The Vital Role of Digital Court Reporters in Legal Proceedings (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Every court reporter is an officer of the court and is bound by a strict code of professional ethics. Digital reporters serve an important role as guardians of the record. They capture and preserve the record through the use of microphones and digital audio recording technology. First, digital reporters capture sound by placing a series of microphones throughout the space in which they are working. To do this, digital reporters use several types of microphones with different pickup patterns or abilities to capture sound from different directions. When a digital reporter arrives on site for a proceeding, they place their microphones in strategic areas in the room to ensure that they can hear and accurately capture every participant in the room. Digital reporters use professional quality headphones to monitor the sound they are capturing at all times. To ensure that they capture the highest quality audio possible, they adjust the volume of each individual microphone through the use of a multi-track recorder or audio mixing console. In addition to this recording device, digital reporters also strategically place backup field recorders throughout the room and use software capture programs to create additional, distinct recordings. To ensure that the record they capture is accurate and complete, digital reporters are trained to interject immediately and seek clarification if they are unable to understand exactly what was said.

Speaker 2: I'm sorry, could you repeat that for me? I could not hear you. Oh, the intersection of Lee Highway and Arlington Boulevard.

Speaker 1: In addition to mixing their microphones and capturing a complete audio record, digital reporters use industry-specific software to take detailed notes about their proceedings and associate key events with timestamps in their audio recordings. In this log, digital reporters capture information about exhibits, speaker changes, difficult spellings, nonverbal events, and much more. This information log is sent to the transcriber after the proceeding, along with the digital reporter's three distinct audio recordings and any exhibits that were marked. Each transcript has two certificates attached, one from the reporter and one from the transcriber. By associating key events and speaker changes with specific timestamps in the audio, digital reporters can instantaneously play back sections of the audio they just captured upon request, including previous questions and answers from the proceeding.

Speaker 2: What was it that struck the vehicle? I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? Mr. Co-reporter, can you play that back, please? Absolutely. Please stand by. What was it that struck the vehicle? Oh, it was a motorcycle.

Speaker 1: Planet Depot's digital reporters are notaries public and are authorized to administer the oath at the beginning of any deposition proceeding. Digital reporters also serve as willing custodians of the exhibits and are able to organize and mark exhibits upon request.