Calliope’s consultant interpreters have extensive experience of providing Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI), also known as Distance Simultaneous Interpretation (DSI), for multilingual virtual and hybrid events.
RSI is an ideal solution for fully virtual online meetings or webinars being held in one or more languages. All the participants are connected to the videoconferencing platform from their individual locations. Some commercial platforms, known as simultaneous interpreting delivery platforms (SIDPs), already incorporate language channels so that participants can speak and listen in their own languages through interpretation, which may be provided from a hub or a home studio. For platforms without that functionality interpretation is still possible using a hub solution.
A hub is a meeting room equipped with ISO-standard interpretation booths and all the relevant equipment for remote interpretation. During meetings a technician, who is fully trained in remote interpretation, is physically present in the hub to support the interpreters, as well as delegates attending the meeting remotely. Hubs offer a quality single-location solution for your interpreters and enable them to work as a team. In sum, their high-speed, reliable data connection, professional equipment and on-site technical support will give you peace of mind when holding a multilingual meeting.
A home studio is when interpreters, like meeting delegates, connect to the meeting using their own equipment (computer, microphone) and interpret into the language channels available. This solution is most suitable for shorter meetings or webinars held on platforms with built-in interpreting channels. The number of interpreters required may be higher, given that they are not co-located, have no on-site technical support and are working in a platform environment with inherent sound and image quality constraints.
In a nutshell, RSI can be an effective and more sustainable solution for shorter meetings, since it may reduce travel and therefore the carbon footprint of your meeting. Indeed, in our Environment Charter Calliope has pledged to reduce our impact on the environment. However, in these settings, whether the interpreters are in a hub or in their home studios, it is essential for speakers to follow recommendations on connection and sound quality. Calliope has developed a series of tips for successful online meetings with interpretation and will be glad to share them with you.
Calliope can
help you choose the remote interpreting solution best suited to your needs
select the most suitable interpreters taking into account languages and location
liaise with a remote interpreting hub
provide advice on successful online meetings with interpretation
Examples from our portfolio
#UCLGMeets and regions share experiences during lockdown
During the COVID-19 pandemic, UCLG, a network of local and regional governments, held a number of webinars on Zoom to give its members the opportunity to share their experiences and gain a better understanding of the measures put in place by other local or regional authorities in response to the pandemic. Interpretation was provided in several languages thanks to the coordination of Consultant Interpreter, Danielle Grée, the Calliope member for Spain, who recruited a team of interpreters working from “home studios” owing to the constraints of the lockdown. Some sessions attracted more than 250 participants on five continents, demonstrating how vital these exchanges of experience were.
State-of-the-art DSI hub in Athens
Anticipating the advent of distance interpreting, Haris Ghinos, the Calliope member for Greece, opened the first interpreter-owned distance interpreting hub in Europe, now widely known as “AIHub”, Athens Interpreting Hub. He felt that the considerable investment (two booths, three independent Internet connections, high-spec laptops, two additional screens per booth, mini-consoles for channel selection and volume control and USB-connected headsets with acoustic shock protection) was more than warranted in view of the increasing number of multilingual online conferences and meetings and the need to cut down unnecessary travel for conference interpreters. Importantly, AIHub offers the advantage of interpreters being co-located, which allows for real-time teamwork, an essential measure to contain cognitive load for interpreters.
Since February 2019, hundreds of online and hybrid meetings have taken place using the services of conference interpreters sitting at AIHub. On top of state-of-the-art booths, the hub offers interpreters a safe and controlled environment from where they can perform at their best. Clients love AIHub because they know that a combined team - including project managers, conference interpreters, technicians and administrators - work under, literally, the same roof, giving them a high degree of certainty that everything will go as planned, without the slightest glitch.
Contact us
Please contact us to discuss the event you are planning. For a cost-effective and optimal interpreting solution, get a Calliope consultant on board as early as possible in the planning process. We will be happy to respond to all quote requests immediately.
Calliope and its members all belong to the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), which sets standards in the field of conference interpreting.