The platform

Three parts. One record.

One PC in each courtroom captures it. The Management Hub keeps it. The SmartRM Client puts it in front of the people who need it. On the court’s own computers and hub, in the cloud, or both.

How SmartRM fits together One PC in each courtroom records and uploads to one Management Hub on the court's own network. Staff reach the hub in a browser or the SmartRM Client. A remote courtroom connects out to the hub over HTTPS. Or the hub can be hosted in the cloud. THE COURT’S OWN NETWORK Courtroom 1 One courtroom PC records mics and cameras Courtroom 2 One courtroom PC records mics and cameras Courtroom N One courtroom PC up to 100 courtrooms per hub upload Management Hub one per court site Recordings, search, playback People, roles and permissions Schedule and reporter requests Sealing, sidebars, copies Transcript orders Speech-to-text engine Audit log and nightly backups Reporters & monitors Record, tag, seal, realtime browser · SmartRM Client · Sender Judges & chambers Review, request, order any up-to-date browser Office & production Schedule, transcripts, admin any up-to-date browser Remote courtroom One PC, in another building outbound HTTPS only Or the hub can be hosted in the cloud
Every courtroom connects out to the hub, whether the hub is in the courthouse or in the cloud. Nothing has to accept a connection from a courtroom.
The parts

What runs where

SmartRM Management Hub

One per court site. It holds every recording, the people and what each may do, search, sealing, copies, reports, the schedule, transcripts and orders. It also manages the courtroom PCs: enrolling them, watching their health, changing their settings.

Courtroom PC

One ordinary PC per courtroom, running the SmartRM Server software. It captures every microphone channel and every camera, records to its own disk first, then uploads to the hub in pieces it can resume. Its sync agent keeps every camera lined up with the audio.

SmartRM Client

The screens staff use, in any up-to-date browser: Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. Each person sees only the pages their role allows. The courtroom station display runs on each courtroom PC.

SmartRM Client for Windows and Mac

A program for court staff that opens SmartRM from the court’s own hub without a web browser. It connects to nothing but the court’s hub. Court IT installs it from the court’s software share; sign-in is kept, and the microphone is ready for Speak into Crtrm and the Assistant.

SmartRM Realtime Sender

A small program on the court reporter’s own computer. It takes the realtime text from their CAT software and sends it to the hub, signed in as the reporter, for the courtroom of their assignment. Nothing is plugged into the courtroom, and text is kept on the computer while the hub can’t be reached.

Resilience

Built so a recording is never lost

The courtroom doesn’t wait for the network. It records first and uploads after.

  • Records to the courtroom PC’s own disk first. The hub receives each piece once it’s safe.
  • Uploads resume where they stopped after a network drop or a hub restart, and catch up on their own.
  • The courtroom controls keep working even when the hub can’t be reached: Record, Pause, Stop, Sidebar and QuickTags.
  • The audio device’s own clock is the reference for everything. If audio is ever lost, the record says so, as a marked gap.
Recording carries on through a network drop The courtroom records without a break. When the link to the hub drops, pieces wait on the courtroom's own disk, then upload and catch up when the link returns. Courtroomrecords Link tothe hub Uploadto the hub RECORDING, NO BREAK link down kept on the courtroom’s disk catches up 10:0010:1010:2010:30
In the courtroom

The courtroom station

Each courtroom PC can show a full-screen station display: the room, whether it is recording, a meter for every microphone channel, the camera previews, the connection to the hub and how much is waiting to upload.

The station has its own Record, Pause, Stop, Sidebar and QuickTag controls, and they can be protected with a PIN set on the hub.

Shows

  • Recording state
  • Channel meters
  • Camera previews
  • Hub connection
  • Upload backlog

Controls

  • Record, Pause, Stop
  • Sidebar
  • QuickTags
  • Optional PIN
  • Works offline
Sizes

From one courtroom to a hundred

The same software at every size. Start with one courtroom and add more without changing anything.

SetupWhat runsGood for
One courtroomThe hub and the courtroom’s recording together on one PC.A single courtroom, a hearing room, a pilot.
Several courtroomsA hub on a server, and one PC in each courtroom, enrolled with a one-time code.A courthouse, up to 100 courtrooms per hub.
Hub in the cloudThe hub, and speech-to-text if you like, hosted in the cloud. Each courtroom PC records on site and uploads over HTTPS, and keeps recording if the connection drops.Courts without a server room, or that prefer hosting.
Remote courtroomsCourtrooms in other buildings reach the hub at a secure web address. They keep recording when the link drops and upload when it returns.Branch courts and satellite locations.
Sound and picture

Works with the courtroom’s equipment

Audio

Every channel of the courtroom’s audio interface, each kept separate and named for who it carries: Judge, Witness, Prosecution, Defense.

  • Dante (Virtual Soundcard)
  • AVB
  • ASIO
  • WASAPI
  • Core Audio

Video

Many cameras per courtroom, each recorded in H.264, reconnecting on its own within about three seconds if a camera drops, and kept in step with the audio. PTZ cameras can be aimed from the Record page, and a source can be marked as a remote appearance.

  • IP cameras (RTSP)
  • SRT
  • RTMP encoders
  • WebRTC remote participants
  • NDI
  • USB cameras & capture cards
  • ONVIF & VISCA camera control

Planning a courtroom install?

Court IT will find the requirements, hardware guidance and how SmartRM sits on the court network on one page.

Information for Court IT Request a Demo