One thing that makes Sector Alarm unique is its highly international workforce. This diversity brings a rich range of perspectives to their work, but it also presents a number of potentially disruptive linguistic challenges. Misunderstandings can lead to incorrect actions being taken when operators make split-second decisions, risking an erosion of trust and a fatal breakdown in confidence.

Sector Alarm understood the risks early on, and brought us on board to help. Read below to learn how we did it.

Top-Notch Training in All Languages

A core challenge for Sector Alarm was training. The business works with a lot of technical products and it must comply with legislation both at the EU and local levels. Each market has its own procedures, and it is important these are followed to ensure both legal compliance and the security of Sector Alarm’s customers. Imparting all of this information and ensuring it is understood is therefore crucial to the success of the business – and here, the presence of so many different languages can pose a challenge.

For one thing, studies have shown that employees who complete training in another language tend to retain less information. Working with a foreign language increases cognitive strain, making it more difficult for the user to focus on the core task – the acquisition of knowledge. This can ultimately wear down motivation, resulting in higher drop-off rates, lower scores and – in the worst case – the internalisation of misunderstandings that can later surface to disastrous effect.

For this reason, Sector Alarm made the decision to have its training videos, presentations and course materials translated into the different languages spoken by their employees, so that each worker – whether they’re in a customer-facing, technical or administrative role – can choose the language they feel most at home with. Not only does this improve results; it also boosts inclusivity and integration, allowing each employee to feel confident in their skills, abilities and depth of knowledge.

For this process, Sector Alarm typically opts for a human translation solution with a review step. This means that the translated materials can be adapted more freely to the local context, and worded in a way that is designed to maximise readability and comprehensibility for users. The additional review step adds an extra layer of safeguarding against inaccuracies and ensures robust results that the client can trust. 

Glossary Creation Is Key

Security products are highly complex and, as mentioned, subject to lots of regulatory and legislative requirements. This means that the lexicon at Sector Alarm is broad and characterised by many different technical terms, acronyms and jargon. It is important that these are transferred across accurately from language to language, otherwise employees may become confused about what certain terms mean (or what they correspond to in other languages). This not only slows down their work and creates unnecessary verification tasks, but can also result in customers receiving the wrong information, and in the breakdown of protocols and security procedures.

To avoid this problem and ensure accuracy, we began our collaboration with Sector Alarm by setting up a multilingual glossary in our translation tool. All of the terms used by Sector Alarm on a daily basis are gathered in one place. Our translators can see them in a sidebar as they work, and our intelligent QA system will flag up cases when they are not used. This ensures accuracy and consistency across all texts, eliminating doubt while also giving our linguists the flexibility to use their own professional judgement and diverge from the glossary when the context requires this.

Using glossaries also means that attention to detail is baked into our approach, and this is something that Sector Alarm greatly appreciates. As Anna from Sector Alarm says in her own words: “Comunica is always looking into all important details during the translation process. They keep a fluent and on-going communication with the client, and this results in the desired and impeccable quality.”

Voiceovers & Automation Complete the Setup

Amongst the training materials produced by Sector Alarm are many videos that are presented to employees in presentations and training modules, and made available for them to consult in their own time. Besides localising the transcripts for these videos, we have also helped Sector Alarm with the provision of high-quality, affordable      voiceovers. This represents a full-service solution, making it quick and easy for Sector Alarm to localise their content without the need to involve other partners and resources or spend time on additional tasks.

Combined with our seamless and automated workflow, this service means that Sector Alarm can have all of their needs met almost automatically. All they need to do is upload the files they want translated to our secure cloud and let us know which languages and services they require. We take care of everything, from the actual translation and localisation process to desktop publishing, voiceover creation if needed, and quality assurance. The files returned are flawless, functional and ready to be put directly into use, without any further processing on the client’s end.

“Comunica’s setup makes it very easy for us to get all of our internal materials localised. This is something we really value, because it’s an essential process, and so it’s nice to partner with a company that can handle all aspects of it. This way of working both reduces workload on our end and gives us peace of mind,” says Noelia López from Sector Alarm.

A Secure Setup

Through our expert services, we have:

• Boosted accessibility, engagement and results on internal training
• Prevented internal misunderstandings that can lead to costly mistakes
• Protected client trust by ensuring inaccuracies do not filter out to the customer-facing level

 If you would like to learn more about any of the services and solutions we deliver as part of our collaboration with Sector Alarm, or if you are interested in hearing about what we can do for your internal communications, read more about our services here. You can also check out our e-learning page here for more information about our work in this sector, or book a consultation on our contact page. 

