Global Lingo FAQ’s

What is the difference between your summaries and standard minutes written by someone from my team in-house?

The differences are efficiency and quality. Our summaries are efficient because minutes take time to write up, time that your people do not have. Our rigorous quality assurance takes care of the rest. Using you’re in house staff to take minutes usually presents problems. Those senior enough to have a command of the discussion rarely have the time to devote to minutes; those junior enough to have the time rarely have the command of the topic to be able to produce comprehensive minutes. Global Lingo is the solution.

Which services and industry sectors do you specialise in?

We specialise in providing Translation, Transcription and Minute-taking to the eConferencing, eLearning, Financial, Legal and Market Research sectors. We work in sectors where accuracy and quality of service delivery are key requirements. We also hold significant contracts with Automotive companies, Not-for-Profit, UK Public Sector and Intergovernmental agencies.

Why is it important to have a record of a meeting?

The reasons for recording a meeting are as varied as the reasons for having the meeting in the first place. Functional reasons for recording meetings range from knowledge sharing internally or externally to indemnifying yourself against the consequences of misrepresented meetings. The reason for using Global Lingo to record that meeting is that we ensure it is recorded to the highest levels of elegance and accuracy. You value the information contained in your meeting and so do we. We often say to our client, that if it’s worth having the meeting in the first place, its worth having a record of it!

How do you price your transcripts and summaries?

The most important element of our pricing policy is the metric: we charge clients and pay our writers by the meeting hour. First, this means that the total cost to you will be transparent as soon as the meeting ends. Second, this means that there is no incentive for our writers to produce incomprehensible and expensive documents for you because they are paid per word and so include every ‘um’ and ‘er’. Third, this means that there is no incentive for our writers to work slowly because they are paid per hour of their time. Stenographers are renowned for demanding a day rate for an hour’s work.

Who do you provide these services to?

We transcribe for some of the world’s largest organisations on a wide range of industries and subjects. Our transcription clients include 10 Downing Street, BP and the Financial Times. See our case studies page for more details.

 

How is a writer qualified to provide a summary of our technical meeting? Surely, to summarise you need a specialised knowledge of the subject matter?

You do indeed need specialist knowledge. That is why our writers are well versed in their sectors. Our selection process first ensures that all our writers are highly educated with a broad awareness of current events. We then develop our writers within a speciality, furnishing them with copious background material on a client and industry. Due to the breadth of our client base in any one sector, our writers are quickly able to understand high level discussion points at any new client’s meeting because of their experience of similar clients.

 

How can your writers gain access to our competitors’ events in order to provide an account of proceedings?

Global Lingo does not break any domestic or international laws when offering this service; we’re not tapping phones! We are merely providing a simple service enabling organisations to compare themselves with other organisations, allowing them to make informed decisions. Our writers don’t tend to go to your competitors’ events unless it is completely allowed. The most common way we access information is by listening to conference calls and webcasts. For example, you may want us to provide you with a transcript from your competitor’s Q3 earnings results. Provided they are a Public Limited Company, this is public information available to anyone who knows how to access it.

 

How do you train your writers to summarise?

First, we train them to write coherently. Second, we train them to write concisely. Third, we ensure that our writers have equal measures of experience in the client’s industry and summary writing. Combined, this means that our writers have a researched familiarity with both lucid writing and the instant identification of key points. Because all our summary writers are also trained transcribers, they are rehearsed in providing full documents and never exclude material arbitrarily.

 

How is the document itself produced? Do you need specialist equipment?

Our basic tools are a laptop, the internet, and a recording device, all of which we provide at no surcharge. Our writers work principally from the recording of the meeting, using the internet to research names and terms. When the writer’s work is done, an editor then verifies the document’s accuracy and fluency before it is sent to the client.

 

What do you need from us in order to write the document?

All that we need is a recording of your meeting, either from you directly or from one of our writers onsite at your event. Of course, that isn’t to say that any additional information from you about names or terms wouldn’t be appreciated!

 

What is the best format for audio we send to you? How do I get it over to your writers?

For your convenience, we will set you up with an account on our specialised CMS, GloZone, through which you will be able to upload your audio to us directly. We suggest uploading an MP3 file directly to this client portal. However, we can work from any other audio source, be they digital – MP3, MP4, WAV, WMA, AAC or physical, such as CDs and cassettes and we are always available to discuss any technical issues with you.

 

How long can I expect my transcript to take?

Our transcribers are able to complete approximately 10–15 minutes of audio transcription within one hour. This turnaround time can be reduced even further by having multiple transcribers work on a single project.

