How does conference interpretation with AI work?
The speaker talks into the lectern or headset microphone as usual. The mixing desk passes the sound to a laptop running the PONTAVOX studio, clean and without room echo. There each language gets its own output, a line signal that goes to its own channel on the system. Guests choose their language on the receiver and listen on headphones.
With fluent speech the interpretation runs four to five seconds behind the original; with hesitant speech and on panels, five to six. PONTAVOX starts before the end of a sentence and waits when a speaker pauses. Each language speaks with one fixed voice, female or male, from the first sentence to the last. You can hear it in the samples on the home page.
When someone on stage speaks a channel’s language, that channel goes quiet and guests hear the room. Anyone on the English channel therefore hears an English talk in the original.
Several languages at once, one channel per language
There are 38 target languages to choose from. How many run at the same time depends on the system. Each language needs its own output and its own channel; there is no fixed upper limit. At the Eventforum Bern it is up to four languages, with four transmitters and 120 receivers.
German, French, English and Italian have been measured on real speeches. For the other languages we run a trial before the event. On stage, people speak English or standard German. The full list is under Languages.
Because each language is a separate line signal, it can go to any system. The connections are described in detail under Equipment and connection.
- Radio transmitterOne transmitter per language; guests choose the channel on the receiver.
- Infrared radiatorFor halls with an infrared system, one channel per language.
- Amplifier and loudspeakersFor example a side room where one language plays over loudspeakers.
- Interpreter consoleEach language can go to an existing interpreter console.
- LivestreamOne language can also feed the audio of a livestream.
Glossary and documents for your technical terms
A specialist conference depends on its technical terms, names and abbreviations. The programme, speaker list, names, abbreviations and technical terms go into the glossary in advance. You can also hand over slides, manuscripts or abstracts beforehand.
- Programme and speakersRunning order, titles of talks, names and roles of the speakers.
- Technical termsTerms, product names, laws and standards, as they will be said in the hall.
- AbbreviationsThe acronyms everyone in your sector knows but no dictionary contains.
- Slides and manuscriptsFor each talk, where available.
Panels and questions from the audience
A panel works if everyone has their own microphone and speaks one at a time. The interpretation then runs five to six seconds behind. It helps if the moderator hands over clearly.
Questions from the audience go through a floor microphone connected to the mixing desk, in English or standard German. Anything called out in the hall without a microphone does not reach PONTAVOX.
For debates with interruptions, for negotiations and for Swiss German on stage, interpreters are the better choice.
A full day: breaks, failover and post-event report
A conference often runs from morning to evening. Guests keep their receiver through the breaks and stay on the same channel. At long events PONTAVOX renews its connections during a pause in speech, with no gap in the sound.
If a language goes quiet while someone is speaking on stage, PONTAVOX rebuilds it and catches up on what was missed. If that fails, a second path per language takes over. After a crash, PONTAVOX restarts. In the studio the technician sees every language with its output, level and distance to the speech. More than 250 automated checks run before every new version.
After the event you can have a post-event report with the figures for each language. The whole process, from preparation to report, is described under How it works.
Corporate events and multilingual staff meetings
At a staff meeting, town hall or corporate event, teams from several language regions often sit in the same hall. Management speaks English or standard German, and each team follows on its own channel. Nobody has to install an app or bring a company phone.
For confidential content and negotiations, interpreters are the better choice. PONTAVOX is not meant for classified content. During the event the speech is sent encrypted to a specialised speech service that listens, translates and speaks. Which service it is, where it operates and what it keeps for how long is set out in our data protection sheet, on request even before the quote.
At the Eventforum Bern or under licence at your conference centre
At the Eventforum Bern you book the hall, equipment, technician and interpretation from one source, with a quote within 12 hours. In Bern, PONTAVOX is only available at the Eventforum, where you can enquire about your conference.
Elsewhere we license PONTAVOX for the duration of the event. Operation on site is handled by the conference centre, the AV company or you with your own equipment. We do not travel with equipment and a technician. Terms, set-up and support are agreed in a conversation. What your AV company needs to know is explained under PONTAVOX for AV companies.