Why Court Reporters Can’t Be Replaced Electronically

Digital court reporting, or electronic court reporting, is a relatively new technology used by some court reporting services. Digital court reporting uses digital recording equipment, such as microphones and video recorders, to record court proceedings. Many traditional court reporters and court stenographers near San Jose believe that both accuracy and quality is compromised in the use of digital court reporters. Here are some of the reasons why court reporters and court stenographers are still the most accurate method of transcription services available.

Produce Real-time Feeds

Court reporters and court stenographers can utilize their transcription services to produce real-time feeds, while digital court reporting cannot. Real-time feeds allow judges, clerks, parties to the case, the media, and the hearing impaired to access an immediate court transcript of any legal proceeding. These court transcripts can be accessed remotely and by multiple devices. They are delivered quickly and securely via wireless technology.

More Reliable and Accurate

While digital court reporting utilizes voice recognition software to provide transcription services, court reporters and court stenographers provide precise, reliable, and accurate court transcriptions. Voice recognition software is often faulty and imprecise and then requires a human court transcriptionist to review the audio to fill in blanks and gaps in the transcription services. This wastes the court’s time, money, and resources. Court reporters and court stenographers have years of training and experience in creating clear and reliable court transcripts for all parties to the case. This ensures that each party has fair and equal access to reliable court transcripts.

Human Benefits

There are numerous benefits to using a live, human court reporter or court stenographer over digital court reporting. Digital court reporting cannot discern between important, relevant testimony and background noise, and can also end up recording confidential exchanges between attorneys and their clients. Court reporters and stenographers can make this discrimination and can clarify speech that would be inaudible or impossible to understand in a digital recording. A court reporter or court stenographer can also provide the parties with immediate clarification of the court transcription at any moment during the legal proceedings.