5 Essential Tips When Selecting A Translations Agency

There are many translation agencies out there offering translation services at different rates and prices. You, as the client, should be able to identify quickly and choose the best service for the best price while being aware of the following:

1. Price based on Quality

Many translation agencies when quoting the clients they will come up with very low rates but you should be aware and identify quickly if the quotation covers translation, editing, formatting, proofreading (with a separate linguist) and project management.
Also, you should be aware that many translation agencies use Machine Translation and that can only work well for documents which are for internal use in your company.

2. Insurance and Quality Certificates

When choosing the preferred translation service provider you should be aware and ensure that the translation agency holds Professional Indemnity Insurance of € 6.5 million. That is a minimum requirement in the Republic of Ireland.

Also, a Professional Translation Agency must hold ISO 9008 : 2001 and the EN 15306 : 2006, the Quality System for the translation industry, and follow the Quality Procedures based on their guidance.

3. Technology and Translation Memory

It is very important that your documents are translated correctly and the best agency to provide this service should use the latest translation technology standards and translate the documents into any format required.

Also, by translating continuously with the same agency you should be able to save money while Translation Memory is set up from the beginning. Essentially, Translation Memories can aid the localization process, dramatically improving both quality and efficiency. All of your previous translations can be stored for future re-use so that the same sentence never needs to be translated twice. This will generate huge cost savings for you!

4. Translation Systems

There are many translation companies still using outdated translation systems or simply do not use systems at all. The best placed translation agency should be in a position to give you online access to their translation system and you should be able to see the process of your translation from the very start to the delivery and invoice.

5. Experience and Clients References

Experience is very important while translating documents. As the client, you should be aware of the experience of the specific translator and proofreaders dealing with your document translation. Only specific experienced translators and proofreaders should be used for legal, medical and technical translation projects.

Client’s references (not just testimonials) will give you the feedback from the clients that have dealt previously with your preferred supplier and will give you a full and clear impression of the capability and quality of the agency.

Contact Word Perfect Translations  today if you have any further questions about hiring a translations agency.