The Internet, smartphones, tablet computers, and other recent technological developments have fundamentally changed the way people interact and do business with one another. Communication is easy, even across great distances, and information is readily accessible to anyone who wants it. So how does this affect court reporters, for whom information and communication are of utmost importance? How can a court reporter in the Colorado area use this technology to make their job easier? There have been a number of advancements in stenography over the last few years. Here are just a few of the options court reporters in Denver have open to them.
Laptops and Computers
The most obvious advancement is laptops. Computers have become increasingly important in the court reporting process since their introduction to the field in the late 70s, and laptops make things easier for court reporters in Denver, both in and out of the courtroom.
Court reporters in Denver need to be able to take down perfectly accurate transcripts in realtime reporting, recording words at the incredibly rapid rate at which people speak them. Improvements to the design and functionality of stenograph machines are constantly being made to aid in this process. Now, court reporters in Denver can connect their stenographs to a laptop via a USB port and use special software to track transcripts in real time, creating a record that’s as accurate as possible, as quickly as possible. Voice recognition software can even transcribe a court reporter’s spoken words through a personal microphone, allowing them to make corrections, notes, etc. on the fly.
Transcript Storage and Access
Not only is taking accurate records much more user-friendly for court reporters in Denver, but storing and accessing those records has never been easier. When a transcript is finished, rather than being printed as a bulky paper copy that gets shoved away in a file cabinet, the file is saved to the cloud, in an online repository. Then, rather than having to dig through reams of unrelated papers to find it again, court reporters in Denver, as well as lawyers, judges, or any others who need it, can simply input data into a search engine, and find the record by date, name, or keyword. And the file will be just as easy to access the next day, the next month, or 10 years down the line.
Older hard copies of transcripts can be put into an online repository, too. Court reporters in Denver can scan them using software that creates not just images, but searchable digital files, that are just as easy to store, file, and locate as the newer ones. Access to these files can be made public, or restricted by password to as few or as many people as necessary.
Internet Streaming
But perhaps one of the best technological advancements for court reporters in Denver is Internet streaming. It connects people across the country and even across the globe, opening up a host of new possibilities. Through a simple webcam link, court reporters in Denver can transcribe depositions from expert witnesses in Phoenix, or Los Angeles, or anywhere else. An attorney can depose the witness remotely and still maintain a full record of their testimony. It saves on travel expenses and gives witnesses more opportunity to fit a deposition into their already busy schedules.
Video Conferencing
Video conferencing is an important advancement for court reporters in Denver for a number of reasons. Not just depositions, but any kind of meeting involving attorneys, judges, or witnesses can be done remotely, and the court reporter can get a record of it. And the video record can be saved and filed along with the transcript, for future reference. In fact, certain types of software can sync a court transcript with the video footage, allowing them to appear side by side on the screen, so that interested parties can follow along more easily.
Video conferencing also means that more people can sit in on a particular meeting. Rather than just sending a representative, an entire legal team can check in from wherever they are to take notes, offer opinions, and more. They can share pertinent documents with one another via e-mail, and those documents can be made part of the record as well. And it makes for a great learning tool, allowing newer lawyers to watch more experienced ones in action.
Almost every advancement in computer technology in recent years, from the Internet to iPhones to Cloud storage, has been designed to facilitate the communication of information. And that’s what court reporting technology does as well. Court reporters in Denver can now not only take down faster and more accurate transcripts than ever before, but also share those records instantly with lawyers, judges, witnesses, or even other court reporters in Denver and elsewhere. And this immediate communication of detailed, accurate information across great distances and multiple platforms is the backbone of today’s legal system.
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