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Technology plays a vital role in today’s courtrooms. This is especially relevant in Utica where there are more than 50 languages spoken. Having such a diverse language span, sometimes language service providers are unable to provide a simultaneous interpreter in person. So this means the courts have to turn to technology, which is a good thing, however, the platform they are using is off the mark completely.

While researching this topic, I came across an article where, Michael Klein, district executive for the Fifth Judicial District Court of New York State said, “We use remote interpreting through Skype”. In the same article, Tony Colon, a Spanish interpreter said “Judges don’t like it and it’s a very difficult scenario,” he said. “When you’re going to the city court here in Utica you’ll see the screen set up for Skype.” Not only is this method unprofessional but using a third party software that is not specifically designed for a scheduled court interpretation could have some serious security ramifications.

Within the same article, Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees Executive Director Shelly Callahan said that “We’re seeing growth in video interpretation,” and that Medical Video Interpretation used to be the main scheduled appointment type but in recent times courtroom interpretation is certainly growing. So now is the time for Utica courts to adopt an interpreter schedule software that supports video remote interpreting (VRI), this way they are efficiently managing their interpreters, while also using a platform specially designed for courtroom interpreting.

An interpreter scheduling software is what these courts and other courts in similar circumstances or with similar requirements could greatly benefit from. There are between 800 and 1,000 scheduled interpretation appointments per month, both simultaneous and video. With Skype being used it is very easy for the language service providers to lose track and mismanage all the scheduled appointments and list of interpreters.

Also, another feature that Utica could benefit from is Interpreter Intelligence’s feature of calculating mileage, as it says in this article, “if it isn’t possible for interpreters to travel to the area for a legal proceeding, video interpretation is a tool that cuts down on transportation costs.” If cutting costs is a factor in deciding on an interpreter, then Interpreter Intelligence is the solution. If there are no interpreters within a select distance, then the interpreters group within the court or the language service providers can choose our (soon to be released) VRI option instead.

If you’re interested in learning more about Interpreter Intelligence’s industry-leading Scheduling Software or our VRI software in development we’d love to discuss how we can help you transform your business by contacting our support team.