STANDARDS

AND PROTOCOLS
OPI ASSESSMENT

Many times, as Over the Phone Interpreters, we can encounter a number of different
complex situations. This is why we have put together the most common situations
you may face during your interpreting sessions and also, instructions on how to
manage these situations.

These standards and protocols may vary depending on the client.

Situation What you should do

Didn't hear The Customer or Need for

repetition/clarification/verification TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, I
apologize but I wasn't able to hear what you
- The interpreter should try to shortly justify the
said, could you repeat that for me, please?"
reason for the repetition. Especially, if the
"Thank you."
reason is background noise/speakerphone that
doesn't allow for proper audio.

TO CLIENT: This is your interpreter, I wasn't

able to understand what your
customer/patient said. Can I ask them to
repeat, please?" or “The interpreter needs a
moment to request
Didn't hear The LEP or Need for repetition/clarification/verification from your
client.”
repetition/clarification/verification

TO LEP: “Disculpe, puede repetir, por favor?

No le pude escuchar/entender muy bien.”

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, could

you please clarify the meaning of ____ so I
Don't understand the meaning of a can interpret correctly to your
customer/patient."
word or text
- First we need to inform the client and then
ask the LEP. TO LEP: “Disculpe está usando un término
que no conozco bien. Me puede explicar que
es ___ para usted, por favor?”
 Situation What you should do

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, would

Customer using long sentences you mind speaking in short sentences/
segments for accuracy purposes, please?"

TO LEP: "Ma'am/Sir, this is your interpreter,

LEP using long sentences please use short phrases" "Please, give me a
moment" (begins interpreting right away).

IT Problems
- We should do this once and if it is still really TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, it seems
impossible to interpret accurately we should there are problems with the system, I
inform the client again and ask them to either apologize for the inconvenience. Please,
call back and request another interpreter or, if allow me to continue to assist you?"
our system allows it, transfer them to customer
service in order to get another interpreter.

TO CLIENT: This is your interpreter, there

seems to be large amounts of background
noise where your caller is located. Can I ask
Background Noise him/her to go to a quieter place or speak up,
please?"
- Usually comes from the side of the LEP and it
might be pets, babies crying, radio and/or TV
noises, sounds of cars on the road, a
TO LEP: “Disculpe, hay bastante ruido de
construction site, etc.
fondo de su lado, podría ir a un lugar más
tranquilo o hablar más fuerte para
entendernos todos, por favor?”

TO LEP: "Ma'am/Sir, I will be your interpreter

for today. How can I help you?" or
“Ma’am/Sir, can you hear me? Are you still on
You're left on the line with The the line?”

Customer If no reply:
(Repeat 3 times with 10 second intervals)
TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, it seems
your client/patient has disconnected from
the call. How would you like me to proceed?"
 Situation What you should do

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter.

Ma'am/Sir/Name of agent, are you on the
line?"

If no reply:

TO LINE: "This is the interpreter,

unfortunately we cannot hear you on the
You're left on the line with The LEP line. I will disconnect the call and advise your
(Repeat 3 times with 10 second intervals) client/patient to call back."

TO LEP: "Ma'am/Sir, it seems that the agent

has disconnected. I don’t know why.
Unfortunately I cannot assist you since I’m
only the interpreter. We ask you to please
call back and request another interpreter,
please."

LEP Person begins speaking in English

or CLIENT begins speaking in Spanish
and the Interpreter is left out of the
conversation TO CLIENT: "This is the interpreter, it seems
your customer and you are communicating
The client might ask you to stay just in case well on your own. Would you like me to
they need you at some point or they might ask stand by or disconnect or HOW WOULD YOU
you to disconnect. If it is the former, the LIKE ME TO PROCEED?”
interpreter should be attentive to whatever the
parties may need, even when not interpreting
actively.

