aice asociacion intérpretes de conferencia de España

Advice for sound equipment companies

Conference interpreters and sound technicians closely cooperate to achieve the same goal: to provide customers with a quality service.

 

In order to enhance such cooperation, AICE recommends that companies supplying the sound bear in mind the following advice regarding booths and specialised technical equipment. 

Before the event

The venue where the event is to be held should be visited beforehand to assess the room layout and possible position of the booths, when mobile booths will be used.

The booth is the interpreters’ place of work, so it must meet a series of requirements regarding dimensions, soundproofing, lighting, visibility and furniture.

• Dimensions
The booth must comply with the dimensions specified according to AENOR and ISO standards, allowing for sufficient room inside for the interpreters to work and move at ease.

If you need any additional information on technical requirements for the design and/or use of interpreting booths, the following ISO standards can be consulted:

• Soundproofing
The booth must be correctly soundproofed in order to avoid disturbing participants seated close to the booth as well as to spare the interpreters from other sounds that may distract them and impair their work.

• Lighting  
Bearing in mind that the interpreters must read documents and look up terminology as a part of their work during the sessions, each interpreter should be provided with a reading lamp.

• Visibility
The location of the booth must allow the interpreters a proper view of the stage/panel. In technical meetings this issue acquires an added relevance. Therefore, when deciding where to position the booth, ensure that the interpretes have a proper view of the room, of the speakers and the screen for audiovisual projections (A/V), avoiding pillars or other structures that may block the view.

• Furniture
The booth must contain a table/counter and chairs for the interpreters. 

The table must be wide enough to accommodate the interpreters’ laptop computers (with a power strip to plug them in), the necessary working documents as well as the individual interpreting consoles.

• Individual consoles
In order for the interpreters to perform their work, individual consoles (one for each interpreter) must be installed in the booth, equipped with the following:

  • Input volume control
  • Bass and treble control
  • Channels assigned to each working language
  • Pause button
  • Relay

 

• Sound receivers (headsets) for interpreters and participants
In order for participants at a multilingual meeting to be able to follow the simultaneous interpretation, they must have receivers with headsets that are compatible with the sound equipment.

The headphones used by the interpreters must be light (the kind used for TV/studio recording are not suitable) and the ear pads must be replaced often. Many interpreters use their own headphones, so the console should be fitted with different jacks and/or adaptors.

 

• Closed Circuit TV Cameras (CCTV)
Whenever the booth inevitably has to be set up outside the meeting room, it is essential to install CCTV cameras for the interpreters to be able to view the room from the booth.

 

The aforesaid cameras must focus on the speakers and/or projection screens.

 

The TV monitor for this purpose must not be placed inside the booth, but in front of it, also ensuring that its position is not an obstacle.

 

During the event

 

Before the beginning of the session, the technician must perform a sound test together with the interpreters in order to check the quality of the sound, fix any problems and verify the proper functioning of the receivers, interpreting consoles and room and wireless microphones.

Check with the interpreters that they have agreed to the translation being recorded

Throughout the sessions there may be sound-related incidents.

It is recommended that a sound technician should monitor the sound input to the booth at all times in order to immediately detect any distortion or interference, as well as the sound output in order to immediately correct the situation if the interpreter is using the wrong channel or has unknowingly switched the microphone off.

• Room microphones
The technician must make sure that no two microphones in the room are on at the same time, switching off those that are not being used to avoid duplicating the sound input for the interpreters.

 

• Speaker transmitter
Whenever a speaker is to use a lapel microphone, the technician must make sure that the transmitter is switched on, that it is operational and that it is properly placed on the speaker.

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