In a conversation with Ewandro Magalhães, chief language officer at KUDO, we learned how the new KUDO Marketplace enables service users to build a stronger relationship with its live interpreters. “This is going to change the whole discussion about quality,” he said. “Because if you ask an interpreter what quality is, they will say it’s all about linguistic quality. If you ask a client, they will say it’s being on time and doing a good job. This means it’s going to democratize the process and the market is going to self-regulate.”
How it works
KUDO is a video collaboration platform with built-in language support offering remote simultaneous interpretation. KUDO Marketplace is the first of three steps to roll out a mutual review-based environment where users can customize their interpreter teams while interpreters have more influence on the work they choose. By using a button to book interpreters, the marketplace will staff any multilingual meeting from its roster of interpreters, based upon who is available, their expertise, and language pairs. This automates the process, bypassing emails, calls, and conversations. In milliseconds, interpreters are paired up with a client. Over time, clients will be able to select the interpreters they liked or who served them before, creating a closer collaboration that will inevitably result in greater confidence going into meetings.
Rock star interpreters
When asked if interpreters could have any influence on their rating, for example by broadcasting the hardware they use, Magalhães said, “Eventually there will be a rating system — a star system based on series of assessments made by the clients. In the same way, the users are going to be rated by the interpreters as well. It’s a two-way street.”
How does the marketplace determine who gets access to that rock star interpreter? “If the demand is there there will be enough work for everyone,” said Magalhães. “The idea is to offer vetted interpreters you can rely on and empower interpreters around the world. You’ll get quality, no matter what. The same rates and same compensations are applied no matter the interpreter status or where they are based.” Currently, there are about 150 vetted KUDO Pro interpreters out of a network of 10,000, and the number is being expanded carefully.
The next steps are still in the developing phase, but the vision is clear: KUDO is creating an environment where clients and partners have access to a huge database of interpreters and may conduct searches themselves. They can decide to hire through KUDO Marketplace or hire separately.
The live demo this morning at 11:00 am EST was attended by more than 300 people. The Marketplace itself will be available to users on February 1, 2021.
