Equipment
Users typically access telephone interpreting services with a telephone or computer with VoIP. However, if the two parties wishing to communicate are in the same location, using a dual handset phone, a phone with two receivers, can relieve the two parties from passing a phone back and forth. Speakerphones are also sometimes used, but these can create challenges both in terms of confidentiality, and for the interpreter, especially due to background noise, which can hinder the interpreter's ability to hear.
The dual handset phone was first offered by a company called CyraCom, a provider of telephone interpreting services, and is now widely available. There is also a variant made specifically for the U.K. Government by their telephone interpreting providers. These companies usually either lease or sell the phones to their telephone interpreting customers but have been known to give them to key accounts as part of a contract. Dual-handset phones can be bought directly by customers, enabling them to obtain the phones without obtaining them through a telephone interpreting company.
Where one party is deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired, communication via an off-site sign language interpreter can be performed using a video link using the necessary video telecommunication equipment.
Some providers, such as CyraCom, have developed mobile apps to access their service. CyraCom’s mobile app allows healthcare providers to connect to an interpreter with a mobile device, saving time in patient interactions.
Read more about this topic: Telephone Interpreting
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