Conference Interpreting Services

Universal’s team of conferences interpreters, each of whom has vast experience in a professional field and is trained for simultaneous interpreting, are capable of providing flawless simultaneous interpreting services at meetings as varied as national and international trade, economics, politics, and law in 12 different languages.

Universal provides conference interpreting services with professional interpreters, chosen on the basis of the meeting subject, content and delegates. Perfectly fluent in the language needed, dynamic and quick thinking, they can form a team and work in harmony with our customers to produce professional translations.

In addition to providing simultaneous interpreting services for your meetings and events of any type, Universal also offers:

• Meeting secretarial services
• Writing, translation and distribution of press bulletins
• Audio & Video recordings of meetings; translation of their transcripts
• Translation of final reports of meetings into such languages as required

If you wish, we, together with our trusted solution partners, can supply every type of sound and lighting system and the technical support you may need for your events.

Conference Interpretation; In simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter sits in a sound-proof cabin using a microphone and a headset and, while clearly hearing the meeting content and what the speaker is saying in the source language, interprets simultaneously the speech into the target language by speaking into the microphone to reach the attendees via their headsets.

When placing an order with us for conference interpretation, please note the following:

• Universal will only accept orders where they can supply the required standard of interpreter to meet your specific needs.
• If at all possible, please provide Universal with the meeting agenda and presentation materials a minimum of 24 hours before the meeting.
• Our interpreters are bound by confidentiality agreements and can not divulge any information or documentation to third parties.
• The conference interpreters will translate everything they hear. If they are asked to translate less or more than they actually hear, they may refuse the assignment with no penalty.
• For any simultaneous interpreting assignment exceeding 1 hour, a second interpreter should be employed. The maximum working time for a team of 2 interpreters is 2X3 hours (6 hours). For meetings lasting more than 6 hours (a full day live broadcast, for example), a third interpreter or another team of interpreters would be required.
• In the case of overtime being incurred, Universal reserves the right to charge an additional fee or supply additional interpreters.
• The interpreter’s cabin should be situated in such a way that the speaker, podium and any displays can be clearly seen by the interpreters.
• Universal will not accept responsibility for any loss of interpreting performance due to technical failure.
• For meetings outside the city centre, outside the city or abroad, the customer will be responsible for all expenses of the interpreters such as travel, airport transfers, bed and board, visas and taxes.
• For meetings abroad the customer must arrange for visa applications bearing in mind that they must allow the interpreters reasonable timescales. Universal will not accept responsibility for any delays within consulates.
• All interpreters employed for the same job by the same customer are entitled to the same fees.
• If travel to the customer’s event exceeds 4 hours or is outside scheduled meeting days but within the usual working time, each day of travelling will be charged at half the normal daily rate and added to the invoice.
• The simultaneous interpreters will be paid fully, in cash, by the customer upon completion of the interpretation task.
• If there are Value Added Tax exemptions to be claimed, then any exemption documents must be presented in advance.