Phrase Platform
Centralized workflows have streamlined multilingual UI translation and supported long-term projects
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Phrase Localization Platform is the localization of user interface strings related to accounting software which is usable online.
Unfortunately, Phrase Localization Platform does not provide any preview of the string in context. I see strings of text but cannot see how they are visualized by the user, which is a major need for localization.
What is most valuable?
Phrase Localization Platform's best features include the preview pane, though all the best features offered are similar to other software.
Phrase Localization Platform has positively impacted my organization as it is a centralized platform where one of my clients uses it to handle all their vendors' files with just one platform, making it a unique and useful point to use.
What needs improvement?
Phrase Localization Platform can be greatly improved by providing the translator and reviewer a preview in context, meaning the ability to make strings appear as they are eventually visualized by the user, as this is a major need for localization.
The possibility to add a temporary termbase to each task may be useful so that each translator and reviewer can fill it in as they go through the translation or review, helping to maintain consistency throughout the file.
The most important improvement related to cloud features for Phrase Localization Platform is the possibility to have the cloud running in the European Union, as the European Union has strict rules related to data, and having vendors working on it in Europe would be a great help for their clients.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Phrase Localization Platform since about the beginning of my career when it was called Memsource, and it has been approximately 10 years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Phrase Localization Platform is stable, as it relies on mirroring the internet connection. One of my customers found a problem with the termbase, though I am not certain whether it was due to a Phrase Localization Platform fault or to the translation agency's error. Broadly speaking, it has been stable so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Phrase Localization Platform is effective as my direct customer, the translation agency, is very facilitated in using Phrase Localization Platform. They can manage all their projects in different languages, which is a feature that demonstrates good scalability.
How are customer service and support?
I have never gotten in touch with customer support for Phrase Localization Platform, as I have never needed it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have never switched entirely from another solution as I work with platforms that are needed by my customers, including Trados, memoQ, Smartling, XRF, and any other platform my customers need.
What was our ROI?
My general impression is that I do not have to pay for any licenses because my direct customer, which is the translation agency, likely pays for my account, allowing me to work without bearing the cost of the editor.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have always used the editor provided by my customers, so I have not used Phrase Localization Platform to settle price, costs, and licenses.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I consider using different platforms whenever my customers require it before choosing Phrase Localization Platform.
What other advice do I have?
Phrase Localization Platform works smoothly and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
I have never used the AI capabilities of Phrase Localization Platform.
Phrase Localization Platform is deployed in my organization in that I do not handle it myself, but several customers of mine have accounts in Phrase Cloud, which I understand is public cloud with private accounts. They provide me with the credentials to access their cloud so that I can be identifiable.
My advice to others looking into using Phrase Localization Platform is to pay particular attention to the context, which is not available at the moment for strings.
Teaching translation students has become more intuitive and now builds stronger CAT foundations
What is our primary use case?
I teach translation and introductory CAT courses—computer-assisted translation—and several of these courses rely on Phrase Localization Platform to help master's students get started with CAT before moving on to more complete tools.
For the introductory courses, I start with a demonstration of the main functions of Phrase Localization Platform before showing them how the editor works, then I have them create projects themselves, do alignments, and I go further into Phrase Localization Platform's advanced features so that they know how to manage projects from beginning to end on their own—splitting files, assigning them to other people, and that kind of work.
How has it helped my organization?
Phrase Localization Platform has allowed us to teach computer-assisted translation in a simpler and more intuitive way, because before we used to start right away with RWS's Trados tool, which was much harder to get to grips with, and memoQ was similar. Since we switched to Phrase Localization Platform, learning is simpler and more gradual, allowing students to have good foundations, even quite solid foundations, before they can take on more complete tools.
I have indeed noticed a better understanding of CAT principles since adopting Phrase Localization Platform, because it's a field that can be a bit complicated and obscure for students who have never heard of it and who only know translation through overwriting in Word. Phrase Localization Platform allows them to grasp the concepts more easily and to manage and understand more easily how things work in the real world in companies.
What is most valuable?
In my opinion, the most interesting features that Phrase Localization Platform offers are project creation and the fact that project creation is quite simple and fairly intuitive, especially for students who don't know CAT at the beginning of the year.
Project creation is particularly intuitive and effective for my students with this tool because the interface is not very complicated and is quite easy to get to grips with. The fact that there aren't options all over the place is beneficial, because many CAT tools have very extensive options and menus that make the interface quite hard to read.
What needs improvement?
