The Growth of Remote Interpretation


Interprefy experienced enormous growth in 2020, after a massive shift and demand towards remote interpretation services, where virtual events and business meetings needed to provide simultaneous (or real-time) language interpretation. In this Q&A with Markus Aregger, Head of Marketing at Interprefy, shares how they adapted to meet customer demands.

Firstly, thank you for your partnerships with Convening Asia Pacific and Convening Leaders. 2020 was a big year for everyone, but how has the rise of the digital event impacted Interprefy?

Like most companies, initially we lost a large portion of our business when the pandemic first hit. However, we were well equipped to help our clients take their multilingual conferences and meetings online. From May 2020, we saw the massive shift and demand towards remote interpretation services. So for us, it’s been a year of enormous growth.

Have you had to change aspects of your service to meet customer demand?

Before 2020, most of our events were held on-site with interpreters connecting remotely. Now, also the event attendees connected remotely. Pre-COVID most assignments were booked months in advance, a few days’ notice has suddenly become the norm. In order to adapt, our team grew multifold in all areas, and we invested heavily into our technology and people. So we could provide enough interpreter trainings, project management and technical support services for each event.

What does 2021 and beyond look like for Interprefy?

We expect the demand for remote simultaneous interpretation to continue to grow and will continue to strengthen our partnerships with PCOs, virtual event platform providers and AV companies. Virtual and hybrid events opened new opportunities to address wider audiences and increase inclusivity. Just because the default language of a meeting or event is English, shouldn’t mean that people with different cultural backgrounds can’t understand or share their ideas in a language they’re proficient in. And we can help in bridging those language gaps.

What is the most common translation service you provide?

We provide simultaneous (or real-time) language interpretation to any type and size of business meeting and event anywhere. To help people connect in a language they’re comfortable in, using a powerful combination of human language expertise, proven technology and professional services.

What else does Interprefy do in the digital events landscape?

We’re really focusing on where we can make the biggest impact for clients and that is in removing language barriers. Through interpretation, captioning, event recording and some more services that we have in the pipeline.

Learn more about Interprefy.

 

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