Interpreting Services
A qualified interpreter on screen for NHS consultations, remote hearings and business meetings, in 300+ languages, without anyone travelling.
Video interpreting puts a qualified interpreter on screen in your NHS consultation, remote court hearing or business meeting, without anyone travelling. Prism Linguistics provides video remote interpreting (VRI) in more than 300 languages, on Microsoft Teams, Zoom or the platform you already use, anywhere in the UK.
Video is one of four ways we deliver interpreting services, alongside face-to-face, telephone and British Sign Language. We have arranged interpreters for NHS trusts, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, local authorities and UK solicitors since 2013, and we will tell you plainly when video is the right choice for your appointment, and when it is not.
Video remote interpreting, usually shortened to VRI, is interpreting delivered over a live video call rather than in person. The interpreter joins the meeting on screen, listens to each speaker, and interprets in short turns so both sides can follow. Everyone can see everyone, which is the point.
VRI sits within the wider family of remote interpreting, which also covers interpreting by phone. The difference is what the interpreter can see. A video interpreter picks up on a hesitant expression, a shake of the head, a document held up to the camera. Over the phone all of that is lost, and for some conversations it matters a great deal.
One honest caveat. Video interpreting works best when the technology behaves and the conversation suits short spoken turns. A poor connection, a ward with background noise, or an interview where trust has to be built slowly can all make the screen feel like a barrier. In those situations we would rather send someone in person, and we say so when you book.
Each mode has a job it does best. Pick by the appointment, not by habit.
| What matters to you | Video | Telephone | Face-to-face |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notice needed | Booked ahead; same-day often possible | None, available 24/7 | Booked ahead; depends on distance |
| Body language and expressions | Visible on screen | Not visible | Fully visible, in the room |
| Documents and visual aids | Shared on screen | Cannot be shown | On the table in front of everyone |
| Travel time and mileage | None | None | May apply, depending on location |
| Best suited to | Planned appointments, remote hearings, meetings with slides or documents | Short, urgent or unplanned calls | Long, sensitive or high-stakes appointments |
| Read more | This page | Telephone interpreting | Face-to-face interpreting |
A rule of thumb we give clients: if the conversation is quick and factual, use the phone. If it is planned, visual or involves several people on a call anyway, use video. If it is a custody-suite interview, a safeguarding meeting or a first mental-health assessment, book a face-to-face interpreter. Rapport is hard enough to build through a screen in one language, let alone two.
Plenty of NHS contact now happens over video: GP consultations, outpatient follow-ups, physiotherapy reviews, mental-health check-ins. When the patient's English is limited, the interpreter simply joins the same call. The clinician runs the appointment exactly as they would with an English-speaking patient, just in short turns.
It solves a practical problem too. A twenty-minute diabetes review does not really justify an interpreter travelling an hour each way, and in some parts of the country the nearest qualified linguist for a given language is a long way from the clinic. On video, a Polish interpreter in Manchester can cover a morning clinic in Truro without leaving their desk.
Interpreters working in healthcare settings are professionally qualified, DBS-checked and used to clinical conversations. If your trust or surgery books interpreters regularly, our healthcare and NHS page covers how we work with health services in more detail.
Courts and tribunals now list many short hearings remotely: case-management hearings, directions, some immigration tribunal work. When the hearing itself is on a video platform, the interpreter can join the same way, interpreting for the party who needs them just as they would from the well of the court.
Solicitors use video interpreting between hearings as well. A client conference ahead of a statement, a quick advice call before a deadline, taking instructions from a client who has moved cities. A Romanian interpreter for that kind of conference call can be booked in the morning and done by the afternoon.
We work at Legal Aid Agency rates where the matter is legally aided, and our linguists are experienced in court and tribunal settings. There is more on how we support law firms on our legal and immigration page.
Most business meetings that need an interpreter are already video calls: a supplier in Gdansk, a distributor in Istanbul, an HR meeting with a warehouse colleague whose English is limited. Adding an interpreter to the invite is far simpler than flying people anywhere, and it keeps the meeting on record in your own calendar like any other.
The interpreter works consecutively, so allow a little extra time. For a large event with parallel sessions or continuous speeches, consecutive turns become tiring for everyone; that is conference interpreting territory, with simultaneous interpreters and proper equipment. We will steer you to the right one, since booking the wrong mode wastes your money and the interpreter's afternoon.
And if a customer calls out of the blue with no meeting arranged at all, our 24/7 telephone interpreting line fills the gap in minutes.
We do not tie you to a system. Our interpreters join Microsoft Teams, Zoom and the video consultation platforms used by NHS services and the courts. You send the meeting link, the interpreter turns up in the participant list like anyone else. No plugins on your side, no account with us needed for the call itself. If you have no platform at all, we can set one up for the session.
The checklist for your side is short:
That is genuinely it. If a participant is joining from a hospital bedside or a busy office, tell us in advance and the interpreter will adjust how they manage the turns.
Use the quote form or call us. Say what the session is (a clinic, a hearing, a meeting), how long it should run, and which platform you are using, if you have one. Need an Urdu interpreter for a Tuesday clinic slot? That is all we need to know to start.
During office hours we reply within one working hour with a price for the assignment. No travel time or mileage, so the number you see is the number you pay.
We assign a qualified interpreter suited to the setting: court-experienced for hearings, DBS-checked for health and safeguarding work. You get confirmation before the day.
Forward the meeting invite as you would to any attendee. The interpreter joins a few minutes early, you make brief introductions, and the session runs in short spoken turns.
Video interpreting is priced per assignment. The language pair, the length of the session and the setting all move the price, so a half-hour business call and a full-day tribunal listing sit at very different points. What video never carries is travel: no mileage, no hours on a train billed to you, which is often what makes it the cheaper option against a face-to-face booking for the same appointment.
We quote a fixed price before you commit, within one working hour during office hours, and we accept Legal Aid Agency rates on legally aided matters. Send the details through the quote form and compare the number against whatever you are paying now.
The conversations we interpret on video are often the sensitive kind: a diagnosis, a witness account, a commercial negotiation. Every interpreter works under a non-disclosure agreement, and our handling of personal information follows UK GDPR. Nothing said on the call is shared or kept beyond what is needed to run the service. If your organisation has its own confidentiality agreement or information-governance requirements, send them over with the booking and we will work to them.
For Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants, video works particularly well because the whole channel is visual. Our NRCPD-registered British Sign Language interpreters are available by video as well as on site, for the NHS, courts, employers and live events.
An interpreter in the room for long, sensitive or safeguarding-critical appointments.
An interpreter on the line in minutes, 24 hours a day, for calls that cannot wait.
Simultaneous interpreting with booths and equipment for events and multi-speaker sessions.
Tell us the language, the date and the platform. We will reply with a fixed price within one working hour during office hours.