Among the items needed to help improve communication and its clarity are such things as a good, fast, up to date computer with at least 8 or more gigabites of ram memory, 64 Bits OS 2GHz of speed or faster. Also, a good quality business dual line conference phone, with a very good headset. However, this alone will not garantee perfect audio during your session.
In my experience I have found that you as the interpreter must take control of your call. Make certain that folks understand if sound quality is poor, since you have no control over the kind of equipment they may be using. So you will need to ask that the provider and patient are positioned close to the phone they are using, if possible. In addition, you have to request that callers using cell phones are stationary and not moving about the house or out doors. If they are driving a car when calling politely ask them to pull over during the call for their safety. Moreover, make certain that callers not use hands free device from home since these are usually of poor quality and cause a tunneling effect. Lastly, request repetition when needed, or for them to spell words out phonetically. This will help you to be able to hear all parties better and get through the call without errors.
These are just a few recommendations for interpreting over the phone. You may even think of a few other ways to help yourself. If you do please share these with others in the field. Don't forget to always be polite, kind, and clear when interpreting. Keep your cool even when a caller may be upset. Also, don't assume that providers or others using your service know all there is to know about how to manage this triadic relationship. Ask, give them a hand and help to expedite that call so that all benefit.
by E L Collazo, Northeast Consulting and Interpreting, LLC
Happy Interpreting!
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