 

What is included in my transcription package?

Our transcription rates are all inclusive of personalised service from a dedicated Global Lingo project manager, as well as a secondary edit to ensure best possible quality. Where your project has additional requirements such as attendance or recording, these costs also form part of the base rate.

 

What style are your minutes written in?

Our minutes are composed in third person by default and names are initialled to promote confidentiality and ease of reading. A bespoke template will be created for you or we are happy to use an existing template of your choosing. Please get in touch with a Global Lingo Project Manager to find out more.

 

If I opt for physical attendance, how will this be charged?

If you require one of our writers to attend on-site, the cost of their attendance will be built into the hourly rate that you are quoted prior to go ahead.

 

Our discussions are highly confidential – what measures are in place to protect against data theft?

All Global Lingo writers and team members are contractually required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to working on your projects and our encrypted laptops prevent access to the files inside. Completed projects are stored on a secure external drive and destroyed after a set period of time.

 

How quickly can you deliver my document?

We can offer a range of turnaround times, and deliver transcripts and minutes anywhere from 4 hours to 4 days after your meeting has taken place. Get in touch with the team to discuss your requirements, what we can offer, and our pricing.

 

What technology do you use for remote meeting access?

We can access meetings remotely via the internet or a telephone line. Whether your meeting is taking place via an online conferencing platform, webcast, VOIP, teleconferencing system, or a standalone telephone, we can connect, take notes and produce a meeting summary. Alternatively, we can do the same from an audio recording of the live proceedings.

 

What is the difference between a translator and an interpreter?

In the industry, the term translator tends to refer to any written work carried out, i.e. rendering one document into another language. An interpreter always refers to someone who translates orally, e.g. at a conference where there are two or more parties speaking different languages. Just to confuse you, the term “translator” can also sometimes refer to someone translating orally. However “interpreter” never refers to written translation.

 

How long does it take to translate a document?

Turnaround times depend on the language combination, type of content, quality of source file and document formatting requirements. We have the resources to engage multiple linguists on any given project but always advise incorporating time for editing and proof reading as part of a Language sign-off (LSO) stage. We can work to very aggressive timelines.

 

How are translation jobs priced?

Each translation job is priced separately according to a number of factors: the deadline, format of the source document (e.g. PowerPoint or Word), format of the finished document and complexity and level of specialist knowledge required. However, the two main variables that affect the price are the length of the document(s), and the language combinations. For example, a Japanese to Swedish translation would cost significantly more than a French to English translation. We tend to price each job per 1,000 words. Our sales team would always discuss these options with you before you commit to a project, to ensure you know what you will be paying and to eliminate the danger of any hidden costs added after the job.

 

Does a translator need to be an expert in the subject matter of the translation?

This depends on the complexity of your document. If, for example, you require a technical electrical-engineering manual to be translated from English into Mandarin, then we would appoint someone with a specialist knowledge in this subject matter. If however you want a general business document translated from French into English, it would be much more straightforward. The translator appointed would research your company, including technical terms and any in-house acronyms to ensure maximum accuracy.

 

Which languages can you translate?

Global Lingo has a core of over 150 languages that it translates regularly. These include every major world language (Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish). In addition, we cover many more languages from every continent so please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

Are you just a translation agency?

No, we are a fully integrated language-services company. In addition to translation, we offer interpreting, transcripts, reports, summaries, localisation services, proofreading, and project management.

 

What is translation memory?

A translation memory (TM) is a database that stores the source text and its associated translation in what we call a “segment”. These can be sentences, paragraphs, headings, titles or elements in a list, that have previously been translated, to help the translation process and ensure consistency.

Translation memories are typically used in conjunction with a computer assisted translation (CAT) tool, a terminology tool or language dictionary. By having a translation memory, you are enabling cost reductions, improved quality and result in faster turnaround times for your language projects.

Translation memories, like a workflow, are specifically created for a client and are tailored based on the content and needs of the client. TMs can be created and maintained on a content type level allowing you to keep the Marketing content separate from the Technical and therefore avoiding any misuse of a previous translation.

 

How does translation memory work?

Once the project has been signed off and delivered, a CAT tool is used to import all translated content into your dedicated translation memory ready for use on the next project.

When working on a new project, the TM will also be applied during the preparation stage whereby the source format is transferred into a translation friendly version. The CAT tool will work with the translation memory to compare and identify any matches to previously translated content. During the translation stage the translator then inserts this pre-existing translation into the document and reviews in context, making edits if necessary.

 

What are the benefits of translation memory?

