Telephone-based remote interpreting has come into widespread use in multilingual encounters, all the more so in
times of refugee crises and the large influx of asylum-seekers into Europe. Nevertheless, the linguistic practices in this mode of
communication have not yet been examined comprehensively. This article therefore investigates selected aspects of turn-taking and
clarification sequences during semi-authentic telephone-interpreted counselling sessions for refugees (Arabic–German). A
quantitative analysis reveals that limited audibility makes it more difficult for interpreters to claim their turn successfully;
in most cases, however, turn-taking occurs smoothly. The trouble sources that trigger queries are mainly content-related and
interpreters vary greatly in the ways they deal with such difficulties. Contrary to what one might expect, the study shows that
coordination fails only rarely during telephone-based remote interpreting.