Language Services Provider
There are many important loving relationships in each person’s life, be it romantic, familiar or friendly. We think there’s one big relationship you should consider during this month of love: the one you have with your language services provider. Think about it, how much would you love to love working with your LSP on each and every project? It’s possible if you look for these qualities when selecting a translation agency.
A Well-Rounded Team
At the heart of any successful LSP relationship is the group of people with whom you work. Here are some key roles a capable team will have.
Project Manager
On a day-to-day basis, the project manager is who you’ll work with the most. This person is intricately involved in all the details of your project, from understanding the content to spotting confidentiality issues to selecting the best translators and designers for the job.
Account Manager
Your account manager gets involved when your needs go beyond an existing translation project. For example, if you want a different service that’s not in your contract, your AM will be the person who asks some questions about your needs to develop pricing. Your AM can also work in tandem with your PM to help resolve specific problems.
Linguists
Every project is a bit different when it comes to geography, field, and language, and finding the right linguists who fit those specifications is important. Your PM should match qualified translators with your specific project’s needs and languages to ensure success.
Proofer
The proofer is the quality control person on your project. This person focuses on the last step of the translation project and ensures the quality of the layout and the non-linguistic requirements. These people focus on details and understand how to work with style guides and specifications.
Understanding of Your Audience and Content
It’s important that every person involved in your translation project understand the message of the source file, the target audience, and the field. For areas such as medical translation or legal translation, a Language Services Provider experienced in these domains will know the specific domain-specific terminology and legal regulations involved.
Certifications and Processes
While LSPs in other parts of the world must receive a certification from the International Organization for Standardization, this is not required in the United States. What is important is finding an LSP that lives up to the high standards presented in the ISO guidelines as well as the ATA standards in the U.S. and the NAFTI standards in Australia. Look for companies with a multi-step process where multiple people look at each project. A qualified LSP will also employ people with many years of experience and competency in many areas of translation.
Confidentiality
Protect your heart, and your business, by only working with LSPs with specific confidentiality protocols. Translation often deals with a person’s most sensitive information such as passports, vital records, transcripts, medical records and more. To protect that private data, an LSP should actively train its employees and contractors and use several safeguards to maintain confidentiality.
The Fit Factor
Just like finding the right partner is key to falling in love, finding the right LSP is key to building a strong relationship. Look for a company that fits your needs. For example, if you primarily translate healthcare documents in the state of California, look for an LSP that specializes in that work. Whatever your needs are, look for a translation agency that can fulfill them.
By looking for these aspects in an LSP, you can find the kind of relationship that supports you through every translation project.
At Avantpage our experienced team can help guide you through the translation process and make it fast and easy. To find out more about our services call us at 530-750-2040 x11, or request a free quote.
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