In my opinion, I don't really see any improvement areas for Phrase Localization Platform at the moment, except maybe the fact that when you want to create sample projects, especially for students so they can practice, you have to do it for each person individually. It would be good to have a single project that could be duplicated, in which you could assign a student to that same project but so that they aren't all writing in the same project and each has their own subproject inside a single project. This would avoid having to create lots of them.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Phrase Localization Platform for 15 years, back when it was still called Memsource, because I was already using this software when I was a student, and I now use it as a teacher for CAT classes.
What other advice do I have?
Phrase Localization Platform is deployed in my organization using a private cloud connected to the university's account.
I don't know which cloud provider we use for Phrase Localization Platform because I'm not the one managing the account.
I don't really have any advice for using Phrase Localization Platform because it's a fairly simple tool; maybe one piece of advice would be to best assess the needs you expect from a CAT tool because there are tools that are nonetheless a bit more comprehensive. Since Phrase Localization Platform is quite simple and easy to use, it may lack some features that other tools could offer, so depending on the needs, it could end up being a bit limited.
I would rate Phrase Localization Platform a nine on a scale of one to ten because the tool is very comprehensive, easy to use, and helps you understand the basics of CAT well. The tool could be improved to allow project managers and administrators in particular not to have to create a multiplicity of projects for student training.
Using built-in search has boosted my workload capacity but still needs better offline editing
What is our primary use case?
I use Phrase Localization Platform in my projects by translating segment by segment, and whenever I am confused, I go to the section below where I can see how the original document looks. Sometimes, I feel that if it were structured in Trados, we could mix the qualities of Trados with Phrase. For example, in a Trados setup, if we have the option to see the original document, that would be great. There should actually be two options: one to see the original document always and another to see how it looks after I have translated it so far. As of now, in Phrase Localization Platform, we can only see the translated and untranslated parts in the original document, so there should be options to view both the original and translated documents. There could be two buttons—click one to see the original document and the other to see the translated document. I have always found Trados faster than Memsource whenever I worked.
What is most valuable?
Regarding the search feature, there is a search bar at the top of the document, so if I put a word there, I can see all the occurrences of that word highlighted, allowing me to change them one by one.
Phrase Localization Platform has positively impacted my work because it has helped me get more work; people always ask if I work on Phrase or Trados. I believe that Trados and Memsource, along with Phrase, have been equally useful, but since I knew Phrase, it has been really helpful for getting more projects and completing more work.
Phrase has helped me get more projects than before because clients wanted me to work on Phrase and always asked if I know Phrase, to which I always said that I do. This has been helpful, and it is useful in that if I want to change something in the whole document, I can search for it and change it.
What needs improvement?
I would add that it has been some time since I worked on Trados, and nowadays it seems to be declining, possibly because it is costly. If Phrase had offline working capabilities as Trados does, I believe that would make it faster. There should be an option to work offline and connect whenever needed if possible. Editing has also been easier in Trados, which I found very quick compared to Memsource and Phrase Localization Platform.
Regarding Phrase Localization Platform's AI capabilities, while AI does the work, it sometimes makes it difficult to correct mistakes, especially when AI outputs errors that are hard to detect. Human mistakes are easier to find; however, AI mistakes can be challenging. AI is used with very much clarity and can even be amusing at times. I do not save much time using only AI translation, but I save time when my own work is in front of me, similar to how it worked offline with Trados.
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
What was our ROI?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not have experience with pricing or setup costs because I did not purchase it; my client bought it for me and possibly shared the license with other users, so I have no idea how much it costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
I do not know what public cloud or what cloud means; my clients give me the ID and password, and I log in to work on Phrase Localization Platform. I do not work on it offline.
To others considering using Phrase Localization Platform, I would advise them to always watch the original document while working on the segments, as sometimes the segments may look different on their own, but it is when you see them together in the full document that the actual meaning becomes clear.
Glossary and QA features have ensured consistent technical translations for complex manuals
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Phrase Localization Platform is for translation and MTPE. I am usually issued with instruction manuals for engineering projects, specifically technical manuals where I have to translate the content. My main use case is translating technical manuals and content for engineering projects.
What is most valuable?
The best features that Phrase Localization Platform offers, in my experience, are the glossary and the QA option at the end.
The glossary and QA option help me in my work by definitely keeping consistency in my work.
Phrase Localization Platform has positively impacted my organization by being simple to use and helping to speed up my work. It speeds up my work particularly through the preview option, where I have the preview of the document and the manual underneath the translation platform, and that helps me keep consistency in my work.
