News

thebigword are now on the Zanzibar e-procurement system

Government bodies registered to use Zanzibar can now procure language services from thebigword through this innovative e-procurement system, promoted by OGCbuying.solutions. The Zanzibar Managed Service is the new purchase to pay system and e-marketplace available to the whole of the UK public sector, enabling organisations to buy translation and interpreting services through a streamlined procurement platform which offers maximum spend visibility and control.

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HMRC appoints thebigword

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is the most recent addition to the framework agreement. thebigword received notification that the network of 22 HMRC contact centres would be switching to the sole-supplier framwework telephone interpreting contract on 26th March.

Working in close collaboration with operational managers, a brief pilot to ensure system integrity was carried out while thebigword developed and deployed customised user training materials for 10,000 staff.

Within 4 weeks, the whole network went live handling hundreds of calls on the first day and thousands within the first week. The success rate of calls has exceeded 99.5% throughout for the very wide range of languages requested.

The success of the rapid deployment of the service, and the significant cost savings achieved, have led HMRC to further expand the contract out to the rest of the system beyond the contact centres network.

Home Office Appoints thebigword

Language company thebigword has been appointed as one of the core suppliers of translation services to the UK Government.

The framework agreement was awarded on the 18th September, and thebigword will be providing translation services to the Home Office for 2 years with 2 possible extensions of a year each. The same services will be made available to other central and local government institutions and wider public-sector bodies during this period.

The new framework agreement provides for the continuation of the existing work thebigword carries out for various government departments and agencies, including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), HM Prisons and HM Revenue & Customs.

Larry J Gould, CEO of thebigword said: 'We are delighted to be able to provide the UK Government with our translation services in over 150 languages. Helping the Home Office to communicate with non-English speaking people residing throughout the United Kingdom is a fantastic opportunity for us to expand our relationship with Government customers.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are pleased to be working with thebigword ' they are among the leaders in translation technology and have a focused approach to their customers as well as cost-effective solutions'.