Translation Center Log in and other issues
Thread poster: nino0523 (X)
nino0523 (X)
nino0523 (X)  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 21:41
English to German
+ ...
May 25, 2017

Hi there,

I have just received an e-mail from a company including a link to their translation center. I did a research on what translation center is but I find it weird that the company's website asks me to log in with my proz.com information (it does say powered by proz.com on the bottom).

Is this normal with translation center or is it a scam? Company does have good rating on the Blue Board.

Thanks in advance!


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:41
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Not a scam May 25, 2017

nino0523 wrote:
I have just received an e-mail from a company including a link to their translation center. I did a research on what translation center is but I find it weird that the company's website asks me to log in with my proz.com information (it does say powered by proz.com on the bottom).

Is this normal with translation center or is it a scam? Company does have good rating on the Blue Board.

It's a feature of ProZ.com that's supposed to make everything simpler. But you aren't the first one to equate it more to a scam than to a simplification. It was discussed just a couple of weeks ago - it may even have been on the scam forum.

Hopefully ProZ.com will be getting the message that something needs to be done urgently.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:41
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Recent discussion May 25, 2017

http://www.proz.com/forum/prozcom_job_systems/314639-onedocument_translation_workspace_powered_by_proz.html

 
Enrique Cavalitto
Enrique Cavalitto  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 17:41
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
Communications will be improved May 25, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:

nino0523 wrote:
I have just received an e-mail from a company including a link to their translation center. I did a research on what translation center is but I find it weird that the company's website asks me to log in with my proz.com information (it does say powered by proz.com on the bottom).

Is this normal with translation center or is it a scam? Company does have good rating on the Blue Board.

It's a feature of ProZ.com that's supposed to make everything simpler. But you aren't the first one to equate it more to a scam than to a simplification. It was discussed just a couple of weeks ago - it may even have been on the scam forum.

Hopefully ProZ.com will be getting the message that something needs to be done urgently.


Thanks Sheila, I agree that we need to improve this communications issue. Will be done soon.

Kind regards,
Enrique


 
nino0523 (X)
nino0523 (X)  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 21:41
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you May 25, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:
It's a feature of ProZ.com that's supposed to make everything simpler. But you aren't the first one to equate it more to a scam than to a simplification. It was discussed just a couple of weeks ago - it may even have been on the scam forum.

Hopefully ProZ.com will be getting the message that something needs to be done urgently.


Thank you very much for the clarification!


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:41
Danish to English
+ ...
Very confusing Jul 1, 2017

I received an email from an outsourcer via the Translation Center two days ago. I had never heard about it before. All the information provided by Proz is for the outsourcer, and there is not a word about payment, so I presume this is handled directly between the translator and the outsourcer.

I looked up in whois who the owner of the domain translationcenter.org was to try to determine if this was a scam.
The owner is Henry Dotterer, so it looks legitimate.

I don
... See more
I received an email from an outsourcer via the Translation Center two days ago. I had never heard about it before. All the information provided by Proz is for the outsourcer, and there is not a word about payment, so I presume this is handled directly between the translator and the outsourcer.

I looked up in whois who the owner of the domain translationcenter.org was to try to determine if this was a scam.
The owner is Henry Dotterer, so it looks legitimate.

I don't remember reading anything in any Proz newsletter about this platform, but I could have overlooked it, of course.

Another mystery is that I cannot find a single trace of the outsourcer in the Blue Board. On the company’s own website, there is no registered business address and business registration number.

I ended up expressing this uncertainty to the outsourcer.

I don't even know if that company exists. How do I know it's not a bogus company that has registered with Proz and is using this platform to trick translators by making them think there is no risk if it passes via an official Proz platform? Is Proz doing any vetting of the companies on that platform? I have no idea. There is no information about it.

Another question is: if all communication with the outsourcer passes through that system, for how many years is that communication stored? Can I request copies sent by email of all the communication so I can keep it in one place together with all other email communication instead of having some of it scattered on online platforms?
Collapse


Julia Mojik
 
Enrique Cavalitto
Enrique Cavalitto  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 17:41
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
The translation center used by a new company Jul 3, 2017

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

I received an email from an outsourcer via the Translation Center two days ago. I had never heard about it before. All the information provided by Proz is for the outsourcer, and there is not a word about payment, so I presume this is handled directly between the translator and the outsourcer.


