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Any interpreter platform worth its weight in Bitcoin should have basic features such as calendar synchronization, scheduling, accounting automation and high-quality Over the Phone Interpreting (OPI) & Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), just to name a few. However, to accommodate the diverse needs of your customer base, you need more than just those basic features. You need to be able to rely on a comprehensive platform that allows you to cater to the unique needs of your customers and interpreters. Here are 7 features your ideal interpreter platform should have.

1. Tailored Job Information

From schools to hospitals, from courts to general businesses, every customer has its own way of doing things. Some courts need to specify the case ID in the job information, some hospitals need to specify the patient or doctor when booking an interpreter, some schools need to mention the teacher’s name, large businesses need to be able to communicate exactly where the assignment will take place,… Your interpreter platform should be able to accommodate these requests by allowing you to add notes to jobs, or ideally, by allowing you to set up configurable entry fields for specific clients, which would facilitate the collection of desired job information when creating or closing a job.

2. Configurable Communications

As every customer and interpreter is different, so is the way they communicate. Your ideal interpreter platform allows you to configure templates for every type of communication, and it allows you to determine when and how everything is communicated. Some customers or interpreters prefer to be notified via email, some prefer to be notified by SMS. Some interpreters are more forgetful than others and like to be reminded of an upcoming assignment. Some customers for example like to know when the status of the assignment has changed. In short, automate all your communications, whether it is for your customers or for your interpreters, the way they prefer it. Save yourself the trouble of calling and emailing back and forth by leveraging an interpreter platform with configurable communications.

3. Pricing Customization

Interpreter rates depend on many variables, something which we mentioned in a previous blog post (The Intricacies of Interpreter Pricing), and depending on the deals you have struck with your customers, the rates you charge them depend on many different variables as well. Whether you are dealing with your customers or with your interpreters, rates usually vary depending on the language combination, interpreter certification, timing and duration of the assignment, mileage, travel time, meal breaks,… The combinations to get to the final rate are endless, so arm your organization with a platform that allows you to fully customize the pricing of your interpreters and customers.

4. Multiple Portal Access

Another way of streamlining language service delivery is by limiting your overall involvement. An interpreter platform with multiple portal access allows your customers and interpreters to interact directly. Once you have everything set up, customers can request interpreters directly through their portal, and interpreters can accept jobs directly through theirs. This way, for routine assignments, your involvement is minimal. With three portals under one single environment, you can remove as many hurdles as possible for successful and painless interpreter service delivery.

5. Offer Automation

Speaking of limiting your involvement, automating job offers is another way of saving yourself tons of time and resources. With the right interpreter platform, you can enable automatic job offering for any customer, which means they can create assignments which will be sent out automatically to all interpreters who meet the eligibility requirements for that assignment. Whichever interpreter reacts the fastest will be automatically attached to that job. Do not relinquish control, but eliminate the bottlenecks in the booking process.

6. Instant Customer Verification

Once the interpreter assignment is complete, there needs to be a way for your customers to verify and approve the assignment. If the assignment occurs over the phone or through video, then the right interpreter platform will automatically bill your customer based on the duration of the call. For onsite interpreting, however, your customer should have a way of approving the assignment right then and there. Ideally, your interpreters can log onto the platform through their phones and have the customer electronically sign in order to close the job. Not only is this an eco-friendly solution, it will prevent any confusion during the invoicing process.

7. Compliance Management

Your customers often require very specific interpreters. Hospitals need medically certified interpreters, courts need interpreters with legal certification,… The right interpreter platform allows you to manage all interpreter certification. On their profile, interpreters should be able to upload proof of their certification, which you can later approve. An interpreter platform with proper compliance management also allows you to put expiration dates on proofs of certification, to reflect the expiration of certain types of certification in real life.

Interpreter Intelligence can help!

Language service delivery can get very complicated, so implement an interpreter platform that reflects that. With Interpreter Intelligence, you can configure how much control your customers have. Set up a simple interface for smaller customers, and a more comprehensive interface for bigger customers. It is no coincidence that Interpreter Intelligence is trusted by the largest Language Service Providers in the world and has more active users than any other platform. Contact us today if you want to learn more about our product features, or if you want to schedule a demo.