Impact

The major benefit for the users is the increased availability to interpreter services. There is a shortage of sign language interpreters and you have to book them well in advance, something that demands detailed planning and reduces flexibility and spontaneity. With the Pocket Interpreter, for example, if you want to book an appointment at the dentist or if you meet a friend on the street you can talk to him or her via your 3G phone: you just make a video call to the service and the interpreter is present.

Since the new IP platform was launched in February 2006 the use of the service has grown rapidly. Each month the service now handle almost twice as many calls than the number of calls made in total for the previous year. The number of studios and resources needed has also increased, but not in the same way. This indicates a much more efficient use of interpreters.

Interpreters are located in different places in Sweden, what makes it possible to handle many calls without draining the resources locally.

During 2006 more than 43,000 calls were made. For 2007 this figure will probably exceed 100,000 calls. The number of users has grown rapidly, from a few hundred at the beginning of 2006 to approx 2,000 presently. For comparison, the number of deaf sign users in Sweden is approx. 10,000.

Innovation:
All calls to the service are handled in a call centre solution where the user automatically is forwarded to an available sign language interpreter. The interpreters sit in a studio with different locations in Sweden. During peak hours seven studios are active, but there are a total of 10 studios presently. To handle the expected increase of incoming calls, the number of studios will grow. The interpreters work for publicly held interpreter centres or privately owned interpreter companies.

The major benefits are the increased availability to an interpreter service and the efficient use of interpreters.

The service is unique in the world, and free of charge for the user.

Track record of sharing

The Pocket Interpreter has been introduced nationally and internationally on several occations. It was a finalist at the Guldlänken competition and has also won a price at the Mobilgala in Sweden.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - The service has made a huge impact for the user group and has made it possible for sign users and hearing people to communicate in an easy accessible way.

Lesson 2 - The use of interpreters are much more efficient.

Lesson 3 - The solution can easily be adopted for other call centre operations. Medical, customs and police institutions in Sweden have all shown interest in the technical and operational solution used in the service.