Whatever your needs, we’ll be happy to talk through a tailored solution and help your business communicate effectively and affordably – at all levels and across all languages.

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In 2022, after many years of collaborating with Comunica, VillaVilla decided to rebrand and launch an English-language website. The idea was not necessarily to target travellers in the UK or the US, but to increase their reach across Europe through a common language and break beyond the usual market. Here’s how we helped them achieve their goals.

VillaVilla is a Danish company founded in 2003, specialising in the rental of luxury holiday homes – particularly those featuring indoor swimming pools and whirlpools. Their properties are big, spacious and located in some of the most scenic and desirable resort areas in Denmark. Not to mention, they also have some properties in Sweden and Germany.

Traditionally, VillaVilla’s customers come mostly from within Denmark and its neighbouring customers – especially Germany, Sweden and Norway. But as Kathrine, Digital Business Developer at VillaVilla, notes:

“We have long seen a growing interest in Danish holiday-home rentals, especially among Dutch and Polish visitors, but also from elsewhere. We could see that our competitors were picking up a significant share of those visitors, and so we decided to create an English-language version of the website to catch those visitors who were not being served by the existing language variants.”

English – The Strategic Choice

Although research shows that most web users have a tendency to search in their own language – and indeed, that localised content tends to inspire greater levels of consumer confidence – budget constraints and practical considerations can pose a challenge to this. Often it is necessary to choose strategically, or to start with one or two languages and build out from there.

In VillaVilla’s case, volume was also a compounding factor. Their website consists not just of practical information and essential booking functions, but also extensive listings for each of their properties. These descriptions serve two purposes – they market a vision of the house, and they provide full details of its location, amenities and booking terms. They can’t exactly be shortened or combined, and so budget was always going to be a primary concern for a project like this.

The decision was therefore taken to focus on English – a language that most consumers in the target markets can read well, and which is often used as an intermediary when booking holidays. The company then implemented this text in a so-called channel manager, allowing them to advertise their homes via the most popular platforms in their target markets.

A Tailored Approach with an AI Boost

Costs were further controlled by the use of AI. Rather than translating all text from scratch, we analysed the company’s web content and divided it into different categories. Primary texts that play a key role in driving conversions were translated by a human linguist. Property listings, on the other hand, were pretranslated by a machine-translation tool and then checked, edited and verified by a human reviewer. 

This gave us the ultimate combination of human persuasion and AI efficiency for a result that was as functional as it was affordable. As Kathrine puts it:

“We really appreciate Comunica’s  ability to deliver translations at different levels. For example, a post-edited translation may be fine for a social-media text, while a legal document should preferably be translated by someone who has a complete mastery of the language.”

Bringing Holiday Hygge to the World

In terms of the actual translation work, one of the challenges of this project was creating an attractive yet universal vision of the quintessential Danish holiday experience. After all, holidaying in Denmark means different things to different people, and the further away the target market is, the less likely they are to have a clear and shared idea about what this means.

According to Michael, the translator who worked on the English texts: “The trick was to avoid thinking too much like a British or an American tourist. I strove to keep the texts as general as possible, but always without watering down those things that make Denmark special to the world. For example, we decided to keep in words like hygge, because they’re not only familiar and comprehensible beyond Denmark’s borders, but they’re a USP that draws people to the country.

“On the other hand, certain things needed to be explained or adapted. The sheer mention of certain seaside towns – like Skagen or Hvide Sande – is enough to conjure up specific images and feelings of nostalgia in native Danes. Often it was necessary to try and paint a picture for readers from further afield, to help them understand why these places are special and well worth choosing for a holiday.”

By taking a freer and more creative approach in strategic parts of the text, we were able to position VillaVilla’s USPs – namely their luxury properties in beautiful locations – and really sell what makes them special in a way that chimes with readers from across Europe. The idea is that it shouldn’t matter whether you’re already familiar with Denmark’s resort towns or attractions or not. Each listing is appealing enough to sell the prospect on its own merit.

A Danish Summer Dream

Through our expert localisation services, we:

• Developed a strategic solution tailored to the client’s budget
• Helped the client increase bookings in Poland, the Netherlands and beyond
• Found creative and targeted ways to communicate their USP

If you would like to learn more about the specifics of this case or find out how we can help your company to achieve similar results, take a closer look at our services page or book a consultation. You can also read more about our work within the tourism sector here, or check out our other areas of expertise on this page.

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