In Person Telephonic and Video Remote Language Interpretation Services

The vendor is required to provide for overseeing all language access needs throughout the commonwealth, including interpreting and translation services.
- Provide language access to limited English proficient (LEP) court users, trial court employees, and other parties to trial court proceedings.
- In-person interpretation services:
• Responsible for coordinating all in-person foreign language interpretation and translation services for trial court (TRC) staff working directly with all the courts.
• Provide on-demand and scheduled in-person interpretation services predominantly for languages of lesser diffusion (LLD) (e.g. German, Pashto, Quichuan, Kinyarwanda, among many others) for court events, to mediate communication between court personnel and LEP individuals.
• The interpretation services provided must be done by qualified, trained professionals with experience and expertise in legal vocabulary, legal settings, and court decorum, and who agree to abide by both the code of ethics put forth by the association interpreters and translators and the trial court’s office of language access standards and procedures.
• Such service is requested in advance or for immediate need when, due to extraordinary circumstances, it cannot be provided by staff or per diem court interpreters.
• The focus is LLDS, but vendors are expected to be able to occasionally provide more frequently requested languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole, when due to extraordinary circumstances, the trial court’s staff and per diem court interpreters are not available.
• The services to be provided shall be rendered in the three interpreting modes (simultaneous, consecutive, and sight translation).
• In-person interpreters are required to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment start time. 
• This early arrival may be included in the total billable time for that session.
- Telephonic interpretation services:
• Provide on-demand and scheduled telephonic interpretation services predominantly for noncourt events to communicate with LEP individuals present at the physical or virtual clerk’s offices, court service centers, probation offices, or registers counters, posing questions or seeking assistance, or for short in-court proceedings and other court events when in-person interpretation is not feasible or possible, for the major languages (currently: Arabic, Cabo Verdean Creole, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese) and also languages of lesser diffusion (e.g. German, Pashto, Quechua, Kinyarwanda) served by the trial court, along with any other on-demand and scheduled languages requested. 
• The services to be provided shall be rendered in the consecutive mode.
• Telephone interpretation services may also be used at physical or virtual clerks’ and registers’ counters, court service centers, and probation offices when an emergency arises and no staff or per diem court interpreter is available.
• Must provide on-demand telephonic interpreter services during the court’s operating hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, for all languages offered by the contractor.
• Services must support a minimum of three (3) parties on a conference call.
- Required call data collection
• Date of the call
• Start time of the call
• Duration of the call (in minutes)
• Language interpreted
• Name of the TRC staff person who requested the service
• Name of the TRC client served
• Name of the interpreter who provided the service
• Location from which the TRC staff person placed the call
- Video remote interpretation services (VRI and RSI):
• Provide on-demand and scheduled video remote interpretation services, and must follow the national guidelines set forth by the national council for language access coordinators, as well as the trial court’s policies, for when, due to extraordinary circumstances, such service cannot be provided by staff or per diem court interpreters.
• The focus for such services is LLD, but vendors are expected to be able to occasionally provide more frequently requested languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole, when due to extraordinary circumstances, the trial court’s staff and per diem curt interpreters are not available.
• The services to be provided shall be rendered in the three interpreting modes (simultaneous, consecutive, and sight translation), depending on the court’s ability to use an RSI (remote simultaneous interpreting) function and/or platform, as well as the logistics in the specific courtroom.
• VRI services need to be available on-demand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year for all languages provided by the contractor. 
• Interpreters are required to have a reliable internet connection.
- Contract Period/Term: 6 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: July 21, 2025