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Until recent months, the administrative district of Schwarzwald-Baar had to take in up to 6,000 refugees from numerous countries as a result of the refugee crisis. Every day, more refugees arrived in our central emergency room at the Schwarzwald-Baar clinic. Communication with them was virtually impossible because the clinic’s pool of interpreters did not provide enough people with the relevant language skills. A detailed account of patients’ medical histories, key to a correct diagnosis and vital for all medical care, was more or less beyond reach. Video interpreting services allowed us to bridge this gap and both doctors and patients are very impressed with this kind of communication. Today, all our clinic departments use the tool for doctors’ rounds and for informed patient’s consent. It has become irreplaceable in our daily work.

We have seen great improvements in our work with patients: we can now give complex medical information to people in most languages, quickly and professionally. We find the SAVD tool easy to use, quick and reliable. It came highly recommended and still exceeded our expectations. We especially like the video interpreters themselves who lend a friendly human face to the technology. This is especially important for us when dealing with children and young people.

A tremendous help in communicating with patients from a migrant background. Professional, quick, safe, and easy to use. Costs and benefits are perfect. Our employees and patients are delighted with the service.

The video interpreting project combines two great advantages. First, people can make themselves understood better when they come to our office. This breaks down barriers and improves communication with citizens. Second, the service brings many advantages for the Salzburg city administration employees because it means that procedures are sped up and it is easier for the employees to talk with people – especially when dealing with sensitive issues. Video interpreting services provide equal access to our services for all of Salzburg’s residents wherever possible.

At department 11 of the Vienna city administration, video interpreting is particularly helpful during first encounters with families, children and young people. We first used video interpreters when communicating with unaccompanied minor refugees. Thanks to the service, we can explain to them where they are and what the next steps will be. And they can also talk to us via the video interpreter and tell us about their concerns. Children and young people around here are all aware of the possibility to use video interpreting, and whenever they need something or want to tell us something, we use the service.

In our daily work in the outpatient department for pre-anaesthetic preparation, we need to obtain informed consent from patients of various origins. Being able to thoroughly discuss the patient’s medical history and any risks is essential for both patients’ and doctors’ decisions. Via the video interpreting service, we now have a qualified and certified interpreter at hand in no time, facilitating communication in the relevant language. Waiting times for patients have reduced significantly, less organisation is needed and costs are lower, and we can be sure that the patient has had all the important information translated correctly into their language, enabling them to make an informed decision.

The medical team at the Wien-Josefstadt detention facility was one of the first users of the video interpreting tool within a pilot project. The quality of the service benefits the whole team. Getting translation into the relevant language in almost no time at all means that we have no more issues when examining patients. It also led to a significant acceleration of our workflow because we do not need to hire external interpreters the way we used to, which was disadvantageous both in terms of time and costs. The service allows us to have a standardised process for patient’s medical histories and barrier free medical consultation for our patients. Today we use video interpreting for outpatients and inpatients. With more than 60 different ethnicities at our facility, it has become an irreplaceable resource.

At the federal employment service, our employees rely on over-the-phone interpreters when communicating with non-German speaking clients. Interpreters are generally available within minutes, and new offices can be given access to the service quickly and easily.

The video interpreting service is very important for us because it means we can address refugees’ questions and needs in a flexible way. In the past, we had to book interpreters to come to our appointments, which was extremely time-consuming.

In the neunerhaus health centre, we have patients from 69 countries, speaking 45 different languages. If there is a language barrier, even the best consultation and treatment is useless. Video interpreting solves this problem in a professional and effective way.

Since autumn 2014, the Vienna Aids association has been very successfully using the SAVD video service as a portable interpreting solution. Our advisors and counsellors can access a qualified interpreter at the push of a button, helping to overcome language barriers. This service enables us to help people flexibly and immediately, even when we don’t share a common language, and facilitates intercultural communication between clients and employees.

The ability to communicate is the basis of any social work. When we don’t share a common language, we cannot talk and understand each other nor develop a relationship between client and advisor. And sometimes we need to act fast. We are therefore very happy that it is now possible to access professional interpreters so quickly and easily. The ready availability of interpreters means that the video tool is useful for emergencies within the women’s refuge, and also for clarifying the situation in the event of an emergency call. It has made our multilingual working day a little easier.