Technical equipment
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Technical equipment can
consist of simultaneous interpretation
booths or portable equipment. This can be rented from a company that
supplies interpreting equipment. Informationsteknik
och AV- & Ljudtjänst are
two companies in Sweden that have extensive experience of providing and
installing interpreting equipment. AIIC Geneva's web site
also contains a lot of information about equipment.
EQUIPMENT FOR
SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETING
At a multi-language conference you
need both professional interpreters and reliable technical equipment which is
operated by skilled technicians. The right equipment will allow simultaneous
interpretation into several different language and is supplied by specialist
companies, see above. The following points will help you to decide what kind of
equipment you need to order.
· The equipment for simultaneous
interpretation is configured to suit the specific requirements of each meeting.
The equipment installed in hotel conference rooms and public halls, for
instance, often does not work for any kind of simultaneous interpreting.
Auditory loop cannot, for example, be used for interpretation.
· The
company supplying the equipment should supply a complete system, including
microphones and headsets. This will avoid problems caused by incompatible
components.
· A technician should always be available for the entire
meeting. Things can break down or go wrong. It is easiest for the technician who
has installed the equipment to fix things. The interpreters have no chance of
dealing with problems like extraneous noise or bad quality sound.
· For
the interpreters to be able to work properly their booths must meet certain
minimum standards (ISO
standard 4043:1998). If you are are not sure - ask the interpreters for
advice. Companies that regularly supply interpreting equipment and co-operate
with AIIC interpreters are aware of these minimum standards.
· Make sure
that there are enough microphones and headsets for the listeners. If you want to
give listeners a chance to ask questions there should also be at least one
microphone available for them to do so.
· Make sure that there enough
interpreting booths. Ask the chef d'équipe (head interpreter) is you are not
sure. A simple rule of thumb says that you need one booth for each language.