Sometimes public sector organisation may need help in identifying the factors involved in procurement of high quality cost efficient language services.

There are various ways of sourcing language services. A number of aspects need to be considered to include the level of usage, demographics of the area, internal resources and services required.

Here are some questions an organisation should ask when choosing a Language provider in the Public Sector.

1. Which languages are covered?



2. How many years has the company been providing language services for?



3. How many projects have been completed in the community languages (minority, asylum and refugee) in the last twelve months covering both translation and interpreting?



4. The number of Public Sector clients in the last twelve months and how many of these accounts are still active?



5. The number of clients within the last twelve months in a particular sector, for example Health Sector?



6. Is the company an exclusive or authorised supplier with some of their key clients?



7. Is telephone interpreting available as well as face to face interpreting?



8. Can the translation service be provided for the same group of languages?



9. Will they strive to develop linguistic resources locally?



10. Is appropriate software available for provision of translations in an electronic format that supports the language font?



11. Is Multilingual Desktop publishing and website translation available?



12. Is training on ethnic minorities issues available to include equality and diversity training as well as cultural consultation?



13. What other linguistic services are available?



14. What qualifications do the linguists have? Are the linguistic resources in-house or freelance?



15. What quality systems are in place for project management as well as the business management?