Simultaneous Interpretation for Virtual Meetings

Networking 6:30-7:00 PM, and after the talk as time allows.
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For the past four years, ZipDX (https://www.zipdx.info/) has been developing a system to support simultaneous interpretation for “virtual meetings.” Conceptually, this is a multilingual conference call that behaves analogously to an in-person meeting conducted in a conference hall equipped with a multilingual sound system and interpreter booths. Participants connect using a conventional telephone and talk and listen in their preferred language, while interpreters use their magic to eliminate the language barrier. The interpreters connect to the audio conference via a web-based “virtual interpreter console.”

The solution, now in use by public and private organizations around the world, allows for “remote participation” (allowing remote participants to join an in-person meeting); “remote interpretation” (allowing interpreters to work remotely servicing an in-person meeting), and for fully-virtual meetings where interpreters and participants can all be in different locations.

Perhaps most interesting to language specialists are the discoveries the company has made as this solution has been deployed. These include issues with audio quality, lack of visual cues, coordination of work among and between interpreter teams, good and bad behaviors of meeting moderators and delegates, and treatment of presentation materials (such as PowerPoint slides). Medical and court interpreting, where the solution also applies, bring their own special considerations. The audio cues ZipDX has developed help participants with “situational awareness” during the meeting, and allow them to pace their speech to avoid overrunning the interpreter.

When things go well, the simultaneous interpreters eliminate the language barrier, and the result is a dynamic (almost musical) conversation in multiple languages.

David Frankel is the CEO of ZipDX, a provider of specialty virtual meeting services that he founded in 2007. The focus at ZipDX is to solve problems that cannot be addressed with conventional solutions, usually in “high-value” meeting situations that involve research, training, sensitive conversations, and participants speaking different languages. He has worked in high-performance computer and networking technology since 1974. He was the founder of Jetstream Communications, Inc. which supplied voice-over-packet technology to telecommunications carriers.

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