Security, word for word: safe and easy collaboration between consultant interpreters and clients

Security: not a matter of interpretation

“We work for a wide range of clients, big and small, local and international, and building trust is the single most important thing when dealing with them,” Christoph Renfer, President of Calliope-Interpreters says. Fittingly named after ancient Greek mythology’s muse-in-chief and goddess of eloquence, Calliope is a tight-knit, global network of 24 consultant interpreters, covering five continents. Each member oversees their own market, recruiting teams of seasoned professionals to provide simultaneous interpretation services at meetings and conferences. Christoph and his network take immense pride in the high standards of service they’ve become known for over the years, as attested to by their membership of AIIC. Short for the International Association of Conference Interpreters, AIIC admits members based on a meticulous peer review process of candidates’ mastery of their languages, technical competence and professional track record, and is synonymous with the highest quality conference interpreting.

Ancient affiliations notwithstanding, Christoph and his colleagues face a very 21st-century problem in their day-to-day work: cybersecurity. “It’s extremely important that the interpreters who work at a meeting or conference get to see the relevant documents well in advance so they can come prepared. Very often, these meetings are highly technical, and even if you’re a veteran interpreter you can’t just walk into them without any preparation. You have to know what to expect,” Christoph explains. He continues: “In the past we asked the client who was organising the event to send us material, such as the agenda, presentations and speeches, for preparation. Then we would pass the documents on to the interpreters we had hired for the conference. More often than not, these documents were extremely confidential, and clients were sometimes reluctant to make them available to us because they had serious security concerns about file sharing via email.” One case especially stood out.

The challenge of serving clients across borders

A few years ago, Calliope was in negotiation with a large European banking organisation about the provision of interpretation services. Eventually, it won the contract. But one of the conditions was that it had to set up a safe and secure communication platform for document sharing. “We knew we had to find a solution right away. What we were looking for was a platform that we could confidently use for exchanging information with that particular organisation and with other clients, too. Our partners include manufacturing companies, pharmaceutical companies, banks, insurance companies etc. Very often, they need to share sensitive information with us that no third party must see. For example, the financial results of a limited company presented at their annual media conference are strictly embargoed until the date of the meeting,” Christoph says. GDPR compliance is also a must for European clients, and for others too. And of course, security is also an issue when it comes to sharing data among themselves. To maintain a seamless customer experience and quality of service, Calliope members share clients – and client data – globally.

Christoph and his colleagues wasted no time searching for the right file-sharing solution. The first one they tried was Microsoft’s SharePoint, but it turned out to be too complicated, not to mention pricey, for what they had in mind. “We would have needed a dedicated IT consultant to set it up for all 24 Calliope members. Dropbox was not secure enough. Another service provider levied a huge surcharge for storing data on servers in Europe. Finally, I came across Tresorit, which seemed like a good, easy-to-use and secure solution for us. So, we went ahead with it a year ago, gave it a test run and we’ve been using it ever since,” Christoph recalls. Using Tresorit’s zero-knowledge, end-to-end encrypted file storage has become part of Calliope members’ daily routine. “When organising a conference, we sometimes have to send as many as fifty different files, including huge PowerPoint presentations or video content, to our interpreters. Now we simply upload the files to a specially created Tresorit folder, email the secure link to the interpreters, and instruct them to check it regularly to see if something has been added,” Christoph says.

Security doesn’t need to be complicated

He continues: “Some of our clients still share documents with us through Dropbox or email. That’s their responsibility. But once we have those documents, we have to make sure that we pass them on via a secure platform.” Calliope’s consultant interpreters share the preparatory materials with external collaborators using secure share links and set password protection and expiration date for added security. “One of our European-based members recently organised a meeting in Australia and had to make large volumes of documents and video content accessible to colleagues in Turkey, Hong Kong and Europe, who also had to travel to Australia for the event. Tresorit was useful for sharing the preparatory documents, but really came into its own for the logistical arrangements. Our Calliope consultant interpreter created a dedicated Tresorit folder for the visa agent she recruited to obtain visas for the team members. She uploaded the copies of their personal documents, IDs, passports and so on, and simply shared that folder with the agent without having to email those highly confidential files,” Christoph remembers.

Calliope’s external collaborators are on board with the system and find it extremely user-friendly. The fact that the platform and the file download page is branded with the Calliope logo even adds to the feeling of security and trust among the interpreters. But Christoph and his colleagues have found yet another use for Tresorit’s super-secure file syncing and sharing solution. He explains: “We manage our own files in Tresorit, too. As we are a network of consultants, we constantly exchange information and best practices with each other. We have different committees. The social media committee is in charge of feeding our Facebook and other social media channels. Our editorial committee creates content for our website. Using Tresorit, they can collaborate in an efficient, user-friendly way instead of sending dozens of emails around the world. We also use Tresorit for our network’s archives. We’ve set up a folder that we call ‘Briefcase’ and uploaded all the resources that Calliope’s members need to use on a regular basis.”

Interested in learning more secure file sharing?

• Secure file sharing inside and outside your company
• GDPR ready cloud
• The reason why you should reconsider sending email attachments