New Feature Release: Interview with Marek Mazur, Development Manager, on features and benefits of KantanTranslate™

Last week we announced the launch of KantanTranslate™, a new feature on our KantanMT platform, which will make translating small fragments of content simpler and faster. We interviewed the man-behind-the-scenes, Marek Mazur, Development Manager at KantanMT to find out about the great features, benefits and the impetus behind implementing KantanTranslate.

KantanMT: As a Developer, you work on different projects like KantanTranslate, could you give gist of what this new feature is all about?

Marek: KantanTranslate is a part of the KantanWidgets™ Suite of Productivity Apps, which does exactly what it says – improves productivity within an organisation. It allows KantanMT clients to integrate the technology within their own environments, including websites, Microsoft Office programs and any supported browsers like Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

KantanTranslate is a web-based application, that can be embedded within intranet pages of mid-to-large sized organisations. This allows fragments of text to be translated immediately. Users can simply type the text and then click on the Translate button. The translation output will automatically appear in the adjacent text area.

I think it’s a very quick and effective, WYSIWYG – what you see is what you get – way of doing things. You don’t need to upload your content on the KantanMT platform for this. As long as you have pre-built KantanMT engines, anyone in the organisation can effectively use the KantanTranslate widget.

KantanMT: What was your reason behind creating this tool?

Marek: In order to fulfill our growing client requirements, we at KantanMT created this tool to make Custom Machine Translation (CMT) more accessible to our valued clients. We are aware that similar tools exist, however they are not suitable for most of our security-conscious clients due to data privacy. In KantanMT, the client data is highly secured, never reused or stored.

This means team members from any department in an organisation can translate critical and sensitive data in-house with KantanTranslate, and get the gist of a fragment, without having to opt for any popular instant online translation tool. KantanTranslate allows team members to complete their jobs quickly, while ensuring the peace of mind for those in the organisation who are responsible for data security.

KantanMT: You said that our clients need to have some translation engines on the KantanMT platform. Does this mean that if our clients do not have the right training material, KantanTranslate would not work effectively? If so, what does this mean for our clients or how can they fix this?

Marek: The quality of KantanTranslate output depends on the quality of the engine. Every client can improve and customise engines based on their needs and domain of use. For example, if a client wants to use this widget on any legal websites we recommend to use legal data to train the engine. If the client doesn’t have right training data, he can use KantanLibrary data or even use one of our KantanFleet engines.

Note: KantanFleet is a set of pre-built, domain specific Custom Machine Translation engines, which will allow clients to quickly begin new translation jobs, even if they have little to no training data. KantanFleet engines support 22+ languages and are available in five main domains: Automotive, Financial, Legal, IT and Medical.

KantanMT: Can I use the KantanTranslate widget on my website or blog?

Marek: Yes, you can. However, you need to have an active account with KantanMT, be able to build engines and enable this feature on your account.

Can all our clients use this product right away?

Marek: Yes! We want to facilitate translation automation that can be implemented with ease. So, if you are a KantanMT client and if you have a few engines ready, you can activate KantanTranslate on your account and begin using it immediately.

So, in your opinion what’s an ideal scenario for using KantanTranslate?

Marek: Well, if the client (or potential client) is a global organisation and worried about data security, KantanTranslate is a very effective way of ensuring data privacy. Just as an example, if you are a big consultancy, dealing in critical legal and tax documents, chances are you will have teams working with each other across various departments and locales.
This in turn means that there would be a number of documents, emails chains,
information on the intranet pages, and even group chats going back and forth. Often, someone in the team would need to understand the gist of one of this content – they don’t need a formal translation, just a quick and easy way to understand what’s going on. This is when they would go online and paste the data for translation – suddenly, the private intra-organisation data became very public!

This is where the KantanTranslate plug-in comes into its own – it allows quick translation, with security.

About Marek Mazur:

Marek has been with KantanMT since its inception in 2013. He has progressed through the ranks to Software Development Manager, commanding KantanMT’s A team of developers. Marek’s team works on projects that vary from user experience design and site reliability, to developing software applications and working with Moses. He holds a BSc in Business Computing and Digital Media and a Higher Diploma in Software Design and Development.