Overview
This manual provides a high level overview of the translation center, while more detailed information is provided in other dedicated manuals:
On the translation center
Since 2011 Translators without Borders has used the translation center provided and powered by ProZ.com to deliver of almost 25 million words translated by volunteers for over a hundred humanitarian NGOs in over a hundred language pairs, managed by a single PM assisted by some volunteers.
Now ProZ.com to corporate members can have access to a commercial version of this translator center, providing full control of its operation, and displaying their own logos and company names.
This translation center is not a comprehensive TMS system, but a tool that enables companies to efficiently route work to translators with whom they already have a relationship. It has a nice interface and good communications features and it integrates with ProZ.com profiles.
This platform can save time and hassle for companies that are doing a lot of emailing back and forth with clients and translators. It can even better for translation companies that puts clients and translators into direct contact and communication.
Functional overview
The translation company using the translation center will manage:
- The clients, on whose behalf the translation work is posted
- The trusted translators who will be invited to participate in the projects
- The work posted through the translation center
- The assignment of special roles to profile owners in the translation center
- A wealth of management tools described in these manuals
The work through the translation center has a structure of work order → job → task, where
- A work order (W.O.) is what the client posts as a general framework, including source and reference files, deadline, field of expertise required, notes and special instructions, etc.
- A job is the application of a work order to a defined target language. A W.O. can include several jobs, from a common source language into different target languages.
- A task is an individual file offered to the volunteers for translation. A job can include several tasks, both independently added by the client and as the result of the splitting by the PM of larger source files.
Basic workflow
This is the basic workflow when a translation job is posted in the translation center:
- A project manager from the translation company will post a work order with at least one job. Reference files such as glossaries, translation memories or style guides can be added as reference to a job, or to all jobs of a given client.
- Release of notifications to translators is automatically for smaller jobs, but they need to be manually released if at least a source file is larger than 3K words, or if source files total more than 10K words.
- When a job is released, the translators who meet the corresponding requirements are automatically sorted in random order, and then notifications are sent out at 15-minute intervals in batches of 5 notifications.
- These notifications invite translators to a job posting page, where they can evaluate the tasks offered and eventually accept one or more of them. The first notified translator who accepts a task will receive the assignment.
- Once all tasks have been accepted, a job is no longer available to other interested translators.
- In a job page the translators with tasks assigned, the PM and the client will be able to communicate and to exchange files. All information stored in a single page, no need to send emails or keep track of files.
- Translators will upload their translations to the same job page. Once all tasks in a job have been delivered, the job is complete and deliverables can be downloaded by the client or by a PM acting on their behalf.
Understanding roles, assignments and accounts
A complete workspace account you need is defined by:
- An Account involves the information identifying the user. In order to access the workspace every user requires an account.
- An Assignment defines the connection between an account and a work item in this workspace. Work items can be jobs, orders and even clients.
- The Role defines the specific privileges allowed to the account for the specified assignment.
An assignment and role can be created without an account. When created all that is needed is the recipient email address for the invitation to be sent to. The recipient will have the opportunity to accept or decline the invitation. If accepted the invitee can either link the new assignment with an existing account or create a new one.
The dashboard
The dashboard is the landing page for the translation center, including:
- The messages exchanged in all jobs and work orders, or send to translators.
- Messages are paged, and sorted chronologically, last message shown on top.
- Jobs found still sourcing after 48 hours (not yet accepted by your translators)
- Statistics showing the number of jobs in every status.
- By clicking on one line, you will be presented with all the jobs with the corresponding status.
