Everything the record needs
From the moment court is in session to the day the certified transcript is delivered, in one system, on site or in the cloud.
Every microphone. Every camera. In step.
Each microphone channel is recorded on its own, and every camera is lined up with the audio automatically, so the picture always matches what was said.
- The sync agent measures each camera against the courtroom sound, using flashes and gavel strikes, the camera’s own microphone, and the camera’s timestamps once they agree with the other two. It re-measures after every reconnect and logs every change with its reason.
- A manual offset always wins until the operator hands it back to the agent.
- Aim the cameras from the Record page: pan, tilt and zoom, and saved positions such as Judge, Witness or Jury that bring a camera back with one click. Works with ONVIF and VISCA over IP cameras.
- Live cameras on the Record page, about a tenth of a second behind on the court network, each with a badge showing exactly how far behind live it is. It works the same for remote reporters, and nothing is sent while nobody is watching.
Sealed means silent, everywhere
When the court seals part of a recording, the hub itself silences it. It isn’t just hidden on the screen.
- Sealing needs two passwords, the person’s own and the site seal password, and produces an access key that is shown once.
- Silent in every copy. The transcript and tags for the sealed part are hidden too.
- Listening needs the right and the key, and the part reseals when playback closes. Unsealing needs the key and the site seal password.
- Sidebars are recorded but silent for anyone without the right to hear them, in playback and in copies.
A machine transcript as court proceeds
SmartRM turns the courtroom audio into text as it is recorded, using a speech engine on the court’s own computers or in the cloud.
- Labeled by microphone: each line carries the name of the channel that heard it, such as Judge or Witness.
- Sealed parts and sidebars stay hidden from people who may not hear them.
- Corrections keep the original. People with the right to edit the transcript can correct lines; the machine’s version is kept.
- Silence is skipped, not filled with made-up lines.
The rough draft is machine output. It is always marked as a rough draft, not the record.
Search what was said
The rough draft makes recordings searchable by the words spoken, alongside case number, caption, courtroom, date and tags.
A head start for transcripts
Transcribers and court reporters correct the rough draft against the audio and video instead of typing from nothing.
The reporter’s realtime, on every screen that needs it
A stenographer’s realtime text comes straight from their CAT software, as it is written, to the judge, the clerk and the court monitor.
- Page and line numbers, 25 lines to a page, with search and larger or smaller text.
- Each person’s own highlights and notes on lines, seen by nobody else, and a download with or without them.
- The reporter’s corrections change the lines everyone sees. Nobody edits the reporter’s text in SmartRM except a Live Editor, and the original is always kept.
- Go Off the Record holds the text from viewers until Back On the Record. Every hold is kept with who held it and when.
Works with the plain-text realtime output of CAT programs including Case CATalyst, Eclipse, ProCAT, StenoCAT, digitalCAT, AristoCAT and SpeechCAT.
Live Editors
A Live Editor, often a scopist, corrects the realtime text while it’s being written. Several can work at once and see who else is editing where. Corrected lines are marked, every change is kept with who and when, and Reporter’s Original shows the text exactly as written.
Two ways to connect
From the reporter’s own computer with the SmartRM Realtime Sender, paired once with a one-time code, or through the courtroom PC over the network or a serial cable. Realtime is uncertified and not the record, and every screen and download says so.
Find any moment. Hand over a copy anyone can check.
Search
By case number, caption, case type, courtroom, date, tags or the words in the rough draft. Results open at the moment that matched.
Playback
Audio channels, the cameras in sync, tags and the transcript side by side. The Playback List shows each day’s recordings; Session Information shows the reporter of record and every handoff.
Verifiable copies
Every export carries a certificate and a list of checksums, so a court can confirm the copy with ordinary tools. Sealed parts stay silent and sidebars are left out for people who may not hear them.
Older recordings move to the court’s archive after the retention period the court sets. Staff can ask for an archived recording back from Playback.
Play back into the courtroom, or speak into it
Play into Crtrm
For a read-back, play a recording through the courtroom’s speakers from where the player is, or just a marked part. Sealed parts and sidebars stay silent, and if the courtroom is recording, the read-back is recorded too.
Speak into Crtrm
A court reporter or monitor working away from the bench holds one button and talks to the courtroom through its speakers. The courtroom’s microphones record what is said, and a tag marks who spoke.
