Services overview
A quick tour of the interpreter services Fluent supports and the options you can specify on a request.
At a glance
- Service types: In-person, video, and phone.
- Modes: Consecutive, simultaneous, and sight translation.
- Languages: Spoken and signed (including ASL).
- Request options: Certified interpreter, single or paired interpreters, and specialty.
Service types
Fluent supports the three service types you’d expect:
- In-person — the interpreter is physically present at the appointment location. Also called on-site interpreting.
- Video — the interpreter joins by video. Also called video remote interpreting (VRI).
- Phone — the interpreter joins by phone. Also called over-the-phone interpreting (OPI).
Every appointment in Fluent is one of these three service types.
Modes
Within each service type, Fluent supports the standard modes of interpreting used across the industry:
- Consecutive — the speaker pauses and the interpreter renders each segment in turn. The most common mode for medical, legal, and social service appointments.
- Simultaneous — the interpreter renders speech in real time as the speaker talks. Common in conferences, courtrooms, and large meetings, and often requires a pair of interpreters.
- Sight translation — the interpreter reads a written document aloud in the target language. Common when a patient or client needs to understand a form, consent, or letter on the spot.
Languages
Fluent supports both spoken languages (Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, and so on) and signed languages (such as ASL). Sign language appointments often have additional considerations — paired interpreters for longer assignments, certified Deaf interpreters in some cases — and Fluent’s request options accommodate them.
Request options
When creating an appointment, the requester can specify:
- Certified interpreter — require an interpreter with a specific certification (court-certified, medical-certified, etc.).
- Single or paired interpreters — request one interpreter or two. Pairs are common for simultaneous appointments and longer ASL assignments where interpreters need to switch off.
- Specialty — flag that the appointment requires expertise in a particular domain, such as medical, legal, mental health, or education.
These options help the agency or scheduler match the right interpreter to the assignment.
From request to reporting
Fluent ties the whole service lifecycle together in one platform:
- An organization or requester creates an appointment for the service they need.
- The agency or organization assigns an interpreter.
- The interpreter delivers the service and the appointment hours are captured in Fluent.
- Reports give you visibility into your service usage — appointments by language, modality, requester, interpreter, and more.
Coming soon: Automated billing. You’ll be able to apply rates against captured appointment hours to generate invoices and interpreter payroll summaries, with sync to QuickBooks.