Hi Thomas,

The translation center is just another tool provided and powered by ProZ.com to Business members to post jobs to service providers, mostly from ProZ.com (it is also possible to invite non-ProZ.com freelancers). You are correct in assuming that all work relationships, including negotiations, deliveries, invoicing and payment are handled directly between the translator and the outsourcer.

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
I looked up in whois who the owner of the domain translationcenter.org was to try to determine if this was a scam.
The owner is Henry Dotterer, so it looks legitimate.

I don't remember reading anything in any Proz newsletter about this platform, but I could have overlooked it, of course.


Instructions for service providers using the translation center can be found at a dedicated section on the Fresdesk support platform.

The translation center has been announced in ProZ.com forums and in several blog articles and it has a dedicated page in the Jobs & Directories top drop-down menu. Also, the May 2017 ProZ.com newsletter included an article "You may be invited by Business members who operate instances of the translation center powered by ProZ.com".

However, the fact that an experienced member like you was unaware of this tool is valuable feedback for us and it tell us that we need to work better in order to make this tool better know (and more friendly) to freelance service providers.

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
Another mystery is that I cannot find a single trace of the outsourcer in the Blue Board. On the company’s own website, there is no registered business address and business registration number.

I ended up expressing this uncertainty to the outsourcer.

I don't even know if that company exists. How do I know it's not a bogus company that has registered with Proz and is using this platform to trick translators by making them think there is no risk if it passes via an official Proz platform? Is Proz doing any vetting of the companies on that platform? I have no idea. There is no information about it.


There are several Business members using the translation center for the management of their language services, with a combined output of several million words per month. The invitation you are talking about came from a new company that plans to grow their business using this work platform. They were referred to us from a trusted company who is an active translation center user. I have asked this new company to create a Blue Board record, with all their contact information.

Of course, each freelancer should follow their own risk management procedures when deciding if they are willing or not to work with any given outsourcer.

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
Another question is: if all communication with the outsourcer passes through that system, for how many years is that communication stored? Can I request copies sent by email of all the communication so I can keep it in one place together with all other email communication instead of having some of it scattered on online platforms?


The translation center was first used by Translators without Borders in the first half of 2011 and all the activity in this and all other instances of the platform are still available. There are plans to better integrate the translation center with the ProZ.com environment, and giving providers an unified access to all their translation center relationships is in the plans.

Kind regards,
Enrique Cavalitto


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:41
Danish to English
+ ...
Questions Jul 3, 2017

Hi Enrique,

Thanks for your detailed comments.

Enrique Cavalitto wrote:

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
I don't remember reading anything in any Proz newsletter about this platform, but I could have overlooked it, of course.


Instructions for service providers using the translation center can be found at a dedicated section on the Fresdesk support platform.


1. These instructions are more of a user's guide and don't answer the questions I posted here.
2. There is no link to that Freshdesk page on http://www.proz.com/proz-translation-center .
3. Freshdesk is a third-party site owned by

freshdesk whois
Why are Proz instructions placed on a third-party site that appears to have no relation to Proz?

Enrique Cavalitto wrote:

The translation center has been announced in ProZ.com forums and in several blog articles and it has a dedicated page in the Jobs & Directories top drop-down menu. Also, the May 2017 ProZ.com newsletter included an article "You may be invited by Business members who operate instances of the translation center powered by ProZ.com".


• There are so many forums, and although I am subscribed to many, it's not a good place to ensure everybody sees important information.
• I wasn't subscribed to Proz blogs. I am now.
• The newsletter did mention it in vague terms:


(6) You may be invited by Business members who operate instances of the translation center powered by ProZ.com

Millions of words are translated and delivered every month on the several instances of the translation center powered by ProZ.com and managed by companies who are ProZ.com Business members.

The companies managing their instance of this platform can invite selected service providers to participate in their operation. If you receive such an invitation and decide to accept it, you will receive notifications when invited to a job posted in the translation center.

