While there are numerous companies out there offering translation and interpretation services just how can you be sure that your picking one that's any good?

At Swiftran, ensuring that we deliver a quality translation every time is essential. That's why we have a very strict recruitment procedure. Before we'll even look at a translators CV they must fulfill some basic criteria. Naturally they must be native speakers of the language they are translating into. On top of that we insist that they must be able to prove over two years translation experience, provide us with two recent referees (which we always check) and sit an online test. If they are applying for work in specialist fields (legal, medical etc) they must also provide evidence of their expertise and a further referee currently involved in that specific sector.

Only if they satisfy our criteria and pass our demanding translation tests will we consider adding them to our database.

When you've got a translation project that requires knowledge of a specialised and technical nature it's essential that you engage an expert in that field. At Swiftran our extensive network of translators means that we have direct access to professionals experienced in your specific industry sector.

Rather than farm out your job to a freelancer who provides a "best fit" in terms of technical expertise we insist on allocating technical translations exclusively to language professionals who have a documented background in that field. Only an individual who has hands-on experience of a specialised sector will be able to fully grasp the specific context in which their translation will be used. At Swiftran, our "no compromise" approach ensures that we will select the right people for your technical translation every time.

The Swiftran database includes experts in the following fields of technical translation; legal, medical, financial, IT, software, engineering, construction, marketing.

Swiftran interpreters and translators professionals who are bound not only by a professional code of ethics, but also by written company policies and procedures that prohibit them from divulging any information about an assignment. We do not record telephonic interpretation unless requested by customer.

As part of our company policy, interpreters are required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to each engagement. A copy of this can be requested be emailing us at info@swiftran.com

Our translation is urgent. How quickly can you deliver it?

More often than not we'll be able to deliver urgent translations within the necessary timescale. We may need to charge a premium for this if it involves interrupting our standard production schedule but if speed is your priority then we can almost always help.

Can we speak to an interpreter to check they're appropriate before engaging them?

Generally, yes. If you can give us an idea of your requirements we will happily set up a three way conference call between yourself, our selected translator and a member of our team. As this requires a bit of organisation and a time commitment from the potential translator we can only arrange this for commissions that are over £300 in value. Unfortunately we can't set this up for our pay-as-you-go telephone interpreting service although you will have an opportunity to speak to the interpreter before you are connected to the person you need to speak to.

With the majority of the world now accessing the internet in languages other than English getting your message across clearly to markets which you have identified as important to your company is essential. Potential customers/clients are more likely to buy your products or commission your services if you can communicate to them clearly in their own language. This goes without saying. But it's also worth remembering that even if your company has already begun trading successfully in a foreign market there are still numerous benefits to be had by localising your web presence.

For example, if your company currently has in-market agents selling your product to local consumers a few translated web pages will act as a very useful marketing tool allowing your representatives to showcase your product to a wider audience. Creating a country specific site also demonstrates your companies commitment to developing long lasting relationships with your foreign partners, something which is particularly important in markets where trust and commitment are held in particularly high regard like Japan or Korea.

Or perhaps your company offers a dynamic and constantly changing range of products and services that you want to make sure your foreign partners are kept up to date with. By localising you can upload new products to your site rapidly thus avoiding the expense and time involved in translating brochures, printing them and getting them out to market.

Whatever way you look at it localisation offers companies already trading abroad a significant return for quite often a minimal investment.

While your web design company may indeed have surpassed all of your expectations in creating a website aimed at an English language audience there are numerous reasons why your foreign sites should be handled by dedicated localisation experts.

Firstly, there are several technical issues which become relevant when creating foreign sites, particularly those which use an alternative script such as Cyrillic (Russian) or Kanji (Japanese). We won't bore you with the finer points of double byte characters and the like, suffice to say that there are programming issues your original web designer is unlikely to have encountered before and which they would most likely require specialist help with (probably from a company just like ours!)

Secondly there is the obvious issue of translation. Somebody other than your original web designers will need to translate your content. This company will need to liaise very closely with your web designers to make sure that all the funny looking words and the strange symbols all appear in the right place on your website. This is easier said than done. When your translation company deliver 20 pages of translated content who is going to direct your web designer as to where it all goes? And how much will that cost?

Most importantly however is the whole issue of after sales service. Let's assume your web design company has overcome the technical issues involved and delivered you a reasonable foreign language website. You start getting visits to the site and inevitably get some email enquiries. Will someone at your designers be able to translate the sales enquiry from Seoul or the invitation to visit a potential trade partner in Novosbrisk? Unlikely.

Similarly, if your company is committed to updating your website on a regular basis how inconvenient and costly is it likely to be to stick with the separate translator/separate web designer solution? To ensure dynamism within your site regular updates are essential. Engaging a company who can translate your new content and have it live on the site within a few hours as opposed to a few days is critical.

At Swiftran we can handle the translation the programming and crucially, the after sales back up that a good localised website requires. Using different companies to handle these three key elements will never be cost efficient and will lead to inevitable delays. We will speak directly and sensitively to your original web developer to ensure that we have all the required information to build your foreign language site and possibly even to integrate it with your original English language version.

The term "website localisation" really means developing your website so that it has the look and feel of a site designed in the target market. It's much more than just translation. As we've mentioned already, there are technical, cultural and practical issues which also need to be considered when developing a site for a foreign market.

The web operates differently in foreign market many of which have their own peculiarities. For example, while Google is the number one search engine of choice in most countries it runs a poor second to Yahoo in Japan. In Korea, if your ecommerce site can't accept the "JCB" credit card, very rare outside of Asia and the US, you'll be isolating 40% of the Korean credit card owning population. Specialist knowledge like this essential and we pour a lot of time and effort into research, keeping up to date with developments in the global internet community.

So whether you're selling lobsters to the Ukraine or management consulting to China we'll be able to tell you in an instant the best local search engines to be on, who your local competitors are likely to be and how to say please and thank you when you go out to market!

Building your foreign language website is just one of our services. Arguably, a more important feature of the Swiftran solution is our ongoing support.

Once your site has been built and is attracting hits it will inevitably attract communication in the shape of emails, or, if yours is an ecommerce site, sales which have been submitted in a foreign language. Clearly it is vital that you have a system for dealing with these quickly and accurately. Swiftran offers a range of solutions to foreign language email handling.

If accuracy and speed are critical we can have all correspondance routed directly to one of our language specialists for a two way translation that can often be completed within the hour. If however, your site is simple brochure ware and response time isn't as critical we can offer a daily or even weekly service which is cheaper and allows you to prioritise who you respond to first.

For ecommerce sites we have several automated systems which will allow you to process most sales completely independently. If however an order is placed with special requests, perhaps special wrapping if you're selling giftware or a a high floor if your selling hotel rooms, then these will get routed directly to us for translation. We can also handle after sales correspondance helping you increase customer confidence whilst also ensuring that site visitors get the best possible service. If a potential customer knows that there is native language support available they are far more likely to purchase from your site.

Keeping your site up to date and dynamic is vital and helps to maximise your return on investment. A static site will lead to a dwindling number of visitors so it's important to update the content on your site on a regular basis. We have several systems which will allow you to submit content directly to us for translation and uploading within 24 hours helping keep your site relevant and interesting to old and new visitors alike. The automated nature of these systems means that we can offer this service at a remarkably low price either as a stand alone service that you purchase as and when required or as part of a more comprehensive after sales package.