thebigword Launches a New Interpreter Scheduling Tool

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Global Watchtower

Common Sense Advisory Blogs

Posted by Vijayalaxmi Hegde, Nataly Kelly on July 5, 2012 in the following blogs: Interpreting, Technology
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The on-site interpreting market will reach nearly US$4.8 billion this year (see “The Language Services Market: 2012,” May12), but is surprisingly short of automated booking and scheduling tools for interpreters. In a recent briefing with thebigword, Joshua Gould, Chief Operations Officer at thebigword Group and Chief Executive Officer of thebigword Inc, and Kenny Sendel, Chief Technology Officer, told us about the launch of their new tool – Word Pie – which fits into this niche.

The tool provides a third-party platform for buyers of interpreting services and agencies who need to book on-site interpreters. Some of the main features we took note of include:

Prioritization of client preferences. Clients can select from among their preferred agencies to service a particular booking. thebigword controls the proportion of bookings that can go to a particular agency, based on metrics set by the client. If an agency hits these thresholds, the intelligence built into Word Pie holds off sending any further bookings to that agency to bring the percentages back in line with client requirements.

Interpreter booking. As soon as the client puts in their requirements, agencies receive mail notifications. They then log into the tool to view the full details of the booking. An interested agency can hold the booking for up to 15 minutes, while it tries to secure an interpreter. After 15 minutes, if the agency is still not able to confirm the booking, it gets released and is made available to all agencies. However, if an agency confirms the booking, it moves from the list of available bookings to current bookings, where the timesheet can be downloaded.

Profiles, invoicing, and manual sourcing. A Word Pie partner (interpreting agency) can build its profile on the tool by mentioning the areas it services and the languages it provides services in. Word Pie allows for the signed timesheet to be uploaded to the tool to enable invoicing. If none of the agencies takes up a booking, then thebigword manually sources an interpreter.

Recently, we’ve been taking a closer look at numerous interpreter scheduling tools for some research we will be publishing on this technology category soon. Unlike some of the tools we have looked at, the Word Pie interface is quite modern-looking, clean, and easy to use. However, we have noticed that most of the tools in this category – including Word Pie – would benefit from integrating instructions, maps, or even videos that show an interpreter how to get from one place to another not just in the local area, but how to find the exact location where they are needed on a large medical campus or other facility.

As Gould told us, “The on-site interpreting market is one that requires extensive local knowledge, which is why we are putting this tool in the hands of the local market specialists. They are the ones who have that expertise – both with regard to staffing interpreters and helping them get to the appointments on time.”

This is the first version of Word Pie, and Sendel told us to expect numerous new features in the next version. One of our biggest requests, for both thebigword and other developers of such tools? We would love to see client feedback incorporated into a rating system for the interpreter, so that this information could feed a total quality management program for interpreting. That would take these kinds of tools beyond just scheduling and into a more full-fledged solution – one that the on-site industry desperately needs.

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