This platform is described at http://www.proz.com/proz-translation-center

If you have accepted or are considering accepting an invitation to work on a translation center, you can see more information here: https://prozcom.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/6000153545-instructions-for-service-providers


Again, this information doesn't answer any of the questions I have asked here.

Enrique Cavalitto wrote:

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
Another question is: if all communication with the outsourcer passes through that system, for how many years is that communication stored? Can I request copies sent by email of all the communication so I can keep it in one place together with all other email communication instead of having some of it scattered on online platforms?


The translation center was first used by Translators without Borders in the first half of 2011 and all the activity in this and all other instances of the platform are still available. There are plans to better integrate the translation center with the ProZ.com environment, and giving providers an unified access to all their translation center relationships is in the plans.



This doesn't actually answer my question. You already have a Connect system with messages from outsourcers posted online, but I don't get a copy by email, so if I don't remember to copy and paste messages from the outsourcer into draft emails in Outlook, I lose track of who has said what.

Now you're adding the translation center system with another message system. I want all my client communication in one place: my outlook file, so I can easily look up what has been agreed, and search in it. Your online message platforms are making it more complicated to keep track of communication, which is why I asked if it's possible to set such platforms to send me copies of everything by email.

Of course some inconvenience is acceptable if it results in increased revenue, but it's even better if such inconvenience can be avoided.

Thanks,
Thomas


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:41
Danish to English
+ ...
PS: blogs Jul 3, 2017

I can see two blog posts about the Translation center in 2017, but none of them actually explains what the Translation center is. You're forgetting to explain the big picture, explaining the trees but not the forest and its surroundings. This is why it's so confusing.

You're presenting a new way of working, so we need to know what is different, and what is not, relative to how we usually work, such as for example if the non-payment risk to the translator is reduced, if Proz is doing
... See more
I can see two blog posts about the Translation center in 2017, but none of them actually explains what the Translation center is. You're forgetting to explain the big picture, explaining the trees but not the forest and its surroundings. This is why it's so confusing.

You're presenting a new way of working, so we need to know what is different, and what is not, relative to how we usually work, such as for example if the non-payment risk to the translator is reduced, if Proz is doing any vetting of the companies in the system, if payment practices are affected (they are not, you say), etc.
Collapse


 
Enrique Cavalitto
Enrique Cavalitto  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 17:41
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
All translation center communications are notified by email Jul 3, 2017

Hi Thomas,

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

Why are Proz instructions placed on a third-party site that appears to have no relation to Proz?


This is a good question. Freshdesk is a very friendly platform for the display of instructions that need periodic updating. Also, the translation center is a white-label platform where the focus is on the managing company, with ProZ.com as a technical support. I guess it would be better to include the manuals as part of the translation center itself.

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

Enrique Cavalitto wrote:

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
Another question is: if all communication with the outsourcer passes through that system, for how many years is that communication stored? Can I request copies sent by email of all the communication so I can keep it in one place together with all other email communication instead of having some of it scattered on online platforms?


The translation center was first used by Translators without Borders in the first half of 2011 and all the activity in this and all other instances of the platform are still available. There are plans to better integrate the translation center with the ProZ.com environment, and giving providers an unified access to all their translation center relationships is in the plans.



This doesn't actually answer my question. You already have a Connect system with messages from outsourcers posted online, but I don't get a copy by email, so if I don't remember to copy and paste messages from the outsourcer into draft emails in Outlook, I lose track of who has said what.

Now you're adding the translation center system with another message system. I want all my client communication in one place: my outlook file, so I can easily look up what has been agreed, and search in it. Your online message platforms are making it more complicated to keep track of communication, which is why I asked if it's possible to set such platforms to send me copies of everything by email.

Of course some inconvenience is acceptable if it results in increased revenue, but it's even better if such inconvenience can be avoided.


All communications in a translation center are notified by email.

We are currently working to improve the notifications area, with focus on:
a) Common subject line for all workflow notifications, so all emails from a same work order will be collected together by Gmail and similar emails programs
b) Including as attachment in the notifications key information such as the PO of a task assigned.
c) Additional notifications, especially in the finance area (related to the invoicing to outsourcers through the platform)
d) Enabling outsourcers to edit the content of some notifications.

