The on-site interpreting market will reach nearly US$4.8 billion this year (see “The Language Services Market: 2012,” May12), but is surprisingly short of automated booking and scheduling tools for interpreters. In a recent briefing with thebigword, Joshua Gould, Chief Operations Officer at thebigword Group and Chief Executive Officer of thebigword Inc, and Kenny Sendel, Chief Technology Officer, told us about the launch of their new tool – Word Pie – which fits into this niche.

The tool provides a third-party platform for buyers of interpreting services and agencies who need to book on-site interpreters. Some of the main features we took note of include:

• Prioritization of client preferences. Clients can select from among their preferred agencies to service a particular booking. thebigword controls the proportion of bookings that can go to a particular agency, based on metrics set by the client. If an agency hits these thresholds, the intelligence built into Word Pie holds off sending any further bookings to that agency to bring the percentages back in line with client requirements.

• Interpreter booking. As soon as the client puts in their requirements, agencies receive mail notifications. They then log into the tool to view the full details of the booking. An interested agency can hold the booking for up to 15 minutes, while it tries to secure an interpreter. After 15 minutes, if the agency is still not able to confirm the booking, it gets released and is made available to all agencies. However, if an agency confirms the booking, it moves from the list of available bookings to current bookings, where the timesheet can be downloaded.
• Profiles, invoicing, and manual sourcing. A Word Pie partner (interpreting agency) can build its profile on the tool by mentioning the areas it services and the languages it provides services in. Word Pie allows for the signed timesheet to be uploaded to the tool to enable invoicing. If none of the agencies takes up a booking, then thebigword manually sources an interpreter. More.

See: Common Sense Advisory