In Compliance

A Whole New World

Most of us know the story of the Wizard of Oz, whether from Frank Baum’s classic book or the iconic 1939 movie starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, the young girl that was magically transported to the Land of Oz in a tornado.  And have you ever considered just how lucky Dorothy was?  She arrived in a whole new world … and everyone just happened to speak her language!

Real World

The real world certainly is not the Land of Oz.  I learned this first-hand as a young girl when I left my beloved country and family, Peru, and arrived in a whole new and wonderful world – the United States.  Unlike Dorothy, though, I didn’t find a land that spoke my native language, Spanish.  Instead, my family and I struggled to be understood as Spanish-speaking people in an English-speaking world. As children so often do, I picked up English quickly.  Because of that, I was called upon to interpret or translate for my mom, often in situations in which no parent would want to involve a child, like to discuss medical issues, speak with lawyers, find work or pay bills.

Silver Lining

On a positive note, these early experiences sparked my passion for language. But it wasn’t until I began interpreting professionally that the real root of a problem became clear.  Brands, employers, healthcare providers, government agencies, IT companies and manufactures want and need to be heard and understood, without crashing into language or cultural barriers, but they often don’t know how.

OSI, OPI, VRI … Oh, My!   

From my early experiences as a child and the knowledge I gained as an interpreter, I founded Vocalink Global with the vision of providing on-site (OSI) and over-the-phone interpreting (OPI) to empower people and brands to be heard understood. Shortly thereafter, translation and localization, were added to the mix. Later we added video-remote interpreting (VRI), completing our suite of language solutions and cementing Vocalink Global’s role as a catalyst for multilingual communication, whether for the written or the spoken word, across a table or across the globe.

The Jetsons

A brief anecdote. In my early years, I even envisioned video-remote interpreting (VRI) as a part of our future, though the technology hadn’t yet caught up with my vision.  I probably borrowed this idea from watching my favorite show in upon arriving in the US, the Jetsons. Here’s to a step back in time,  The Jetsons.  Today in our business, VRI is common.  Request a language from any digital device for direct access to an interpreter, and voila, our dreams realized!

The Future of Language Solutions

Just as Vocalink Global started by addressing a single need – on-site court interpreting – and evolved to provide a full suite of language solutions, we must continue to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s global economy. International communications are increasingly dominated by content delivered via high-tech media.  We are living through a veritable digital revolution around the world. According to language industry expert and CEO at Common Sense Advisory, Don de Palma, enterprises are bringing all their information online, optimizing it, adapting and adopting technology to manage it, and making those assets available across their enterprise.  And it becomes even more challenging once enterprises factor in global content and international operations.

In my next blog, we’ll explore the impact of language and culture on the world-wide digital content revolution, as well as the pros and cons of emerging language technologies for managing your message globally.

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