What needs improvement?
For improvement, perhaps we need some kind of subsets of options in the glossary because many times I have the same term translated in different ways, but it just depends on context. It would be really useful if we had some kind of fields underneath each option that would suggest the use of the term depending on context.
I believe Phrase Localization Platform deserves an eight because if we had those extra glossary options, that would be great and would make it a nine. What keeps it away from a ten is that the QA list is really long, possibly due to the complexity of my language, Polish, which is quite difficult and has a lot of inflections, sometimes resulting in false positives regarding terminology. These are really false positives due to inflection. We might look at ways to make it shorter, perhaps if possible in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Phrase Localization Platform since it was created. Before that, I used Memsource, but I cannot quite remember when it started. It was definitely a couple of years ago.
What other advice do I have?
I connect remotely from my laptop to Phrase Localization Platform through login details, but I am not really sure about the deployment. I really do not know which cloud provider my organization uses for Phrase Localization Platform. I have never used the AI feature in Phrase Localization Platform. My advice for others looking into using Phrase Localization Platform is that I think it is a great product and recommend keeping using it, as it looks and is really convenient. I would rate Phrase Localization Platform a solid eight on a scale of one to ten.
AI Suggestions and Smart Memory That Cover All Our Translation Needs
Teaching future translators and delivering faster, higher-quality work has become seamless
What is our primary use case?
I mainly translate using Phrase Localization Platform and I teach my students as well. I have a subject at the university that is part of the curriculum where I teach them how to use Phrase Localization Platform as a translator. I am also aware of some assignments by dedicated project managers. I mainly translate in the software.
In my translation work, for example, legal documents such as contracts, sometimes without identity data, have been very useful in speeding up my work and making it faster. In an academic setting, I have used Phrase Localization Platform for translating technical texts and analyzing them with my students from segment to segment. There have been a variety of projects I have worked with.
Phrase Localization Platform has very useful functions with regard to speeding up a translator's work. I have also noticed that Phrase Localization Platform is very user-friendly compared to some other software that has emerged over the past two years because it is intuitive and when you have some translation problems, for example, it is very easy to use term bases and also AI-generated translations without much effort. Phrase Localization Platform helps you to focus precisely on translation, not navigating through the IT interface.
How has it helped my organization?
At the moment, I do not work at a translation agency anymore, but I think that Phrase Localization Platform offered a great use for project managers as well. It was very intuitive and user-friendly. Both project managers and translators could interact well with each other. For example, you could add comments in the software, and I think Phrase Localization Platform is based on the KISS principle, keep it simple. For me as a translator, it is always useful when you have simple and clear workflows, which Phrase Localization Platform is fluent in.
Communication with project managers and also when the texts needed editing was very time-efficient. The communication between a translator and an editor was excellent. I also noticed that my translations were of high quality because I did not have to focus so much on the tool but on the translation, and the software helped me to optimize my work by taking away more difficult or tedious tasks, for example, entering numbers and repetitions. I had more time to focus on the content.
What is most valuable?
The user interface is very clear and user-friendly and finding terms and speeding up my translation process by filtering segments is very easy and user-friendly compared to some other new software. Phrase Localization Platform is my first option at the moment.
Filtering segments has helped me to speed up the process because I filter the shortest segments first to confirm them and if there are any non-translatables or repetitive segments, then it is also helpful in this regard. Filtering also helps me to find similar segments or similar content very fast without too many clicks on other buttons. The term finding is useful when I'm selecting the relevant term and it auto-suggests what I should put in. These two functions have made my lengthy translation process very useful.
Regarding the AI or generative AI functions, they may help to speed up the process and make it more efficient, but at the same time, I am really supportive of machine translation output that Phrase Localization Platform is offering. Sometimes in a translator's work, it is more useful to base your translation process on MT output and term bases rather than generative AI output because it may make the process more complicated.
What needs improvement?
I think in the era of generative AI, it could be improved in a way that generative AI is able to understand or focus on domains within the translation. The translation process is supported by AI, but at the same time, AI distinguishes between domains, for example, legal, technical, or medical texts. I do not have to prompt so much in order to use generative AI as a supporting agent, but rather distinguish between those domains. That is the layer I am missing. At the same time, I do not want Phrase Localization Platform to become just a tool, but an assisting agent for translation.
