(Last Updated On: December 13, 2016)

Telephone Interpreting

Telephony etiquette ensures professionalism and positivity in the workplace. Basic courtesy and respect are essential ingredients that make two-way communication highly effective. When either of these two is not present in a conversation, chances are no communication will take place. This is why one party will come out as disadvantaged over the other. A fair amount of respect and courtesy are guaranteed to solicit effective exchanges of ideas, opinion and thoughts between two parties. It diffuses understanding among all stakeholders, and a common resolution about a query or a specific challenge is derived on equal grounds.

The field of telephone interpreting is not spared from this requirement. The rigors of language interpretation make telephony etiquette an imperative element in the successful conduct of this business. Yet telephony etiquette, in this regard, is just one factor that ensures efficiency and productivity in the process of converting one language into another. The best practices of telephone interpreting characterize the dimension and paradigm that make this industry an essential provider of service that connects businesses and market and individuals and people.

Some of these practices manifest a growing desire to magnify the industry. These practices elevate interpretation as an industry by taking stakeholders that partake in the processes as partners that enriches the whole interpretation business. They also guarantee the proper utilization of industry and company standards that enhances the output of telephone interpreting. In a lot of ways, these practices increase customer satisfaction, thus, ensuring continued support and loyalty from them. Some of these best practices highlight the following points:

• The interpreter is the medium. Communication process goes through the interpreter. Both parties engaged in this three-way communication are expected to get responses from each other. For this reason, interpreters remain on neutral ground, putting no bias to either of the parties involved. This is the same reason why clients and businesses choose phone interpreters because they maintain a high level of impartiality and objectivity in their job.
• In medical interpreting, there are often several hindrances that may constrict the conversion process. It is with much precaution that interpreters maintain a high level of credibility in their work by ensuring that accuracy and quality is of the highest regard.
• Interpreters always treat cultural barriers and differences with respect and proper judgment by using the most appropriate terminology that recognizes the difference in the structure or idiomatic equivalent without having to majorly alter the context of the sentence or context.
• Patience is regarded as a primary commodity in this profession. It takes time to coax some person to speak to somebody he is not comfortable speaking with, more so if it is an embarrassing matter or concern. And in such cases, the interpreter has to patiently wait while the client or the other party constructs his sentence and gather his thought.
• Most telephone interpreting sessions start with a pre-session. This activity enables the interpreter to be briefed on the topics that will be discussed, or if there will be highly technical words to be utilized. This stage also determines if the mode of interpreting will be consecutive or simultaneous.

There are still many outstanding practices in the telephone interpreting industry. These practices surely outline the thrust that the linguists are willing to make and support to ensure that the industry is a growing and learning one. It makes certain that development, expansion, professionalism, standardization and proper etiquette are afforded to the entire language business making it a thriving and growing industry.