. I’ll
proceed to disconnect.”
TO LEP: “Este es su intérprete, desafortunadamente no puedo mantenerme
en espera por más tiempo. Cuando vuelva (el agente; doctor; enfermera;
etc.) solicite otro intérprete por favor”. Then you should disconnect the call.
*We only wait more than 10 minutes upon clear request by the client.
We can tell the client about this 10-minute hold policy and inform them
that they have to tell us how long they need us to wait if it’s more than 10
minutes. If the client requests a specific amount of time (20 min.; 1hr;
etc.) we should wait for that long and then proceed with the protocol
explained above. If there’s no request, the original 10 minutes are
respected.
 We cannot, under any circumstances, share any information with the
parties other than our first name and our ID number. This means we
cannot share where we are located, what company we’re working for or
what client, how old we are, our last names, our email addresses, etc.
TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, unfortunately I can only provide you
Parties ask for personal information with my name and ID number for privacy purposes. I'm sorry for the
inconvenience." and, if it is necessary, TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter,
your client/patient is requesting personal information from me.
Unfortunately I can only share with them my name and ID for privacy
purposes. Would you mind if I tell them this? Or, How would you like me to
proceed?"

LEP Person requested another
language than Spanish
Sometimes there are mistakes and/or confusions and when we are done
greeting the LEP we realize they don’t speak spanish but another language.
If this is the case, TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, it seems your
client/patient needs (LEP Person's Language) and not spanish.” If you
cannot transfer to customer service, TO CLIENT: “Unfortunately, you would
have to call us back and request a/an (LEP Person's Language) interpreter."
If you can transfer to customer service, TO CLIENT: “Give me a moment to
transfer you to customer service and request a/an (LEP Person's Language)
interpreter.”
Let’s also remember that we are ENG-SPA and SPA-ENG interpreters only.
This means we cannot interpret in any other language, even if we know it
perfectly.

If you hear foul language or profanities from the LEP, TO CLIENT: “This is
your interpreter, your customer is using foul language/profanities. Would
you like me to interpret or omit them? Or How would you like me to
proceed?”
Then the interpreter should proceed however the client requests them to
(interpreting the foul language, or omitting it, or asking the LEP stop using
it or they will disconnect the line, etc.).
Foul language or Profanities If the client is the one using foul language or profanities* (not common),
TO CLIENT: “This is your interpreter, would you like me to state everything
you just mentioned?”
*This usually doesn’t happen since the clients usually have their own
company rules but if it were to happen, the call can be reported to your
Quality and/or Supervision Team in order to inform our client of this
incident. Anyhow, this case is more common from the LEP than from the
CLIENT.

This includes: fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, or emergencies to

vomit or go to the toilet due to incontinence or others alike.
TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, there's an emergency where I'm
Natural Disasters / Emergencies
located for which I have to disconnect from the call. We apologize for the
inconvenience and ask you to please call back and request another
interpreter. Thank you."
 Always use formal spanish to address the LEP person: “Usted,
Proper Language Señor/Caballero, Señora/Dama”
Always use formal english: “Ma’am, Sir, May I, etc.”

We should always speak in first person when interpreting from spanish to

english and we should always use “USTED” when interpreting from english
First Person & Usted to spanish.
Let’s avoid using “he said/she said, wants, likes, needs, etc.” and let’s also
avoid what in spanish is called “tuteo”.

The interpreter must speak clearly and use a warm and friendly tone of
voice when speaking on his/her own behalf. The interpreter should also
vocalize properly when interpreting in order to be properly understood by
Proficiency all the parties. When interpreting, the tone and register of both the LEP
and the client is matched* by the interpreter. We should express what
both parties are trying to convey to each other.
*If either party is yelling or mad, try to use a neutral tone of voice.

Our personal opinion cannot be provided. We should not tell the client or
the LEP what to do, offer advice and/or make suggestions or speak on
Personal Opinion & Impartiality behalf of either the customer or the LEP. Also, we shouldn’t bring our
personal experience or expertise (unrelated to the task of interpreting) into
the conversation.

Everything must be interpreted exactly as it was originally stated at all

times. Do not omit information even if it seems not important or irrelevant.
Verbatim & Accuracy
We should avoid Omitting, Adding, Paraphrasing and/or Modifying
messages.

We need to develop our note taking technique by using symbols and

abbreviations in order to be able to get messages across completely and
Note Taking
accurately.
EXAMPLE.: C 2 $ Elec B. MEANS “calling to pay electric bill”