Real-time Voice Translation with Skype

Skype is now offering real-time voice translation services for Skype calls.  Language Line Personal Interpreter offers SkypeOut customers near-instantaneous access to professional voice translation. Note: this is access to live interpreters, not machine translation! The cost is $2.99 per minute, which is relatively high, but with this type of service you are paying for the convenience first and foremost.

However, for academic users, issues like quality of service, effective liaison, good marketing (dare I say it...) of your institutional "brand" and preventing reputational risk will also be very important considerations when choosing a translation service. So perhaps try using the Skype service before you recommend it widely (according to TechCrunch, it works fine on PCs, but not on Macs). If you need non-urgent access to a translator, you may be able to save a considerable amount of money by getting a referral through an appropriate professional association. Try checking rates with the ATA in the USA, or the Institute of Translation and Interpreting in the UK.

For the top 30 languages offered, Skype claims "interpreter availability is 99+% with average connection times to reach a live interpreter of less than 45 seconds". If that's borne out by users' experience, well, that's pretty amazing. The top 30 list contains the main languages individuals could be expected to need for business or academic activities, ranging from the expected Spanish, Mandarin and Russian, to languages like Haitian Creole and Urdu; a total of 150 languages is available.