• Consistency of content
• Avoidance of repetitive translation. The same sentence never needs to be translated twice.
• Building and leveraging a linguistic database for the benefit of employee
• Different company departments get to reap the benefit of core content already translated.
• Improvement in project turnaround time
• Matches between a new project and translation memory avoids time taken to re-translate content.
• Cost savings
• Repeated text, whether a ‘fuzzy’ match or a 100% match, is charged at a reduced rate.
• Quality of translated content
• Content stored within the translation memory can be updated and improved to reflect tone and context.
• The effectiveness of translation memory proportionately increases with the number of projects and the length of time you work with Global Lingo. The more projects you put through translation memory the greater the number of content matches, and the larger the cost saving.
• Translation memory is not machine translation!
• All our translators are certified, highly qualified and experienced linguists. They use translation memory software as a tool to improve the quality and consistency of translation. All projects regardless of matching content are always given an ‘in-context’ review by the translator, in addition to the literal check. Machine translation, although providing a basic literal translation, has no concept of context and no ability to structure flowing communication that reads well.

 

Why should we use an external company when we already have in house resources?

For translation projects, we combine human linguistic expertise with the latest computer assisted translation (CAT) tools. Our experienced language professionals specialise in managing content. They are experts in combining task management with process workflows and language technologies. This combined with a pool of linguists that is segmented, not only by language expertise, but also by sector experience means that we can get a project to the best qualified resources and completed fast and efficiently.

 

What Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools do you use?

We use one of the industry’s top tool used by project managers and translators alike, SDL Trados Studio. Using this CAT tool allows us to not only benefit from the creation and use of a translation memory but also numerous features which can accelerate translation and simplify many tasks. It can even help with the review process of the translations by subject matter experts in a familiar environment like Microsoft Word. This all contributes to make review as easy and comprehensive as possible.

 

How scalable are you?

We have over 6,000 certified linguists, writers, editors and file engineers specialising in over 150 languages across different sectors. Our Project managers can match expertise with the assignment – fast and efficiently. With offices in five countries and five different time zones we can work on your project through the full 24-hour cycle.

 

Which departments do you normally work with?

We work with HR departments, Marketing and Public Relations, Legal, Finance, Treasury, Corporate, Training and Development departments, Research, Board and C-level, Financial Crime Investigations and Procurement.

 

What business management system do you use?

Global Lingo has invested in the development of a Business Management Platform (GloZone) to securely manage projects from receipt of files to delivery of final documents. This Business Management platform is built into a HTTPS framework and only accessible with user specific credentials provided by Global Lingo. These credentials have assigned user rights that reflect an individual’s level and type of access. The platform is accessible through any online browser.

Data is identified using company specific client identification numbers. These numbers are automatically generated within the platform ensuring segregation of individual client documents and data.

Our GloZone platform generates management information relating to spend and activity per service offering, average turnaround time, average words translated, average audio file length etc. This information and more can be prepared on a monthly or quarterly basis as required.

 

What quality assurance measures do you have in place?

We are ISO9001:2008 certified and follow set procedures for quality management and corrective action.
We have a dedicated vendor management team, who source and review all prospective linguists, Writers, Editors and file engineers.

To become a Global Lingo Certified Translator all linguists are assessed based on language skills and specific sector experience. Following completion of each assignment, the quality of translation is graded based on customer feedback and an independent review. This information is stored on our database and updated after each project.

To become a Global Lingo Writer or Editor all successfully checked candidates are required to take a series of writing and editing tests as part of the recruitment process. Each new Writer and Editor is given in-house dedicated training, and subject to close quality monitoring on each assignment, the details of which are stored on our database and updated after each project.
We have an in-house editing team, which quality controls every document through audio editing, proof reading, research, checking client requirements, and delivery details.

Our Senior Leadership team is responsible for the quality of our processes, people, and procedures.

To ensure the highest level of quality, we:

• Recruit, train and proactively develop the best staff;
• Have dedicated Training and Development Managers in place;
• Provide detailed feedback and assessment to ensure ongoing development of our resource base.
• Global Lingo is committed to providing continuous professional development to all our staff. The quality of our continuous professional development schemes for all staff are externally monitored, reviewed, and verified during the annual review of our ISO 9001 certification.

 

Do you work for other Industry sectors?

Yes we do, if we believe that we can meet a customer’s requirement while at the same time delivering an exceptional service. We always look to develop long-term partnerships with our clients. We have long term contracts with large worldwide organisations not listed within our specialist industries. View the main Sectors we work with