A standard version of QualTranslate now comes as part of the QualBoard Global package. It uses a machine translation system to convert any of 24 languages in 60 seconds, however a premium version of the service allows clients to have their machine translations audited and updated by human translators within several hours.

20|20’s chief innovation officer Isaac Rogers told Research that while the fidelity of the machine translations was high, the software would directly translate colloquialisms that otherwise hold different meanings for native-speakers.

The company is not pitching the tool as a way to allow speakers of one language to run groups or interviews with those who speak another language. “We aren’t pushing in that direction,” Rogers said. “An English speaker asking questions of an Italian speaker, say, wouldn’t necessarily understand the culture and colloquialisms.”

Instead, Rogers says the applications are threefold: to enable greater collaboration between global research teams; for clients to more closely follow international research projects; and to provide faster turnaround on translations.

20|20 founder and CEO Jim Bryson (pictured) said: “Language differences have always slowed progress in multi-national research. Researchers and clients must wait – sometimes up to two weeks – on transcript translations in order to analyse findings and/or make any adjustments. [Our new] capability will change the way researchers manage multi-national research.”