emails a CONFIRMATION of the assignment specifics to you, the available and confirmed Sign Language Interpreting subcontractor, and states that you have been officially scheduled. This is the document that outlines the consensus between the parties after they have made a verbal agreement. Included in the confirmation are pertinent details regarding:

	date/time/duration of assignment
	customer name
	consumer name
	special communication needs (tactile, foreign sign, etc)
	teammate name and email address
	meeting details or purpose
	agendas and schedules
	location address, building, room numbers
	contact numbers
	billing information SLR job number number of billable hours travel, if applicable rate (negotiated at time of acceptance phone call or email)

Any additional information that is passed onto SLR from the customer will be forwarded to the contracted interpreter(s). Such documents may be emailed, faxed, or mailed to you. This information might include:

	special parking instructions
	clearance or sign-in information
	case information, captions, complaints
	preparation documents such as songs or speeches
	directions, maps*

* Please note that it is the Sign Language interpreter's responsibility to verify his or her own directions by checking with a travel site on the internet (see TRAVEL, WEATHER, & NEWS) or by calling the contact person. Should directions or maps be available from the requestor, and on file with SLR, we will gladly forward them to the interpreter.

PREPARATION FOR AN ASSIGNMENT

Please be aware that Sign Language Resources strives to pass on information that will be helpful in arriving at the proper location and the ways to obtain the information needed to do your work once there. If more than the usual is given to us, we will forward that as well. It is expected that all Sign Language interpreters contact the necessary parties to ask specific questions in order to perform the task optimally. An example of this would be a court assignment where SLR would pass on the requestor's name and phone number, parties' names, judge's name, location, type of case and reason for the proceeding, and attorney's names and phone numbers if obtainable. If the case is complicated, the interpreter is encouraged to contact the court clerk and attorneys to gain valuable information in order to be totally prepared to do the job. Another example would be a medical assignment for a particular surgery. The research and preparation into the particular anatomical implications are left to the scheduled Sign Language interpreter.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

When this confirmation is emailed to you, it is required that you respond to the email with an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. This is done by responding to the email, making sure the original confirmation from Sign Language Resources is included, and typing the word "ACK" in your reply. This lets SLR know that the information has been received, read, understood, and the agreement made is depicted correctly in the document. Since SLR keeps track of these acknowledgments, your prompt attention to these confirmations would be greatly appreciated.

There have been some interpreters who have thought that an "ACK" was only to indicate that they were in receipt of the document. At the last moment, perhaps the night prior to the assignment, the interpreter then looked over all of the information to transfer into his or her calendar, and only then discovered that they had additional questions. This, unfortunately, is often too late to obtain such information. Or, after the assignment, the Sign Language interpreter realized that travel time was not included. Regrettably, it is then too late to negotiate additional charges with the customer.

Sign Language Resources, Inc. would like all parties; customers, consumers, the agency contractor, and Sign Language interpreter subcontractors, to be completely satisfied with all arrangements and services. It is required that you look through the information immediately when you receive it, preferably within one business day, and before you respond with an "ACK" please forward any questions or disagreements that you may have. This way SLR will be able to proceed with confidence that the information is satisfactory to all. Naturally, should additional questions arise later, SLR will be more than happy to entertain them.

LEGAL OBLIGATION

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