Thread by @DutchTerp

Since early September I have worked in different RSI settings. Some more polished than others. These RSI experiences may have changed my views on RSI compared to 👇 thread in March. Time for an update. #1nt #r1nt #rs1nt #remote #WFH

https://twitter.com/dutchterp/status/1238518713902673921

Let me first briefly share what types of RSI setups I have worked in. I’m sure many colleagues will be having different experiences. I’d love to hear them and read your views on how you see this evolve.

1/ Hybrid meeting at the @Europarl_EN : 1 interpreter per booth, some delegates in meeting room, others connected from home/office via @InteractioApp.

2/ #r1nt from a hub with Bosch consoles, 1 interpreter per booth + @InteractioApp. Meeting participants all remotely connected from home or the office.

3/ #r1nt through MS Teams (Source) + MS Teams (translation) with two laptops and two headsets. Could be done from home but client preferred having #terps in their office. Reassurance, I guess. Understandable. Participants in office next door and on the other side of the world.

4/ #r1nt from home through platforms @WeAreVoiceBoxer and QuaQua. Meeting participants all remotely connected from home or office. All #terps connected from home.

5/ #r1nt through Zoom: connected twice to same meeting with two different devices, once as terp and once as participant to listen to booth partner.

Some pro setups, others improvised. Some feel like the 2020 version of two cassette decks taped together to record a mixtape. (Yes, that was a thing in the 80s.)

Based on my experiences, I’d like to discuss tech & sound quality.

I’ll start with the tech.

The added stress of potential technical issues and the added layer for comms with my booth mate is tiring. I’m more easily distracted when I worry over the tech and I feel less satisfied with my #1nt work. And the #1nt is what I love. The #1nt is what my clients hire me for.

It leads to many questions. Is the quality I provide the same regardless of #r1nt or on site? It doesn’t always feel like that to me. Or is it just my perception? Should I accept providing different quality taking into account the current circumstances?

Is that acceptable for clients? Is it for me?
Job satisfaction has suffered. More with some jobs & setups than others. I can live with it now but wouldn’t want to keep doing it like this post-COVID.
To be fair: on site, job satisfaction differs from job to job too.

I was really reassured in the hub knowing I would not have to worry over my internet connection and other technical issues. I am not afraid of tech and I know my way around my devices but #1nt consumes a lot of my concentration and energy when I’m working.

The professional #r1nt platforms work reasonably well. Not as good as their marketing wants you to believe, though. Some are more intuitive than others. I find the lack of standardisation confusing but that is to be expected in such a young industry.

- On one platform with mic muted, the mute sign blocks the view of another button.
- On another you can accidentally cut off your booth partner’s mic.
- On some platforms you only get to see the slides and the speaker, not other meeting participants.

Major issue for me is not being colocated with my colleague. To fix that, you need another device which adds another layer. #1nt is teamwork and not being in the same room complicates that teamwork considerably.

Meeting organisers and/or platform providers should help participants prepare for the best possible experience. Not in the interest of the terps, but in the interest of the _meeting_! Just ‘recommending’ a certain browser is insufficient. Make it as easy as you can.

Make your platform compatible with as many OS and browsers as possible. If that’s not an option, add the link and instructions on how to download and install the required browser. Don’t assume everyone knows how to do that.

Sound quality

For on site #1nt I always use only one ear. Left or right. I switch from time to time. Now with #r1nt I notice how I sometimes need to use both my ears to listen to the source. It’s as if I don’t hear well enough or can’t concentrate enough on the source…

when I’m only listening with one ear. It’s not volume, though. My guess: the limited frequency range. Listening with both ears fixes it somewhat for me and still allows me to monitor myself. It’s much more exhausting, though.

#r1nt sound quality is a MAJOR issue. In all setups. There’s little technicians can do. One key factor is user’s hardware. Echo is very common because many users only realise the importance of a headset when they take the floor themselves.

I think ‘no #1nt unless the speaker uses a decent microphone and has video switched on’ should be a general rule. Same for ‘no #1nt when speaker connects from a car or train’. I find it disrespectful, to terps, but more importantly, to other meeting participants.

I won’t go into detail on platform algorithms and their effect on sound quality simply because I know too little about the subject. Wanna know more? Check out Cyril Flerov, Andrea Caniato and Christian Guiducci on @LinkedIn . Or Klaus Ziegler @aiiconline

When a lockdown was looming in March, I bought a Sennheiser SC165 headset with microphone on a boom arm. I wouldn’t do that again, but instead buy a good mic (e.g. @rodemics or @BlueMicrophones) bc having a mic so close to your mouth doesn’t help.

Plenty of other things to mention, such as market, new business practices & opportunities, terps joining forces to protect the sustainability of their job, terps diversifying, training next generation of #conf1nt for on site and #r1nt, etc. Might be a topic for another thread.