A day of court, start to finish
Follow one hearing through SmartRM, from the request for a court reporter to the certified transcript and the reporter’s pay, and see who does what along the way.
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Chambers
A reporter is requested
The judge’s secretary opens Request a Reporter and asks for Courtroom 3 on Tuesday morning. Requests can also come by email, phone or in person; the scheduler records who asked and how. Importing the court calendar fills in the day’s docket.
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Scheduler
The scheduler assigns
The Schedule page shows Courtroom 3 as needing a reporter. The Assign dialog lists who is free, who works for that courtroom and judge, and their ratings. The secretary sees the request is covered. The hearing needs a Spanish interpreter, so the Language access coordinator books one.
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Court reporter
The reporter takes the courtroom
From 30 minutes before the assignment, the reporter sees it under My assignments and takes the courtroom on Room Assignment. They become the reporter of record for what is recorded while they hold it.
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Court reporter or monitor
Record and tag
They enter the case details and press Record. The cameras show live, with saved positions to aim them, and every microphone has its meter. QuickTags mark appearances, the witness sworn, an exhibit admitted; Sworn tags the interpreter. A sidebar is marked with one press, and a caption code puts the hearing on a person’s phone.
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Judge and clerk
Follow along
The clerk follows on Note Take with the cameras, the live rough draft and their own notes. The judge follows the reporter’s realtime with page and line numbers, highlighting lines to come back to.
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By order of the court
Seal what the court seals
When the court seals a passage, it is sealed with two passwords and an access key. From then on it is silent for everyone without the key, in playback and in every copy.
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Anyone with access
Review, search and copy
The recording reaches the hub as it is made. It is fingerprinted once finished, appears on the Playback List, can be found by case, tag or words spoken, and can be exported with a certificate.
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Chambers and production
Order the transcript
The judge orders a transcript from the Transcripts page. Production assigns it, and it moves through production and proofreading to a certified, delivered transcript. Orders from chambers are no charge; an attorney’s order is billed a deposit first and released once it’s paid.
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Billing
Pay the reporter
The day’s appearance and the certified transcript go into the next pay run, priced at the court’s rates. Billing approves it and marks it paid, and the reporter sees the statement on My Pay.
How a transcript order moves
Each order has a number, the case, the hearing date, a turnaround with its due date, copies and format. Every step is kept in the order’s history.
- OrderedOnline or entered by production; deposit billed
- AssignedThe order’s recordings open to the transcriber
- In productionListen, watch, correct the rough draft
- ProofreadingProduction approves or returns it
- CertifiedBy its transcriber, then never changes
- DeliveredReleased to whoever ordered, once paid
Access only while it’s needed
A transcriber reaches the recordings of their open orders, and nothing else. Access ends when the order is delivered or cancelled.
Certified means fixed
The certified transcript is kept exactly as certified, with the certificate statement and a SHA-256 fingerprint. Later edits to the recordings never alter it.
Nothing overdue unnoticed
Turnarounds from hourly to ordinary 30-day, each with its due date. Overdue orders are flagged, and whoever ordered online follows every step.
Paid before release
A 25% deposit is billed when the order comes in, and production starts once it’s paid or waived. The balance is billed at certification, and the transcript is released when it’s paid.
Courtrooms that run without a reporter
Assign Automatic recording on the Schedule and the hub records the courtroom on its own for the assignment, under the docket’s case at the time.
- Starts and stops with the assignment, carrying on without a break across back-to-back assignments.
- Never takes a courtroom someone already has. If a person takes the courtroom over, the recording becomes theirs.
- The judge or clerk follows on Note Take: the cameras live, the rough draft and their own notes.
Scheduled
Assigned like any reporter, by session, case or set times.
Unattended
The courtroom’s server records; the hub keeps it.
Hand-off ready
A reporter can take over at any moment.
Same record
Tags, search, sealing and copies work as usual.