ZipDX’s introduction of simultaneous interpreting to teleconferencing offers a cloud-based meeting platform in which interpreters listen to the speaker and interpret simultaneously for other people logged into the call.

David Frankel, founder and CEO, and Barry Slaughter Olsen, the General Manager of Multilingual Operations, talked to Common Sense Advisory last week about ZipDX Multilingual. Some features of the product caught our attention:

• Multilingual capability: In a ZipDX call, speakers of different languages can choose their desired language channel via their telephone keypad. As the interpretation happens real-time, speakers don’t need to pause but can carry on the conversation like they normally would. The system offers adjustable “audio cues” so that the speaker can hear the interpreter working faintly in the background and those listening to the interpreter can hear the speaker faintly as well. The speaker can also hear others if they want to interrupt, even if they are in another language channel. In addition to supporting back-and-forth multilingual conversations among small groups, the system can also enable large lecture-type virtual meetings leveraging simultaneous interpreter(s). Users can currently conduct a conference in eight languages, but Frankel said the number of languages could be increased significantly, if required.
• Real-time transcriptions: Not only is the interpretation simultaneous, but so is the transcription, if you will. As of now, the transcriptions are only available for the English part of the conversation.
• Remote interpretation: This feature could be particularly useful when it is challenging to bring a simultaneous interpreter onsite. The ZipLine virtual interpreter console allows interpreters to log into the call and start interpreting just as they would in a physical conference. The tool mimics the real-life hardware that conference interpreters use and also comes with other regular web conferencing features like the ability to chat with meeting participants. More than one interpreter can be logged into the same language channel if required for longer calls where interpreters may need to work in shifts. More.

See: Common Sense Advisory

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