'999' in UAE: Instant translation at work

Abu Dhabi Police’s ‘Instant Translation Services’ through the hotline to help those in emergency situations communicate effectively is a success.

Available in over 24 languages and dialects, the service  is connected to the Central Operations Room 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the emergency number (999).

The Translation Branch at the Media and Public Relations Section, the Capital Police Directorate, handled 17,594 calls involving translation in the past 20 months, as of early 2013 through the first eight months of 2014.

This technology has saved the operations room staff time and effort, when communicating with individuals who do not share a common language or dialect reporting an emergency to the central operations department. In such cases, callers are automatically forwarded to the hotline service at the translation branch, where a professional interpreter will facilitate an effective communication to acquire the necessary information and handle the report in a timely manner.

Brigadier Maktoum Al Shareefi, Director of the Capital Police Directorate, said, “This service has contributed to the timely delivery of information to the competent police entities, and is an essential elements in solving cases and responding to reports.”

He added, “The UAE being home to over 200 nationalities, communication with individuals who do not share a common language becomes a difficult task in many cases, whether they were submitting a report or suspects. Thanks to this technology, we can save both time and effort in our bid to maintain security and communicate promptly with the callers.”

Statistics reveal the Translation Branch has handled 8,547 cases during the first eight months of 2014, compared to 9,047 cases during 2013.

Brigadier Al Shareefi noted that cases requiring interpreting service are not regarded as numbers; they are rated as per the amount of  time and effort they helped to save through the on-screen interpreting service, as well as catering to the rights of all those who deal with police bodies.

 “Our next objective is to provide language interpreting services to include a total of 45 languages and dialects, serving the majority of nationalities living in the country,” he added.

 

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