12 Must-have translation management system features

Choosing the right TMS means looking for an option that has the specific translation management system features that align with your business needs. The ideal TMS for your business should help you enhance productivity, reduce errors, and deliver consistent, high-quality translations. Below are the key aspects to evaluate:

User-friendly interface

A translation management system should enable both technical and non-technical users to navigate the platform effortlessly. An easy-to-use system minimizes the learning curve and allows teams to quickly adopt the tool and focus on the core task of translation. A well-designed interface means seamless access to key functions, including project creation, translation assignments, and progress tracking.

Workflow automation

Also important is workflow automation, the cornerstone of modern TMS platforms. It includes features like automated file handling, notifications, and task assignments. These help save time and reduce manual errors. Thanks to workflow automation, you ensure that translation tasks move smoothly through the pipeline, from initial submission to final approval. If you’re a business operating on tight schedules, the integration of automated workflows is a must-have translation management system feature.

Integration capabilities with existing tools

You also need to be able to integrate your TMS with existing tools. A good system should connect with development tools, content management systems, design software, and other tools your organization uses regularly. This integration eliminates the need for time-consuming manual data transfers. This way, your content updates and translations are synchronized in real time.

Advanced translation management systems also offer APIs and connectors that allow for custom integrations. This is useful for businesses with specialized needs. Moreover, integration capabilities allow your TMS to grow alongside your business, adapting to new tools and technologies as they emerge.

Support for your preferred language pairs

One of the most important features to look for in a TMS is— and you might say it’s obvious—support for your preferred language pairs. A good TMS should offer the flexibility to handle those language combinations. This feature ensures that the translators and teams working on different language pairs can collaborate efficiently, because they need to maintain consistency and accuracy across translations.

Support for multiple file formats

Businesses usually produce content in many different formats, from Word documents to web-based applications and multimedia files. You naturally want a TMS that supports a wide range of file types to ensure compatibility. Ideally, users should be able to upload and translate files without needing to convert them to a compatible format first.

Translation memory

Translation memory (TM) is indispensable for maintaining consistency in multilingual content. A TMS with robust TM functionality stores previously translated content and automatically reuses it when similar text appears in new projects. It’s a great way to speed up the translation process and ensures uniformity across documents.

Statistics show that incorporating TM in your localization workflow can result in productivity gains ranging from 10% to 70%, cutting down delivery time by an average of 50%.

Glossary management

Glossary management, on the other hand, provides a centralized repository for brand-specific terms, industry jargon, and preferred phrasing. Translators can refer to these glossaries to align their work with the company’s style guide. It’s vital that the output resonates with the target audience. Together with TM, these translation management system features are vital for building and maintaining a cohesive brand voice across multiple languages.

Machine translation integration

Machine translation is such a valuable tool in modern localization, and countless businesses rely on it to handle large volumes of content. A TMS that integrates machine translation offers a significant advantage, because users can quickly generate initial drafts and accelerate the translation process.

According to statistics, more than 70% of independent language professionals are utilizing machine translation to varying extents. Marketing professionals are using this technology too; about nearly 40% of the them embrace machine translation, and more than 80% are satisfied with the quality of the output.

Automated quality checks

Automated quality checks are a major feature to consider when evaluating a translation management system. These checks help you figure out if the translations meet predefined standards of accuracy, consistency, and completeness before they are finalized. Look for a TMS with built-in quality assurance tools that can detect issues such as spelling errors, grammatical inconsistencies, untranslated segments, and formatting discrepancies.

Scalability

As your business grows and expands into new markets, your translation needs often increase in complexity and volume. You need a scalable TMS that can accommodate growing workloads without compromising performance. This scalability may include adding new users, handling larger projects, or expanding into additional languages.

Cloud-based accessibility

Cloud-based accessibility is another critical feature to consider. Cloud platforms allow for real-time collaboration among geographically dispersed teams. A cloud-based TMS ensures that all stakeholders—translators, project managers, and reviewers—can work in sync.

Good customer support

When implementing a TMS, having reliable customer support can make all the difference. From initial setup and onboarding to troubleshooting and ongoing maintenance, proper customer support enables your team to resolve any issue quickly and get the most out of the platform. A responsive support team can guide users through technical challenges and provide best practices to optimize usage. This is a key translation management system feature for ensuring smooth operation and maximizing ROI from the software.

Why choose POEditor as your TMS

We designed POEditor with flexibility and collaboration in mind, so that it caters to businesses of all sizes. It’s the ideal tool for developers, project managers, and localization experts. And the reason for that is that our platform offers the translation management system features you need.

POEditor provides real-time updates and centralized communication tools to keep everyone on your team on the same page. One of the platform’s most impressive strengths is its compatibility with a wide range of file formats, including JSON, XML, PO, XLIFF, and more. It also integrates with popular tools like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, making it a natural fit for developers.

Our TMS incorporates automated quality checks to ensure that your translations meet high standards of accuracy and consistency. You can also take advantage of our translation memory, which stores previously translated text, so that your team can reuse existing translations for future projects. This speeds up the process and reduces costs.

Whether you’re a startup or a large enterprise, POEditor’s scalable pricing plans make it accessible to businesses with varying localization needs.