At the moment, I am not certain about the needed improvements because it really is the best translation software at the moment for me. It is very convenient to teach it to university students as well because it is so clear. However, it may be worth considering that translators do not need more tool-based data or information, but rather a focus on the translation process. Thanks to software, translators have more time to focus on the content and communication of the translation texts rather than just the tool and its functionalities because if too much time is spent on learning those functions, it hinders the translation process.
For how long have I used the solution?
I believe the year was 2017 when the translation agency that I worked at adopted Memsource and then Memsource became Phrase Localization Platform. I have been using it since 2017 or around that time, which is a long time.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I remember that there were some outages, but they were fixed very quickly and I do not remember Phrase Localization Platform disrupting my work in any way, so it is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
With large translation projects, there were some problems because the input was too large sometimes and it kind of delayed the whole process. All in all, I think Phrase Localization Platform is very reliable with growing workloads and they are also developing this scalability. I think Phrase Localization Platform has become more efficient in servicing bigger projects and more users. I am handling it by myself at the moment, and in spring I had 13 students working on that, so we managed well and did not have any disruptions or delays.
How are customer service and support?
I have not had contact with customer support really because these few outages were addressed directly on their website. I think they would be great because project managers were mainly communicating with them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Phrase Localization Platform, or Memsource as we remember, I mainly used MemoQ and then also Trados. When you translate, you cannot really choose the software. In Estonia, translation agencies do not solely use one program or platform. They use several depending on the client's needs, so I can say MemoQ and Trados.
What was our ROI?
From my individual perspective, I have seen that I got faster as a translator, so of course, there was an increase in salary because my work was performance-based. At the moment, I am not so certain about the performance and money gains because I am currently not actively translating, but I think it is the perfect tool to teach to students because its logic is similar to those translation tools that have been on the market for about 20 years, including Trados and MemoQ. The benefit is that you can teach the initial logic and then the students can use other translation programs because they are already familiar with that. Phrase Localization Platform just makes it easier to learn.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
At the translation agency, I did not come into contact with issues regarding pricing. It was up to project managers and their managers and the owner. I cannot comment on that. At the university right now, we got a free academic license, which I am very grateful for because teaching Phrase Localization Platform to future translation students is of utmost importance, so they could launch their careers and comply with the needs of the market.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
At the translation agency, I did not have the power to choose. It was the management's decision. For the university, Phrase Localization Platform was a very good option because of the user-friendliness function.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this product a nine out of ten.
I am of the opinion that nothing is perfect. There is always room for improvement, but I think Phrase Localization Platform ranks really high because I have also worked with other translation software, and as a translator, I really appreciate that Phrase Localization Platform has taken the time to question or ask questions from translators as the real users of the software.
I trust that Phrase Localization Platform is aware of security issues and I am somewhat skeptical of AI at times because it is a rather black box. We do not see how it is functioning inside. At the same time, I am pretty sure that when we use mailboxes and other features, Phrase Localization Platform has thought about security and confidentiality in other matters. I am trusting the process.
There have been some errors, for example, in Estonian, some terminology may be off or there may be some errors. All in all, I think it is quite reliable. At times, it depends on the text. If you have a contract template, for example, it may be reliable and accurate, but at the same time when you have a press release or a museum text, then you have to be very critical of it. Because translation is not about putting one word into another language, but rather trying to grasp the idea of transferring and communicating the message from one language to another depending on the domain, whether it is legal, medical, technical, museum, entertainment, marketing, and so on. It is difficult to generalize because it depends on the text I am translating.
The translation agency where I worked used a private cloud. It was secure, and no data could be given out. It was a private cloud and it was on-premises as well. Employees had their own login credentials and then they could work in a cloud.
I believe it was a local telecommunications provider.
Phrase Localization Platform is user-friendly and supports the translating process, and I give this platform a rating of nine. For me, it is the first CAT tool to start with.
Simple web projects have been managed smoothly, but complex translations still need better support
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Phrase Localization Platform is primarily for IT translation projects or marketing projects.
Regarding my main use case for Phrase Localization Platform, I use it mainly for Toshiba marketing projects, and in the past, some other customers have requested that I use it for other projects, but none were particularly specific or stood out to me.
How has it helped my organization?
Phrase Localization Platform has not positively impacted my organization or my freelance work.
The specific reason why Phrase Localization Platform has not had a significant positive impact is because it is not frequently requested by customers, and I am uncertain whether it will become more widespread among customers globally. This lack of adoption means it does not shorten my productivity time or help reduce my workflow or speed up my processes.
What is most valuable?
The best features Phrase Localization Platform offers are that it is quite easy to use, although I do not prefer Phrase too much overall.