The right reporter in every courtroom
Requests from chambers, the docket from the court calendar and every reporter’s availability, on one Schedule page.
- Request a Reporter: judges, their secretaries and clerks ask online for a day, a session, a case or set times, and follow the request until someone is assigned.
- Import a calendar from PDF, CSV, XLS or XLSX, whatever its columns are called. SmartRM shows every case it found, and every line it skipped and why, before adding anything.
- The Assign dialog ranks reporters by best match: who’s free, who works for that courtroom or judge, how often they’ve worked there, and their rating.
- Flags problems: courtrooms with cases but no reporter, double-booking, time off, and reporters whose CAT dictionaries are more than 30 days old.
My Schedule
Reporters see their assignments, mark time off, upload dictionaries, steno notes and voice files, and see their pay on My Pay.
Rate Reporters
After an assignment, chambers, schedulers and production rate the reporter from one to five stars, with a comment.
Automatic recording
Assign Automatic recording to a courtroom that runs without a reporter: the hub records it for the assignment, then stops on its own.
From order to certified transcript, every step on record
Orders come in online from chambers, or by email, phone, order form or in person. Each gets a number, a turnaround and a due date, and overdue orders are flagged.
- OrderedRecordings linked at once, deposit billed
- AssignedTo a transcriber or court reporter
- In productionCorrecting the rough draft against audio and video
- ProofreadingApproved, or returned with notes
- CertifiedFixed as certified, with a SHA-256 fingerprint
- DeliveredReleased once the bill is paid
- Ordinary, 30 days
- 14-day
- Expedited, 7 days
- 3-day
- Daily
- Hourly
Sealed portions and sidebar conversations are left out of the certified transcript. More on the order workflow
Reporters paid and transcripts billed, from records SmartRM already keeps
The court sets its rates once. SmartRM works out what is owed from the Schedule and the transcript orders, so nobody retypes it.
- Pay runs, daily, weekly or monthly: appearances from the Schedule and certified transcripts (pages times the rate), each paid once. Billing reviews, approves and marks them paid, with printable statements and a CSV export.
- The court’s own rates, one list paid to reporters and one charged to ordering parties, each with the day it starts, so a raise can be entered ahead of time.
- Ordering parties pay before release: a deposit when the order comes in, the balance at certification, and a private link where they see their bills and, once paid, download the transcript.
- Payment details kept safe: taxpayer and bank numbers and W-9s are encrypted, billing staff see only the last four digits, and every full view is in the audit log.
My Pay
Reporters and transcribers see their own statements, and enter their own payment details and W-9.
No charge for chambers
Transcripts that judges, their secretaries and clerks order online are no charge. Billing can also waive a deposit or mark any order no charge.
Payments, refunds, voids
Billing records payments, refunds and voids, and changes or removes a line with a reason. Every step is in the audit log.
Captions on anyone’s phone, and the right interpreter booked
Everyone in the courtroom should be able to follow the hearing. SmartRM helps the court arrange it and puts it on the record.
- Live captions on a courtroom screen, or on a person’s own phone or tablet: staff hand out a caption code with a QR code, and no account is needed. Large text, their choice of colors and spacing.
- From the best source: the court reporter’s realtime when there is any, otherwise machine transcription. Off the record, sealed parts and sidebars are never shown.
- Codes end on time: at the end of the day, after 4 hours or a week, or the moment someone presses End.
- Interpreters: the court’s staff and contract interpreters, each language with a credential level. Booking warns when someone is already booked then, or isn’t listed for the language.
What each hearing needs
An interpreter and their language, captions or assistive listening, read from the court calendar when it’s imported and shown with the day’s docket.
On the record
The Record page lists the interpreters booked in the courtroom today, with Sworn and Takes over buttons that tag the moment.
Remote appearances
A camera or stream can be marked as a remote appearance, with where it comes from, such as a jail or a remote witness, in playback and live.
Say what you need. It asks before it acts.
The Assistant opens beside any page. Type, or hold the button and talk, in your own words.
- It does only what you could do yourself, in your own courtrooms.
- Before it changes anything it says exactly what it’s about to do and waits for you to press Do it.
- Answers “how do I…” questions from your role’s manual, and says where the answer came from.
- Runs where SmartRM runs, on the court’s computers or in the cloud, including turning speech into text.
See how it fits together in a day of court
Follow a hearing from the reporter request to the certified transcript.