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INTRAN is a multi agency partnership providing language services throughout the Eastern Region

Cost Effectiveness

Stacked Coins

 

Research has shown that not using an interpreter at the first point of contact with a non-English speaking client often incurs greater cost ultimately for the public sector. In general, money is saved by using an interpreter. Using an interpreter efficiently saves even more money. There are many ways in which staff can ensure more effective use of interpreting and translation services, and thus helps their organisation save money. This document gives some tips on using telephone interpreting, face-to-face interpreting and written translation services effectively.
 
Interpreting is transferring meaning, in the form of speech, or sign language, between two or more speakers of different languages. Translation is taking a document written in one language and producing, as near as possible, a duplicate document in another language. Sight translation, or text-to-speech, is a mixture of the two, where an interpreter reads a document or other piece of text and speaks or signs, the translation to your client.

Specific to Telephone Interpreting

  • Make sure telephone interpreting is the appropriate method for what you are trying to achieve. It is probably NOT appropriate if
1)     The Conversation is likely to be long
2)     The client is vulnerable
3)      More than one public service professional will be speaking
4)     More than one non-English speaker will be speaking
5)     Body language is likely to be important
6)     An interview is being conducted under PACE procedure
 
In the situations listed above, telephone interpreting is NOT a suitable substitute for face-to-face interpreting.
  • Plan what you are going to say, before speaking to the interpreter on the phone.
  • If you need to leave the room during the conversation, tell your client, via the telephone interpreter, that you will be away for a couple of minutes. If you will be away for more than two minutes, end the call and call the interpreting agency again when you come back.
  • Avoid “technical terminology”, use plain English and be as explicit as possible. 
  • Before ending the telephone-interpreted conversation, ask the client, via the telephone interpreter: "is there anything else you would like to say?”
Use telephone interpreting to remind clients/patients of their appointments. This is particularly important where you have sent an appointment letter in English to the client/patient, rather than a letter translated into your client’s language.

Specific to Face-to-Face Interpreting

If you respond yes to any of these questions, book a face-to-face interpreter:
1)     Is the interview likely to be long?
2)     Is the communication going to be complex?
3)     Might the communication rely on words being accompanied by body language?
4)     Is the patient vulnerable?
5)     Are you going to disclose very sensitive information?
6)     Are you going to break bad news? 

The INTRAN Partnership strives to provide value-for-money services to its partners. But INTRAN also wants partners to be aware of the efficiency savings to be made, simply by staff taking into account the following:Interpreters provided for face-to-face sessions are usually locally based. This keeps travel costs to a minimum. However sometimes no local interpreter is available because, for example:

  • If it is for a very short appointment that is not likely to be complex and does not rely on body language, sign language or very technical terms, consider booking a telephone interpreter.
  • Book a face-to-face interpreter as soon as you know that your client requires one. Don't wait until the day itself, if you know in advance! However, in an emergency situation where life or liberty could be at risk, you can book a face-to-face interpreter at any time, any day of the week. So it is worth trying to book a face-to-face interpreter at very short notice, if necessary.
  • If you are delayed, give priority to the client with an interpreter. Interpreters are paid from the time they were booked to arrive, to the time they leave your premises.
  • If an interpreter speaking the language you require is already working in your premises or in the area on the day of your booking, be prepared to be flexible on the time of the appointment, if suggested by the booking staff, to enable the same interpreter to do the job for you. Face-to-face interpreters are paid travel expenses. It will save your organisation having to pay for travel twice!
  • If you need to arrange repeat bookings for the same client and the same language with the same interpreter, discounts are available.
  • If your client does not turn up, call your client and ask the interpreter to translate for you. This will help you establish if your client knew about the appointment, and, if they did, why they did not attend. You may want to insist that, if another appointment is arranged, the client must attend. Keep written notes of this on your client's file.
  • When you cancel an appointment with a client who needs an interpreter, do not forget to call the agency and inform them that an interpreter will not be needed after all. If you give sufficient notice, you will then not be charged for the interpreter. 

Specific to Translations

  • Interpreters are not translators. Don't ask an interpreter to do a written translation for you. The skills required are not necessarily the same.
     
  • If you have a standard piece of information translated, such as a form or leaflet, keep a photocopy of the translation, in case you are asked for the same document in the same language again. Date it, to make sure that it remains current.
If you want a large document translated, think cost-wise
  • How many people is this document intended for? If for a large group, identify your distribution channels according to where people are and what services they access. 
     
  • Is “written translation” the most appropriate way of providing access?
If it is "Client-Specific"
  • If the document is very long, which part of it does the client, customer or patient most need? Could just one section be translated? Or would it be more appropriate and cost-effective to book an interpreter for a morning to go through the document with the user and explain it in its context, instead of providing a straight written translation?
     
  • Would it be better to have an interpreter reading the information onto an audiotape for older people or those who have more difficulties understanding written text?
     
  • Is your client literate?
     
  • Did you know that 12 million English people are currently illiterate in the UK? It may be that some of your non-English speakers cannot read or write for a range of reasons, such as speaking an oral dialect with no written form, speaking English but not having learned to write it. It takes much longer to learn to read in a foreign language than to speak it. It takes even longer for people whose language does not use the Latin alphabet. Imagine yourself when you go on holiday in Greece and try and read signs! Please note that some people would not admit that they cannot read or write, and will accept your translated documents politely and then discard them.
     
  • Use the text-to-speech service when you have a short piece of information you need translated, rather than a more expensive written translation of a document. In this case, the interpreter will provide a sight-translation, i.e. will speak the translation of a written document.
     
  • If this is just for one client, is it essential for you to provide a written translation? Could an interpreter be asked to read the content in the foreign language instead?
     
  • Is the English text written in plain English? If it is not, then it is better not to have it translated, because the text, once translated, may be even harder to understand. Instead, you could book an interpreter to sight-translate the document to the client. You can then check, via the interpreter, that your client has understood.
     
  • Carefully check the language you need. If Chinese, do you need Mandarin or Cantonese? If Portuguese, do you need Portuguese from Portugal or from Brazil?
     
  • If you need a legal document translated, you may need to have the translation verified by means of an official stamp. Please check with the agency, when you book, that this can be done, before you commission the work.
If it is for a larger audience speaking one particular language?
  • Make sure you know your audience:
    • Where they are (for distribution purposes)
    • The community profile (age, gender)
    • For example, the Kurdish community in Norfolk would not need information targeted to elderly people, as the Norfolk-based non-English speakers are young
If you are producing a translation to be bound into documents, check which way the copy should read, left to right or right to left.

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