What makes Phrase Localization Platform easy to use for me is mainly the interface, which is quite intuitive. The main interface has a dashboard that is very accessible, and you can find options that are intuitive with all the main ones immediately visible and easy to locate.
What needs improvement?
While discussing the features of Phrase Localization Platform, what is frustrating is that you cannot customize the shortcuts with your keyboard, and it is also not easy to export and use external QA software such as Xbench. This is quite frustrating because every translator is accustomed to different QA tools, and this should be an option that is immediately available.
Regarding improvements for Phrase Localization Platform, another negative aspect is the browser compatibility. When I use Firefox, I need to increase the character size because I cannot see it clearly, but when I use a larger character size, you lose some parts of the options visually. This could be improved, as well as the overall organization, as it is not a tool I prefer.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Phrase Localization Platform for approximately five to seven years.
How was the initial setup?
Phrase Localization Platform is not installed locally; I use it on the cloud within my customer's platform, where I was required to create an account with a username and password, and then I access Phrase Localization Platform through their platform. I presume this is a private cloud setup.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Phrase Localization Platform a seven out of ten.
I chose seven out of ten because I cannot say that it is a bad tool, but it is not a ten because it is not a perfect tool compared to Trados or other tools I have used. I give it a seven because it is not bad enough to receive a five or four, but it does need some improvements.
I cannot provide information about AI capabilities in Phrase Localization Platform because I am not permitted to use them with my customers, and I do not have any experience with AI within Phrase Localization Platform.
I do not know which cloud provider I use for accessing Phrase Localization Platform because it is my customer's cloud provider.
My advice to others considering Phrase Localization Platform is to use it for very simple projects, not complex projects. I especially recommend avoiding projects that require extensive searching in translation memories or term bases, or projects with complex structures such as PDFs full of photos, images, or tables.
Fast and intuitive
Intuitive, Powerful Real-Time Translation with Flawless Results
Online translation has improved my speed but interface pop-ups still slow down review work
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Phrase Localization Platform is translating and proofreading texts for my clients. I do not have anything else to add about my main use case or the types of projects I handle with Phrase Localization Platform.
What is most valuable?
The best features Phrase Localization Platform offers are that it is pretty fast to use and it is similar to other CAT tools from my field, so it is easy to start working with it.
What stands out to me about its speed and similarity to other CAT tools when I am working on projects is that it is an online tool, so I do not have to wait much for segment confirmation and to load my projects.
Phrase Localization Platform has positively impacted my work and my clients, but from what I know, they are not fully happy about some features, especially regarding the AI translations because for Polish, which is my target language, they turned out to be of low quality.
Unfortunately, I do not know about any positive outcomes or benefits I have noticed in terms of workflow, speed, or client satisfaction because I am not working this closely with the client.
What needs improvement?
I would add that I do not prefer some of the UI choices, especially when I use the LQA feature, because when I finish the translation, the pop-up messages are hiding some important buttons for me, and I often forget to confirm a specific feature, which is problematic for my end client.
I would improve Phrase Localization Platform by enhancing the UI so that the most important parts, the buttons, are not hidden behind the pop-up messages. I would also add some more customization features such as colors and a dark mode, for example, changing the QA feature so that I can do it in batches instead of segment by segment because this makes me slower. Additionally, a customization of key binding would be useful.
These cover my main concerns about the needed improvements.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Phrase Localization Platform for around five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Phrase Localization Platform is usually stable in my experience.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have no idea how Phrase Localization Platform's scalability is from what I have seen because I am not dealing with scalability issues.
How are customer service and support?
I have not needed to reach out for customer support from my perspective.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not switched to a different solution; I use MemoQ on a regular basis and Crowdin.
I have not evaluated other options before choosing Phrase Localization Platform; it is what is provisioned to me as a freelance translator, so I am using various solutions depending on the client.
How was the initial setup?
I am not dealing with pricing and setup for Phrase Localization Platform because I am a freelance translator, so a license is provided to me.
What was our ROI?
I do not know if I have seen a return on investment such as time saved or fewer manual steps that I could share because I am not dealing with those topics.
What other advice do I have?
I have not seen any improvements needed that we have not discussed yet. I am happy that the notification system started to work and I receive notifications about new comments to my mailbox, and that is an improvement.
I would advise others looking into using Phrase Localization Platform that they might be interested in Crowdin because it seems to me that it has some better UI features and more integration. I would rate this product a 7 out of 10.