Interpretation equipment: how PONTAVOX connects to any system

From microphone to receiver

The speaker talks into the lectern or headset microphone as usual. The mixing desk sends the sound through an output to a laptop running the PONTAVOX Studio, clean and without room echo. The Studio interprets the speech continuously and gives each chosen language its own output.

From that output, the language travels as a line-level signal to a channel on your system. Guests pick that channel on their 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. You can hear what that sounds like in the samples on the home page.

• MicrophoneAt the lectern or on a headset, as for any talk.
• Mixing deskSends the speech through an output to the laptop.
• PONTAVOX StudioInterprets into each chosen language, with one fixed voice per language, female or male.
• One output per languageEvery language is a separate line-level signal.
• Channel and receiverOne channel per language on your system. Guests listen on receivers with headphones.

Any interpretation equipment can be connected

Because every language has its own signal, you decide where each one goes. The destination can differ from one language to the next, depending on the room and the audience. PONTAVOX can feed the following systems.

• Radio transmitterOne transmitter per language, each on its own channel. Guests choose the channel on the receiver.
• Infrared radiatorsOn an infrared system each language takes one channel, and the radiators in the hall carry it to the receivers.
• Amplifier and loudspeakersFor example in a side room where everyone hears the same language. No receivers are needed there.
• Interpreter consoleOn a system with interpreter consoles, the signal for a language takes the channel that the booth for that language would otherwise use.
• Livestream audioThe signal for one language can also feed the sound of a livestream.

How the signal gets into your transmitter or console depends on the device. We work that out with you in a conversation.

Tour guide system, whisper system, booth: what the terms mean

Similar equipment goes by several names. Anyone who hires a system or has one in their hall will usually come across one of these terms. For PONTAVOX, one thing matters in every case: a channel for each language that the signal can go to.

• Interpretation equipmentEverything that carries interpreted languages to the audience. That means transmitters or radiators, receivers and headphones, often with booths and interpreter consoles as well. Also called simultaneous interpretation equipment or an interpreting system.
• Tour guide systemSmall radio transmitters with a microphone and light receivers with earphones or headphones, familiar from factory and museum tours. In a hall it works as a simple interpreting system.
• Whisper systemA tour guide system used for whispered interpreting. The interpreter speaks quietly into the transmitter’s microphone, and a small group listens on receivers.
• Interpretation boothA soundproofed room where interpreters speak into the microphone on their console. With PONTAVOX you do not need one.
• Translation headsetsIn a hall, these are receivers with headphones that play the channel the guest selects.

One channel per language: how many languages at once

Each language needs its own output and its own channel, so your equipment decides how many languages run at the same time. PONTAVOX sets no fixed limit. You can choose from 38 target languages. German, French, English and Italian have been measured on real speeches. For the others we run a trial first. The full list is on the Languages page.

On stage, the speech is in standard German or English. When someone on stage speaks a channel’s language, that channel goes quiet and guests hear the room. A talk in standard German for guests who want to listen in French, English and Italian therefore takes three channels. Anyone who understands German needs no receiver.

At the Eventforum Bern four transmitters and 120 receivers are ready. Up to four languages run there at once, with hall, equipment, technician and interpretation from one source.

Checklist: what needs to be in place

Outside the Eventforum Bern you license PONTAVOX for the duration of your event. Your venue, your AV company or you yourself run it on site with your own equipment. We do not travel with equipment and a technician. Terms, set-up and support are agreed in a conversation. The pages for venues and for AV companies describe how we work together.

• Mixing deskWith an output that sends the stage microphones to the laptop.
• Laptop with the PONTAVOX StudioWith one output for each language you offer.
• Internet connection for the laptopDuring the event the speech is sent encrypted to a specialised speech service. Guests need no network.
• One channel per languageRadio transmitter, infrared channel, amplifier or interpreter console, whatever your hall has.
• Receivers and headphonesFor every guest who wants to hear a language other than the one on stage.
• A technician at the deskFor the whole event. In the Studio they see each language with its output, level and distance to the speech.
• Glossary and documentsProgramme, speaker list, names, abbreviations and technical terms before the event, plus slides or a manuscript if you wish.
• Trial runListen once through the whole chain before the event, on every channel.

Trial run and operation

In the trial run, sound from the mixing desk passes through the whole chain to the receiver. The technician checks the output and level of each language in the Studio, and someone listens to every channel on a receiver. For languages other than German, French, English and Italian, we also run a trial of the language beforehand.

During the event PONTAVOX watches over every language. If a language goes quiet while someone is speaking on stage, PONTAVOX rebuilds it and catches up on the missed audio. If that fails, a second path takes over for that language. At long events PONTAVOX renews its connections during a pause in the speech, and it restarts after a crash. Each new version first passes more than 250 automated checks. The details are on the page How it works.

Interpretation equipment without a booth: what changes

With an interpreting team, two interpreters per language usually work in a booth. Their voice goes through the console to the channel for their language. With PONTAVOX the signal for each language comes from the laptop and goes to the same channel. The equipment with transmitters, receivers and headphones stays. The booth is no longer needed.

PONTAVOX costs a fraction of an interpreting team, with the equipment on top. The page Cost and comparison sets out the cost items of each option.

With Swiss German on stage, debates with interruptions, negotiations or confidential content, an interpreting team is the better choice. PONTAVOX is not meant for classified content.