Language Technology Directory

The TMS Feature Explorer is Nimdzi’s handy, interactive directory that uses the latest data on translation management systems and allows users to filter tools by features. If you’re looking to explore features and functionalities across today’s solutions, this is a great place to start.

TMS stands for Translation Management Systems. These solutions help automate translation projects and workflows and normally feature management capabilities and translation editing environment. This way, TMS help both automate the flow of work, and actually perform the translation.

Before TMS came about, computer-assisted or computer-aided translation (CAT) tools were the main means of properly handling translation tasks. CAT tools allow users to work with bilingual text, that is, the source (original) and the target (translation). The core components of CAT tools usually included a translation memory (TM), a bilingual editing environment (such as an interactive bilingual table), a termbase (TB), and a quality assurance (QA) module.

Over time, these features were no longer enough to effectively deal with the growing and dynamic translation and localization needs of modern enterprises. That’s why a variety of business management features ended up appearing in this type of solution, resulting in the birth of what is now called TMS.

The main difference between a TMS and a BMS is that in a TMS you both translate and manage jobs while in a BMS you just manage jobs/translation tasks. There’s no translation environment per se in the BMS. However, a BMS can connect to different TMS.

The TBS Feature Explorer lists the current technologies on the market and allows users to filter solutions by general information, functionality, and integrations. Users can also view profiles of individual tools and analyze all relevant information in one place. Nimdzi works consistently with the providers to verify and update features and profiles and to make sure the directory is up-to-date.

TB in TBS stands for termbase, the basic component for a Terminology Management System. We created this acronym simply to distinguish Terminology Management Systems from Translation Management Systems (TMS).

The localization industry has come a long way from huge hard-covered dictionaries to nowadays, with more than 40 terminology management tools, or termbase systems.

Each of them has a somewhat unique approach to the term management process since different users have different needs for their particular content. Terminology requirements may vary for technical writers, software developers, content managers, terminologists, translators, LSPs, and their clients. However, modern terminology management tools are able to address these diverse needs. And among their main features are:

• Descriptions for terms, with images and other media files
• Support for multilingual terms
• Term approval workflow and user management
• Term extraction
• Morphology support
• Term history
• Term relations
• Integration capabilities

And much more!

The VIT Feature Explorer is an interactive tool that allows you to filter virtual interpreting technologies by the features that are of most interest to you. There are seven categories of filters: use-case, interpreting service, features for interpreting, meetings and event management features, interpreter management system features, security and standards, and integrations. Explore these highly-detailed, curated profiles at your leisure.

Translation is transmitting written text from one language into written text in a different language. Interpreting on the other hand is the transmission of a spoken message in one language into a spoken message in another language. Or in the case of sign language interpreting, from the spoken word into gestures and vice-versa.

• OPI is when two or more speakers that speak different languages communicate with each other using an interpreter who calls in using a phone line (either smartphone or landline). The interpreter works in consecutive mode.
• VRI is similar to OPI but the speakers can also see the interpreter through a video call. The interpreter still works consecutively.
• RSI is quite different to the previous types of interpreting because the interpreter interprets the speaker’s message simultaneously into a different language. The listeners log onto the same platform and select the channel in which the interpretation can be heard.

Machine interpreting currently involves a cascade model whereby a spoken message is transcribed into the same language by AI, then it is translated into the desired language using machine translation. That written translation is then read out by a synthetic voice.