On your network, on your terms
SmartRM runs on computers the court owns, or with its hub in the cloud, with the court’s own accounts and certificates. Here is what goes where and what it needs.
The parts and where they run
| Part | Where it runs | Network |
|---|---|---|
| Management Hub | One server per site: in the courthouse, a court data center, or the cloud. | Staff browsers and courtroom PCs connect to it. HTTPS with the court’s certificate. |
| Courtroom PC | One per courtroom, running the SmartRM Server software and its media engine for the audio interface and cameras. | Connects out to the hub only. Nothing has to reach a courtroom PC from outside. |
| SmartRM Client | Any up-to-date browser, or the desktop program for Windows and Mac. | Connects to the hub and nothing else. |
| Realtime Sender | A court reporter’s own computer. | Connects out to the hub over HTTPS, paired once, certificate pinned. |
Straightforward to put in, easy to move
- Windows installer: one package installs SmartRM on a Windows 10 or 11 PC with everything it needs, starts it on its own, and opens the firewall for the court network only.
- macOS too: the hub and courtroom PCs can be Macs, starting at login and restarting after a crash.
- Enroll each courtroom with a one-time code from the hub’s Servers page, then set its channels, cameras and courtroom there.
- Moving to a new PC is a restore: the installer can restore a backup first.
- A guide to the PC to buy for the hub and courtroom computers comes with SmartRM.
Courtroom hardware
- PoE or PoE+ PTZ IP cameras for permanent installs, controlled over ONVIF or VISCA over IP
- An audio interface or DSP on Dante or AVB, or any ASIO, WASAPI or Core Audio device
- The courtroom PC’s sound output to the speakers, for read-backs
- Chrome or Edge for the station display, full screen
Speech-to-text, on site or in the cloud
The live rough draft and the Assistant’s voice use a speech engine such as whisper.cpp or faster-whisper, on the court’s own hardware or in the cloud. On site, a GPU is strongly recommended for more than a few courtrooms.
Fits the systems the court already has
Sign-in
OpenID Connect single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID, AD FS or another OIDC service. Each person’s court sign-in name is set in SmartRM, and the settings page shows whether the court’s sign-in answers and the address to register.
Certificates
SmartRM can make a site certificate authority and hub certificate for the court; install the authority as a trusted root with Group Policy. Or use the court’s existing certificates and reverse proxy.
Calendars and mail
Court calendars import from PDF, CSV, XLS or XLSX files the case management system already produces. Problem reports and backup notices go through the court’s own mail server.
Camera and stream sources
- RTSP
- SRT
- RTMP
- WebRTC / WHIP
- NDI
- USB & capture cards
- ONVIF & VISCA control
CAT software realtime
- Case CATalyst
- Eclipse
- ProCAT
- StenoCAT
- digitalCAT
- AristoCAT
- SpeechCAT
Plan the disk
Audio is stored uncompressed, 16-bit at 16 kHz, one track per microphone channel: about 115 MB per channel per hour. Video is H.264 and depends on the cameras.
After the retention period the court sets, recordings are copied to the archive, checked, and removed from the hub. Staff can ask for an archived recording back.
| Audio, one courtroom | Per day (6 h) | Per year (250 days) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 channels | ≈ 2.8 GB | ≈ 0.7 TB |
| 8 channels | ≈ 5.5 GB | ≈ 1.4 TB |
| 16 channels | ≈ 11 GB | ≈ 2.8 TB |
Looking after it
System Status
Disk space, connected servers, recordings, speech engines and alerts, behind one coloured dot.
Servers page
Each courtroom’s levels, cameras, upload backlog, clock and errors. Identify flashes and beeps a station.
Backups
Nightly and self-checked, with Back Up Now, including the key for payees’ encrypted details. Status warns when backups are off, failing or late. One command restores.
Updates
Update when nothing is recording. Uploads waiting on courtroom PCs carry on; open pages offer to reload.
Talk to us about your courtrooms
Tell us how many courtrooms you have and what’s in them, and we’ll go through what a SmartRM install would look like.