Interpretation service for Russians, Chinese at 2 airports

Virtual interpretation services will be available for Russian and Chinese travellers at Helsinki and Rovaniemi Airports.

Although the services already started at Helsinki airport, it will be introduced at Rovaniemi airport from the end of this month.

The services will be offered under a ‘virtual interpreting’ pilot scheme undertaken jointly by Finavia and air navigation system, and Helsinki Airport.

Finavia, also the operator of Finland’s 21 airports, in association with the Finnish mobile interpreting service Tulka, already launched the digital interpretation service trial for Russian and Chinese clients at Helsinki airport in July.

Digital interpreters help passengers and service providers at airports to circumnavigate the language barrier.

Sales and service personnel at the airports will test the interpretation service on tablet computers in different customer service situations.

“Finavia’s aim is to provide its customers with innovative world-class services. Tulka allows us to contact a professional interpreter within seconds in the form of sound and image,” said Helsinki Airport Vice President Heikki Koski from Finavia.

Another major aim of the project is to assess the benefits derived from offering interpretation services between passengers and service providers at airports, while the key metrics to be analysed during the piloting will be the effects on the travellers’ experience of receiving the services on their number and the sales volume.

“We have already received the tablets and will start using them at the airports for interpreting after holding a training programme for the operators,” said Satu Mononen, the official on duty at the Finavia service centre in Rovaniemi Airport.

She said the training programme will be held at the airport on August 22, and “We are expecting to launch the interpretation services by the end of this month.”

The authority selected Rovaniemi after Helsinki as Lapland is attracting more and more customers from Asian countries. The hotel overnight stays in Lapland have increased 43% during January-May 2017 compared to same period in previous year, Finavia sources said.

“Thus Rovaniemi, being the biggest airport in Lapland, is a natural choice for testing how virtual interpreting service can improve the customer experience,” Finavia Communications Specialist Stana Porvali told the Daily Finland.

The service will support the airport service processes and service situations, and thus indirectly leave its mark to customer experience, said the Finavia official.

“We believe that when the experience is great it is easier for a customer to return,” Stana Porvali said, adding, “when bodylanguage is not adequate we can use the interpreting service via Tulka and get in touch with an interpreter who in turns connects the customer service agent and the customer.”

The network of interpretation service providers in the Tulka pilot is made of Budget-Avis, Vantaa Taxi, World of Delights Helsinki, Marimekko, Iittala, WDFG Helsinki, and Finavia Customer Service at Helsinki and Rovaniemi airports.

The piloting will continue until the end of 2017 and the decision on whether to continue with the services will be made after that, Finavia sources said.