Tag Archives: real-time reporting

Why Demand for Real Time Court Reporting is Skyrocketing

The US legal industry has undergone massive changes, as has the legal market in Phoenix, Arizona. But one thing that continues to remain constant is the shift from standard court reporting to real-time Phoenix court reporting. This is no accident. Here’s a look at why this trend is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.

In recent years realtime court reporting in Phoenix, AZ has grown at a phenomenal pace and many believe that the industry will continue to grow. There are many reasons for the uptick. Not the least of which have been convenience, along with greater competition in the legal sector especially with Phoenix Court Reporters.

Nonetheless, these factors alone are not enough to account for the rapid expansion that the field has undergone.  Indeed, there are multiple issues at play rather than a single driver. However, before we explore the conditions that are driving the movement, let’s first take a look at what the term real-time court reporting really means.

What Is Realtime Court Reporting? 

There are several different variations of court reporting and real-time court stenography is one of them. The characteristic that separates it from standard court reporting is that when the stenographer inputs the short hand, it is immediately transformed into English text, whereas traditional court transcription requires someone to do this manually.

Many legal professionals would define realtime stenography as electronically sending the shorthand from the stenograph keyboard to a laptop, which runs real-time transcription software. In turn, the software transmits the testimony to electronic receivers that can display the feed on phones, monitors, computers and etc.

For example, if you were conducting a deposition and your reporter was transmitting the transcript real-time, here is how the process might look:

  1. The witness gives their testimony.
  2. The reporter uses his stenograph, which is connected to his laptop.  Since the laptop is already configured to run the realtime stenography software, as the reporter types his statements they are automatically converted into English text.
  3. As the statements are typed, they are simultaneously streamed to the reporter’s feed.
  4. Anyone who can access the feed would is then able to view and interact with the testimony.

Why the Legal Industry Is Turning to the Real-Time Model 

video depositions law firmHere are three reasons that real-time stenotype continues to generate massive interest within the legal community:

Technology Meets Convenience – With the advancement of technology it is now possible to store thousands and thousands of transcripts on a single SD card. Equally impressive is the fact that this gives you the ability to search among mountains of data to find and retrieve individual cases almost immediately.

Furthermore, the technology that is used to display the transcript shares much in common with the system used in close captioning for TV. In fact, this is another reason that proponents of realtime reporting enjoy using it so often — it also makes depositions accessible to the hearing impaired.

Additionally, unlike closed captioning on your TV – the user can actually interact with realtime transcripts.For instance, you can take notes on them, add bookmarks and etc.

Realtime Phoenix, AZ Court Reporting Simplifies Proceedings – Allowing legal professionals to read, notate or highlight certain portions of the testimony can help streamline your proceedings. Essentially, it gives you the opportunity to continue on with your proceedings – uninterrupted. Likewise, this type of court reporting is also beneficial to the other experts involved in the proceedings because it gives them realtime access to witness testimonies.

Realtime Transcription Cuts Costs – Perhaps the biggest reason that so many in the legal industry have been transitioning to real-time court reporting is the cost-savings. There are two ways to save money with real-time transitioning:

  1. Transmitting the deposition transcript – remotely – eliminates the need for costly travel arrangements.
  2. It gives attorneys who are unable to be physically present, during the deposition, the opportunity to ask questions and communicate with the onsite lawyers – remotely. This means that many of the secondary depositions you’ve had to make prior to going ‘realtime’ can be a thing of the past!

These are but a few of the reasons that realtime court reporting has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years. While there are undoubtedly more, the reasons above are the most commonly accepted explanations for the recent developments impacting Phoenix’s court reporting industry.

About the Author

Phoenix Deposition Services has been committed to meeting the needs of our clients for over 30 years. That’s why each of our Phoenix, AZ court reporters have been thoroughly trained in the field of court reporting and it’s also been the driving force behind our many successes.

So the next time you need deposition assistance contact the realtime court reporting professionals at Phoenix Deposition Services. Call us at 888-474-9337.