Regards,
Enrique


 
Enrique Cavalitto
Enrique Cavalitto  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 17:41
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
How the translation center works Jul 3, 2017

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

You're presenting a new way of working, so we need to know what is different, and what is not, relative to how we usually work, such as for example if the non-payment risk to the translator is reduced, if Proz is doing any vetting of the companies in the system, if payment practices are affected (they are not, you say), etc.


The operation of the translation center can be explained in a nutshell as follows:

  • ProZ.com Business members have access to the translation center powered by ProZ.com to manage their translation work. Once an instance of the translation center has been created for a company, they can invite their employees to act as administrators, and then invite service providers to work for them within the platform, either by email or through a directory search through ProZ.com.

  • Work orders are created within the translation center and they can be shared with teams of translators who have already accepted the invitation to the platform. Depending on the mode selected by the job poster, service providers can either accept a task or leave a comment (for instance confirming availability and interest) and let the company assign the tasks among their selected providers.

  • Purchase orders are created together with the tasks.

  • Service providers can access the selected jobs, download files, access reference information, interact with PMs (and, depending on the settings, with other providers on the same job) and then upload their completed jobs and mark the tasks as complete.

  • Depending on the settings, translators can submit invoices to the managing company (including a copy of the actual invoice).

  • Depending on the settings, feedback can be left on providers and it can be visible to them, or only to the administrators of the managing company.

  • As indicated above, all communications are notified via email.



Freelancers should follow their own risk management procedures when deciding of they accept an invitation to join an instance of the translation center to work for a given outsourcer, or to accept a particular assignment.

Regards,
Enrique


 
Enrique Cavalitto
Enrique Cavalitto  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 17:41
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
Great feedback! Jul 4, 2017

Hi friends,

Thanks for your excellent feedback.

There is also a FAQ section dedicated to the TC but, once again, it is more focused on companies than on service providers. We will update and better integrate the several sources of information.

Regards,
Enrique


 
Mike (de Oliveira) Brady
Mike (de Oliveira) Brady  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Member (2008)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Appearance of phishing still unresolved Apr 3, 2018

Enrique Cavalitto wrote:

Sheila Wilson wrote:

nino0523 wrote:
I have just received an e-mail from a company including a link to their translation center. I did a research on what translation center is but I find it weird that the company's website asks me to log in with my proz.com information (it does say powered by proz.com on the bottom).

Is this normal with translation center or is it a scam? Company does have good rating on the Blue Board.

It's a feature of ProZ.com that's supposed to make everything simpler. But you aren't the first one to equate it more to a scam than to a simplification. It was discussed just a couple of weeks ago - it may even have been on the scam forum.

Hopefully ProZ.com will be getting the message that something needs to be done urgently.


Thanks Sheila, I agree that we need to improve this communications issue. Will be done soon.

Kind regards,
Enrique


I was just sent a link to a translationcenter.org domain and was surprised to be asked to supply my Proz.com password.

I raised a support ticket about this, pointing out that although I believe it to be genuine, this is a classic phishing scenario and asked if there was a way to access the workspace via Proz.com. I was told this is not possible, but if I am logged in to Proz.com, I should not be asked for a password from the translationcenter.org domain.

It does not work like this in the following situations, as I continue to be asked to provide my Proz.com password:

* Safari on iPhone
* Chrome on Samsung tablet running android

Is Proz.com going to address this issue? I am reluctant to enter my password outside the Proz.com domain.

Has anyone found the Proz.com login to work as described?


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 21:41
Member
English to Italian
Yes Apr 3, 2018

Mike (de Oliveira) Brady wrote:

Has anyone found the Proz.com login to work as described?


Yes. I recently received a similar "invitation" from an agency, and things were still as you described them. Three (3) years ago I received the first invitation of this kind, and raised a support ticket about it, since I had the same concerns raised by you and others.

But I'm confident everything needed to address these concerns "will be done soon"...


P.S. On a side note, I'd be curious to know whether this feature is actually really (and I mean really) used by clients and, if so, whether those clients are actually paying "reasonable" rates.


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Translation Center Log in and other issues






CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
Anycount & Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000

Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.

More info »