InterpretersworkatthemultilingualcallcenterfortheSCOsummit,locatedatQingdaoHi-techIndustrialDevelopmentZone.OnJune8,justonedaybeforethe18thMeetingoftheCouncilofHeadsofMemberStatesoftheShanghaiCooperationOrganization(SCO)commencedinQingdao,acoastalcityinChina’seasternShandongProvince,ZhangChen,avolunteerfromQingdaoUniversityofScienceandTechnology,demonstratedtoreportersatthesummit’smediacenterhowawhitemultilingualhandsetworks.
“ThisequipmentiscalledYeeBox,withwhichuserscantranslatetheirvoiceintosixlanguagesincludingEnglish,Russian,Mongolian,PersianandHindi,”shegrinned.“Alloneneedsistopressabutton,andthegadgetcanconnecttoamultilingualcallcenter,whereinterpreterstranslatereal-timewhattheusersaidintoanyofthesixlanguagesheorshechose.”
TheYeeBoxandthemultilingualcallcenterareprovidedbyGlobalToneCommunicationTechnologyCo.,Ltd.(GTCOM),theofficiallanguageservicesproviderfortheSCOQingdaosummit.
ThesummitgatheredguestsfromSCOmemberstatessuchasIndia,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Pakistan,Russia,Tajikistan,andUzbekistanandobservercountriesincludingAfghanistan,Belarus,IranandMongolia.Languageserviceswerevitalforthemtocrosslanguagebarriersandcommunicatebetterwitheachotherduringthesummit.
AccordingtoWangXiaodong,vicepresidentofGTCOM,morethan200setsofsuchequipmenthavebeendeployedatplaceslikerailwaystation,airport,customs,andvenuesfortheSCOsummit.“Ifnecessary,moreYeeBoxeswillbedeployedtoprovidereal-timeinterpretationservices,”headded.BesidestheYeeBox,theyalsoprovidedakindofAI-basedtranslationmachinethatcanautomaticallyprovideinterpretationservicesin35languages.
AtthemultilingualcallcenterfortheSCOsummitthatislocatedattheQingdaoHi-techIndustrialDevelopmentZone,dozensofinterpreterswerebusyansweringcallsthatpouredinviatheYeeBox.“Wehaveabout200interpretersworkingfortheSCOsummitatthecallcenter,”Wangsaid.“Someofthemareteachersfromcollegesanduniversities.Theyworkinthreeshiftsaroundtheclock.Currently,wehandlehundredsofcallsdaily,andthenumberisexpectedtorocketwhenthetwo-daysummitbegins.”
TheSCOQingdaosummit,whichranfromJune9to10,occurredatatimewhentheworldisinneedofconcertedactiontoaddresschallengesandthreatsrangingfromregionalconflictstothespreadofterrorism,frompopulismtounilateralism,andmustadvanceeconomicglobalizationandimproveglobalgovernancetobenefitall.Tothisend,manyrepresentativesattheeventvoicedtheirsupportforcloserpartnershipundertheSCOframework.Itwasinterpreters,whetheron-siteorremote,whohelpedmaketheirvoiceheardbymore.