How finance and insurance leaders can improve global collaboration

Are communication barriers hindering the success of your business? If so, you’re not alone. Many international finance corporations are in the same boat. These organisations face the challenge of crucial information being lost in translation, mainly due to the different linguistic backgrounds of their team members.

In fact, research by The Economist found that 90% of senior executives believe that improving cross-border communication can trigger a positive domino effect, potentially increasing revenue, profit, and market shares.

The report also reveals that nearly two-thirds of respondents believe they miss potential business opportunities in foreign markets due to language differences. These communication gaps lead not only to direct financial losses but also cause delays in critical business processes like mergers and acquisitions, creating strained inter-company relationships and additional indirect costs.

But, despite these challenges, most international meetings still default to English, a language spoken by only 17% of the global population — and often not fluently. If your meetings face similar language barriers, it might be time to consider live translation solutions. 

For a deeper understanding of how live translation can facilitate seamless collaboration for your organisation, continue reading this article. 

Live translation is changing how teams communicate in the finance industry 

Live translation solutions facilitate real-time communication across different languages while ensuring that the original message is accurately conveyed. These solutions can either be provided by professional interpreters or by advanced AI systems and they deliver translated content of the spoken word in text or spoken formats, with the right solution offering the ability to translate any language you want.  

This flexibility allows for seamless interaction in any language, making it possible to discuss both simple topics and complex financial concepts seamlessly and accurately. When discussing scalable, live translation solutions, we’re talking about the following options: 

• Live captions and subtitles
• Remote simultaneous interpretation (RSI) service
• Real-time AI speech translation

Depending on your requirements, you may need one solution or any combination of the three. We explore these options below.

Transformative technologies for global finance and insurance leaders

Live captions and subtitles 

Live captions and subtitles use automatic speech recognition technology to enhance accessibility and understanding during events. Live captions transcribe in real-time what speakers are saying, making content accessible to those with hearing loss or who are not native speakers but have some understanding of the language. 

Live subtitles, on the other hand, transcribe and translate speech into other languages in real time. Adding live captions and subtitles to your events or meetings can unlock the following benefits:

• Inclusivity and accessibility for all — More than 1.5 billion people worldwide are currently affected by hearing loss in at least one ear. Captions ensure people with hearing loss can fully participate and understand the content being presented.
• Information retention and engagement — Captions and subtitles help all attendees, including those with various learning styles or attention spans, stay focused and retain information more effectively. Over 100 empirical studies document that written speech accompanying a video improves comprehension, attention, and memory of the video content.
• Clarity in noisy environments — In settings where audio quality might be compromised due to background noise, captions and subtitles ensure the message being relayed is still conveyed clearly.
• Cost-effective translation — Live subtitles are an invaluable, cost-effective tool for bridging language gaps. At the same time, captions provide another way for non-native speakers to access and grasp what speakers are saying. 

Live captions and subtitles can enhance the effectiveness of your team's communication. For example, if you’re having a global quarterly earnings call, you have peace of mind knowing all participants leave with a clear understanding of the key points and any next steps they may need to take. Axians discovered these benefits first-hand. The information & communication technology company used AI-powered subtitles to increase engagement for their virtual event.

Remote simultaneous interpretation 

Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI) makes it easier to host large conferences, branch meetings, or webinars, by enabling real-time translation without the physical presence of interpreters. 

Utilising advanced software that works like an interpreting booth on the Cloud, interpreters can follow your meeting, listen, and interpret in real time from anywhere in the world. Their interpretation is then sent to your meeting and event attendees, who can listen directly from the meeting platform where your meeting is taking place or from their mobile phones or traditional radio receivers if they are attending in person.