The interpreter should hold for a maximum of

10 minutes. After ten minutes the interpreter
Interpreter is placed on hold will say TO THE LINE THAT’S BEING RECORDED:
We only wait more than 10 minutes upon clear
request by the client. We can tell the client
TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter.
about this hold policy and inform them that
Ma'am/Sir/Name of agent, are you on the
they have to tell us how long they need us to
line?"
wait if it’s more than 10 minutes. If the client
requests a specific amount of time (20 min.; 1hr;
etc.) we should wait for that long and then
proceed with the protocol explained above. If TO LEP: “Este es su intérprete,
there’s no request, the original 10 minutes are desafortunadamente no puedo mantenerme
respected. Politely avoid engaging in side- en espera por más tiempo. Cuando vuelva (el
conversation with the LEP Person agente; doctor; enfermera; etc.) solicite otro
intérprete por favor”
 Situation What you should do

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter,

unfortunately I can only provide you with my
name and ID number for privacy purposes.
You're left on the line with The LEP I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
We cannot, under any circumstances, share any
information with the parties other than our first If necessary:
name and our ID number. This means we TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, your
cannot share where we are located, what client/patient is requesting personal
company we’re working for or what client, how information from me. Unfortunately I can
old we are, our last names, our email addresses, only share with them my name and ID for
etc. privacy purposes. Would you mind if I tell
them this? Or, How would you like me to
proceed?"

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, it

seems your client/patient needs (LEP
Person's Language) and not Spanish.”
LEP requested another language than
Spanish If you cannot transfer to customer service:
Sometimes there are mistakes and/or
confusions and when we are done greeting the TO CLIENT: "Unfortunately, you would
LEP we realize they don’t speak Spanish but have to call us back and request a/an (LEP
another language. Let’s also remember that we Person's Language) interpreter."
are ENG-SPA and SPA-ENG interpreters only.
This means we cannot interpret in any other
If you can transfer to customer service:
language, even if we know it perfectly.

TO CLIENT: “Give me a moment to transfer

you to customer service and request a/an
(LEP Person's Language) interpreter.”

If you hear foul language or profanities from

the LEP:

TO CLIENT: “This is your interpreter, your

customer is using foul language/
profanities. Would you like me to interpret
or omit them? Or How would you like me
Foul language or Profanities to proceed?”

Then the interpreter should proceed however

the client requests them to (interpreting the
foul language, or omitting it, or asking the LEP
stop using it or they will disconnect the line,
etc.).
 Situation What you should do

If the client is the one using foul language or

profanities*:

TO CLIENT: “This is your interpreter, would

you like me to state everything you just
mentioned?”

Foul language or Profanities *This usually doesn’t happen since the clients
usually have their own company rules but if it
were to happen, the call can be reported to
your Quality and/or Supervision Team in order
to inform our client of this incident. Anyhow,
this case is more common from the LEP than
from the CLIENT.

TO CLIENT: "This is your interpreter, there's

Natural Disasters / Emergencies an emergency where I'm located for which
This includes: fires, floods, hurricanes, I have to disconnect from the call. We
earthquakes, or emergencies to vomit or go to apologize for the inconvenience and ask
the toilet due to incontinence or others alike. you to please call back and request
another interpreter. Thank you.
Standards of Practice:

- Proper language:

Always use formal spanish to address the LEP person: “Usted, Señor/Caballero,
Señora/Dama”. Always use formal english: “Ma’am, Sir, May I, etc.”

- First Person & Usted:

We should always speak in first person when interpreting from spanish to english
and we should always use “USTED” when interpreting from english to spanish. Let’s
avoid using “he said/she said, wants, likes, needs, etc.” and let’s also avoid what in
spanish is called “tuteo”.

- Proficiency:

The interpreter must speak clearly and use a warm and friendly tone of voice when
speaking on his/her own behalf. The interpreter should also vocalize properly when
interpreting in order to be properly understood by all the parties. When interpreting,
the tone and register of both the LEP and the client is matched* by the interpreter.
We should express what both parties are trying to convey to each other.
*If either party is yelling or mad, try to use a neutral tone of voice.

- Personal Opinion & Impartiality:

Our personal opinion cannot be provided. We should not tell the client or the LEP
what to do, offer advice and/or make suggestions or speak on behalf of either the
customer or the LEP. Also, we shouldn’t bring our personal experience or expertise
(unrelated to the task of interpreting) into the conversation.

- Verbatim & Accuracy:

Everything must be interpreted exactly as it was originally stated at all times. Do not
omit information even if it seems not important or irrelevant. We should avoid
Omitting, Adding, Paraphrasing and/or Modifying messages.

- Note Taking:

We need to develop our note taking technique by using symbols and abbreviations
in order to be able to get messages across completely and accurately. EXAMPLE.: C 2
$ Elec B. means “calling to pay electric bill”