The ninth G20 summit saw the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss and agree a fiscal package to rescue the global economy from the current recession. Helping make sure that their views were not only heard - but also understood - at several events surrounding the G20 summit was the task of Westminster Sonus, a specialist digital AV equipment and simultaneous interpretation provider. Westminster Sonus, in turn, chose Bosch.
The chosen solution centred around Bosch's congress technology, including wireless discussion units and its Integrus simultaneous interpretation (SI) system. Integrus is a digital infrared language distribution system, with up to 32 different language channels for delegates and interpreters. It is immune to interference from lighting systems and being infrared, signals do not pass through walls or ceilings thus guaranteeing privacy.
The Bosch system was used at the welcome dinner held at 10 Downing Street prior to the G20 summit. Each delegate had their own discussion unit with a microphone to speak into, and a headset connected to a digital receiver, allowing them to select their preferred channel and language with which to hear the interpretation of other delegates.
The interpreters were housed in 13 sound-proof booths in an adjacent room. Audio from the delegates' discussion units was supplied via a Cat 5 network to the interpreters' headsets, and video from a Bosch camera was fed through the same network to monitors in each booth.
Roger Thomas, from Westminster Sonus comments: "Simultaneous interpretation is a considerable skill. "Simultaneous interpreters render one spoken language into another - almost instantly. They interpret what the speaker is saying while they are saying it, allowing multi-lingual conferences to flow nearly as smoothly and quickly as if they were in a single language."
For each language, a pair of interpreters work together in a sound-proof booth, listening to the conversation on headphones and simultaneously speaking into a microphone. Delegates listen on earpieces, tuned to the channel that carries their language.
"It is a complicated system," he adds, "and we have to make sure that the audio feed is consistently clear, and that the equipment is reliable and user friendly. In these types of forums there is no margin for error, and reliability is key. This is why we work with Bosch."
Bosch wireless congress technology was also used by Westminster Sonus for a working breakfast held at Buckingham Palace, attended by Prince Andrew, the President of Mexico and business leaders. And on the same day, they used Bosch's wireless discussion units at Clarence House for the Prince of Wales' briefing to G20 leaders and Hillary Clinton on the subject of rainforests, which also required the Bosch Integrus SI system with a camera and eight sound-proof booths for Sonus' interpreters.
Westminster Sonus also supplied Bosch systems, including a control unit and transmitters, at the press conference for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy held at The Berkeley in Knightsbridge.
(Jim Evans)