Benefits of remote simultaneous interpreting for the finance and insurance sectors

• Cost-effectiveness — RSI significantly reduces the costs associated with traditional interpretation, such as travel, accommodation, and equipment rental. Organisations can save up to 75% in interpreter costs and an average saving of 50–60% on technology. 
• Enhanced accessibility — With RSI, organisations can reach a global audience without geographical constraints. This feature is crucial for multinational companies that operate in diverse language regions.
• Flexibility and scalability — Our RSI solution can support any language and be integrated into any event set-up, making it ideal for small, medium or large-scale international conferences and meetings.
• High-quality interpretation — Despite being remote, the quality of interpretation is not compromised. We work with language service providers who only work with highly qualified expert interpreters for the language combination and topic at hand. 

Additionally, thanks to RSI you can source interpreters from anywhere in the world, ensuring interpretation in any language, of any type of financial content, including meetings, market reports, and analyses in multiple languages, aiding real-time communication and swift decision-making. RSI then removes the constraint of finding interpreters in the location where your meeting is taking place and opens the door to a worldwide pool of talent and language combinations. This is vital in finance and insurance, where precision and clarity in communication are essential. 

We recognise the critical role of effective communication across different industries which is why we are committed to helping ensure smooth and barrier-free language interactions at every event.

In-person, online and anywhere in between

Over a decade, Interprefy has been pivotal in assisting thousands of businesses and organisations to overcome language barriers for all event and meeting types, including virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. 

For example, during the in-person World Congress of Accountants facilitated by MCI Australia, Interprefy showcased significant cost savings and accessibility improvements by providing remote interpretation services. This approach enabled attendees to access high-quality interpretation without the need for interpreters to be physically present. 

Interprefy is also trusted to provide professional remote simultaneous interpretation by clients like the White House. Our language solutions integrate with over 80+ platforms, such as Zoom, Teams, Webex, ON24, and more. Alongside seamless integration, our project management support helps ensure effective communication in any setting.

How Interprefy removed language barriers for 40 world leaders connecting online

On Earth Day 2021, US President Joe Biden hosted a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate with 40 world leaders. The summit discussed how they could come together and tackle the climate crisis and meet the demands of science. The challenge with this virtual event, as you can imagine, was to ensure effective communication and no misinterpretations despite it being a global audience.

Interprefy was selected for its expertise in remote simultaneous Interpreting. The solution needed to integrate seamlessly with Zoom to provide support to audiovisual and interpreting teams. In collaboration with Conference Systems (CSI), we:

• Established a secure infrastructure linking Zoom to our RSI platform
• Injected interpreting audio into Zoom and the broadcasting system
• Trained state departments and private interpreters on how to use efficiently use the technology 

Throughout the Summit, Interprefy and CSI ensured smooth multilingual communication, monitored channels, and maintained contact with interpreters. This led to a successful summit with everyone on the same page. 

The entire Interprefy team that worked on the event did an outstanding job. It was a difficult and ever-changing target, and despite all the challenges the interpretation was very successful. - shares a leading Technical Services Representative who commented on the project.

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AI speech translation 

Interprefy Avia helps our customers navigate the complexities of international business. This tool offers:

• Real-time AI speech translation in 80 languages
• Enhanced understanding through multilingual captions
• Enhanced accuracy with finance glossaries
• Compatibility with both in-person and over 80 popular online platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom
• Significant cost savings compared to professional interpreters Available 24/7
• Faster set-up and deployment as it doesn’t need to source or prepare interpreters.

With our AI speech translator, executives and teams can successfully present, host webinars, and share financial insights in a company-wide meeting at short notice and in a lower price range. Additionally, this is great to conduct training with your global talent. 

Remove language barriers with live translation solutions

Eliminate the challenges of linguistic divides with Interprefy’s live translation technologies. Each solution has been carefully designed to overcome the specific hurdles of language barriers. Our solutions also include full project management and remote support, meaning that we can take care of project management, sourcing and managing interpreters when required, and providing technical support and monitoring of your meeting and event. This enables our clients to conduct efficient meetings, events, webinars, and conferences. 

Don’t let miscommunication hinder any of your upcoming success.