Video Remote Interpreting Services

The Vendor is required to provide Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) services to be performed for intake and investigative interviews, confidential mediations, educational webinars, public hearings, council meetings, and legal interviews/depositions to ensure that individuals with limited English proficiency have full access to agency meetings, interviews, hearings, trainings, depositions, and mediations in compliance with applicable laws.
- VRI services may be delivered by video remote technology.
- Qualified interpreters are needed for most of the proceedings, however, court-certified interpreters may occasionally be needed for legal proceedings, such as depositions.
- These interviews are, by default, conducted by telephone, often with the assistance of language interpreters if the complainant is limited English proficient (LEP) and prefers to converse in their primary language. If they are hard of hearing, Deaf, or have cognitive disabilities, they may require American Sign Language (ASL) video remote interpreters. We also provide VRI services in numerous languages as reasonable accommodation for other disabilities.
- These are the primary reasons we would need VRI interpreters. However, agency may need VRI for numerous other situations, including educational webinars, public hearings and council meetings. These interpreters must often be retained on short notice, and in both high and low frequency languages, from Spanish to Egyptian, Mongolian, Farsi, Korean, and Japanese
- VRI services will be delivered by video remote technology, including but not limited to Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Webex.
- VRI services may be substituted by telephonic interpretation upon mutual agreement.
- Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) services may be performed for intake and investigative interviews, confidential mediations, educational webinars, public hearings, council meetings, and legal interviews/depositions.
- The services shall be provided Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., excluding State observed holidays, unless otherwise agreed to.
- Shall ensure that all video remote interpretations are conducted with a quality audio signal to minimize any difficulty in understanding either party.
- Shall ensure assigned interpreters provide a clear connection without background noise (i.e., background noises not related to the telephone call) during video remote interpretation meetings.
- Must provide some form of technical support or an escalation channel to reach out to in the event that background noise or other technical concerns arise during an event.
- Provide interpretation services in the languages most common in state, including but not limited to, American Sign Language (ASL), Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Telugu, and Vietnamese at a minimum.
- Shall be able to provide interpreters for any additional languages as needed, including but not limited to Amharic, French, German, Hindi, Hmong, and Laotian.
- Shall ensure that all video remote interpretations are conducted with a quality audio signal to minimize any difficulty in understanding either party.