Documents and Business Translation Services

By: Armando Riquier

"Quick and accurate document translation in over 50 languages!" screams the home page of a business translation service website that you've found after 20 minutes of Googling on the Internet. If they can offer business translation services in 50 different languages, they must be expert indeed, you think, and decide to go ahead and hire them to get your business translation job over with. It's quite possible that you may be right, and that the site in question does have a good team that can produce the results you're looking for. But it's important to delve a little deeper into what the translation service provider actually means, and how well he can deliver on the promise.

You're running a successful business, so you fully understand the importance of effective communication. There are both legal and business implications when you communicate via a written document, and you must therefore get the services of a business translation team that understands this as well as you do, and offers expertise both in business and legal concepts and in the actual translation process.

Document translations encompass many different areas, from scientific papers and patents to birth and death certificates, wills, adoption papers, university transcripts, contracts, guarantees and so on. The list can be endless.

What to look for?

Ideally, your translation service provider must have a qualified team comprising of corporate translators, copywriters, legal experts, DeskTop Publishing (DTP) professionals and graphic designers to make sure that your document or communique is correctly adapted to suit your international audience. Subject area expertise in areas like marketing, healthcare, corporate and business communication, legal documentation, government and regulatory requirements, could be of vital importance to your business needs, especially if you are going to be engaging them on an ongoing basis.

What you want, in a nutshell, is simply the best talent and services: the highest quality business translations, a reasonably quick turnaround, competitive rates, and if possible, an interactive arrangement. The complete and accurate translation of your company's communications is vital to success, and you must accordingly select a provider who is as committed as you are, perhaps even more so, to pressing into service the best of dedicated translators with relevant industry exposure, on the job. A reliable business translation service partner will be able to place at your disposal a team of translators, editors, proofreaders, desktop publishers, and localization engineers who will provide expert services dedicated to high quality coefficients and fast project turnaround, ongoing support and commitment to delivering on the promise, at a competitive price.

Documents & File types that can be translated

The documents you submit to your provider of corporate translation services may be in any of the following formats:
.doc (Microsoft Word)
.rtf (Rich text format)
.txt (Notepad)
.pdf (Portable Document Format from Adobe) - adaptable to different systems without changing the layout of text and graphics.
.htm/.html (hypertext markup language for web based publishing)

Some business translation service providers incorporate a two-step process, where a second translator is engaged in reviewing and editing the document for its completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness. This will ensure a high level of accuracy and quality in the final document. Further refinement is also possible, and some service providers undertake "back translation' where a third translator translates the document back into the source language, to make it a fool-proof system. The final product would in all likelihood be immaculate, and meet the highest possible standards of business translation quality.

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