The future is now: Real-time translation has arrived on Skype

The future is now: Real-time translation has arrived on Skype

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Without a doubt, the world is shrinking. Today’s global business climate involves more deals with overseas clients. More conversations with people in other languages are taking place. And, more partnerships across borders are forming.

Conducting business across international time zones is often tedious, though usually beneficial. When you arrange a meeting, you must also arrange to have a translator present. That is, until now.

Introducing Skype Translator

Microsoft recently unveiled a project meant to make international business easier: Skype Translator.

It works by offering a real-time voice translation of voice conversations. According to Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, the technology changes the way people communicate across the globe.

Microsoft revealed the revolutionary technology at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2014. Here, Mr. Nadella gave a glimpse into the new technology. He showed a demonstration of a German speaker and an English speaker conversing with one another. The demonstrator said a sentence in English. Then, an automated voice translated the sentence into German. The German demonstrator responded and the automated voice translated the sentence into English.

According to attendees, the demonstration was far from perfect. The grammatical errors were easy to spot in the translated text. Some conference attendees said that the German translation was not great. In spite of the small grammatical errors, English and German speakers said they could understand the context of the translation.

How Skype Translator will impact global communications

With over 300 million monthly active users on Skype, the company knows professionals use the platform for global communication. With the addition of real-time translation technology, the company hopes to aid in the following areas.

  •  Improve in-country business deals. Having a real-time translation system can improve in-country business deals where there are multiple national languages. For example, Canada has both French and English speakers. A quick translation from French to English and vice versa enables business to move forward faster.
  • Speed the global business process. Similarly, real-time translation can also help with global business deals. Skype Translator is perfect for meetings where perfect grammar is not a necessity. It enables professionals to meet and move forward with projects faster.
  • Humanize international business transactions. With many global business deals pursued using live translators or using written documents, the human connection is often lost. Skype Translator could change that. By having the ability to see, hear and converse with the other person “face-to-face,” business transactions will see a human element added. This could boost sales and encourage more global transactions.

Potential risks of Skype Translator

As beneficial as this technology is, there are still certain risks involved. Like with many translations, there are certain aspects of translation that a machine cannot always do perfectly.

  • People could misinterpret non-verbal cultural cues. People meeting using Skype Translator can see each other on the screen. This leaves the door open for non-verbal cues to enter into the conversation without either party realizing it. This can alter the communication in numerous ways, making it more difficult to convey a thought, idea or concept.
  • Poor translation can delay communications more than it can help. The demonstration of Skype Translator was not perfect. The grammar errors were obvious, leaving many to wonder what would happen if the translation system completely misconstrued a sentence or idea. If a real-time human translator was brought in, business could potentially move forward faster. This is likely a rare occurrence but is one to keep in mind.

Now that Microsoft revealed the technology and it is close to going live, many analysts expect other large tech giants to enter the real-time translation market. Companies to keep a close eye on include Google and Apple.

Although it is still in its infancy (and slightly awkward to listen to) real-time translation has a clear spot in the global business world. We look forward to seeing where this exciting technology goes.

Image: PhotoSpin