Translation Technology | The language of progress

Translation technology: a term which is frequently used by translation professionals, but what does it actually mean? At The Translation People, we believe translation technology is about continually developing, continually improving and not resting on our laurels.

Which is why throughout our 40-year history we have always embraced the opportunities which translation technology has provided. Today we are proud to provide our clients some of the most advanced technology solutions the industry has to offer.

However, successful use of translation technology is not simply a case of adopting the latest ‘gadgets and gizmos’. We take an entirely client-centric approach to technology use – ensuring that every tool we use, every platform we adopt and every system we develop is because it enhances customer satisfaction, notably:

• Cost savings
• Efficiency improvements
• Increased productivity
• Enhanced workflows
• Smarter management

Productivity, efficiency and cost savings

 

Successful use of tools such as translation memory not only help to complete translation projects in less time, but can also ensure greater accuracy and consistency in the output. This technology acts an aid to the translator, who can automatically reuse and recycle previous translations where necessary, saving time and money for clients in the process. The technology also allows the integration of client-specific glossaries, ensuring that preferred terms are used in the translation.

Machine Translation can also help to increase productivity in certain scenarios. It is important to emphasise that there is a huge difference between the machine translation tools we use compared to those freely available online (watch the video to find out more). Machine translation continues to evolve, and we make sure we are always at the cutting-edge of what this technology can offer our clients. Today, we can even train machine translation engines, so that they learn vocabulary and style unique to your brand and sector.

Human input is also a vital part of successful machine translation. This encompasses devising an appropriate machine translation strategy, managing the initial set-up of a machine translation engine and – most importantly – post-editing of the machine translation output to ensure the highest standard of accuracy and quality in the final material. When used in the right way and in the right scenarios, machine translation can provide an excellent combination of quick turnaround times and reduced costs for customers, whilst maintaining appropriate levels of quality.

What’s more, we are always exploring ways we can improve efficiencies for our customers and new solutions continue to join our portfolio of work tools, including:

• Machine translation on demand – a simple and secure online platform where users can request raw neural machine translations on the fly and access the finished translation instantly.
• Automated video transcription and subtitling – using AI technology to transcribe and translate videos more quickly than traditional methods.

Enhanced workflows

 

Streamlining workflows and removing unnecessary barriers to productivity are other key areas where technology can help us to dramatically improve quality and service.

One integral way we achieve this is through seamless integration with customers’ own existing platforms – website content management systems being a typical example. This solution eradicates the need for time-consuming manual integration, while also maintaining formatting on the translated site.

Workflow automation also helps us to enhance the efficiency of translation projects, providing a level of quality and speed our customers can rely on. For the most urgent requirements, workflows can be automated to send projects directly to translators once they have been submitted. Agreed prices are seamlessly incorporated into an automatic quotation tool and translators utilise company-specific translation memories and glossaries for further time saving and consistency.

It also goes without question that we adhere to the highest standards of data security in translation workflows, in the technology we use and our business as a whole.

 

Smarter management

 

We constantly strive for better ways of working with our clients and at the heart of this will always be our team of talented account managers. Complementing this personal relationship are a number of tools which facilitate improved communication and teamwork between account manager, translator and client.

This includes systems such as our client portal and translation management system which enable all stakeholders on a project to securely collaborate in a cloud-hosted environment.

 

Just the start

 

The most exciting thing for us is that there is no finish line and when it comes to translation technology and our working methods are constantly evolving. We make sure we know everything there is to know about translation technology trends, and we are currently exploring the benefits AI interpreting, synthetic multilingual voices and multilingual chatbots can bring to our clients.

Whether it is the solutions of today or tomorrow, one thing which will always remain constant is that our specialist translation technology will always be focused on our customers: reducing costs, improving quality and delivering faster turnaround times.

 

View the full range of our translation services here.