Why Memsource?

Anyone involved in the translation industry will know that there is a vast range of tools on the market, all claiming to make the process quicker and more efficient than the next one. They are called Computer-Assisted Translation (or CAT) tools. At Xigen, we have experience with many different tools, but in the end Memsource is most suited to our needs. Here’s why:

• It is cloud-based, meaning that the whole translation team can work collaboratively online with the ability to share translation memories and update them in real time.

• Memsource is free for translators. All they need to do is follow the link provided by their project manager and download the file(s) from there to translate in the Editor (web and desktop option available so offline work is also possible). There are different versions of the tool available, depending on the needs of the freelancer/agency, and major investment is not required to begin work instantly.

• The user interface is slick and the tool is easy to get to grips with. This is important when working with freelancers who are based all over the world and do not have the time to learn all the features of a complicated new tool before getting on with their projects. Basic knowledge of how CAT tools work is all that is required to start working in Memsource.

• Memsource has partnered with Microsoft to provide the machine translation plugin Microsoft with Feedback. This means that MT matches, often of relatively high quality compared to some offerings, are displayed as suggestions in return for the final human translations being fed back into the tool. This in turn further improves its quality.

• The fantastic support offered by Memsource means that, should any members of the translation team experience issues, whatever time of day or night, they can expect an answer within a few hours. They are always very keen to help and offer visual demos for anyone who wants to see the tool in action and ask them questions directly.

• There is the option to set up a net rate scheme. This means that all analyses can be run against previously-established discounts for fuzzy matches and the translator cost calculated with ease.

All in all, we have found Memsource to be an innovative new tool (it was only launched in 2010) and the perfect fit for us as we grow the translation side of our business.