Court Reporting Machines: How Do They Work?

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Jill Cohen

Court Reporting Machines: How Do They Work?

In English a person can speak at a rate of 180 to 200 words per minute. Try to listen to a person speaking at that rate and typing their words on a conventional QWERTY keyboard. Even if you are a master typist, at best you may be able to type 80 words per minute. Enter the stenotype, a technological wonder that Washington DC court reporters like the ones at Capital Reporting Company have been using for decades. With the help of computers, however, these machines are faster and more accurate than ever. Using a stenotype, a court reporter can type over 200 words per minute. In fact, the world record for stenotype transcription stands at 275 words per minute.

Court Reporters in Washington DC use stenotypes to ensure court procedures move forward as quickly and fairly as possible. The stenotype, our court reporting machine, is a 22-key word processor. The left side of the stenotype is for the left hand to type initial consonant sounds. On the right, the final consonant sounds exist. Below these are the vowels. These keys can be pressed all at once so as to create syllables, words or even phrases in a single stroke. Think of a piano: with just 88 keys, a skilled pianist can combine notes to produce a lovely Christmas carol or a classical symphony and anything in between. With simply the 22 keys of a stenotype, one of our award winning Washington DC court reporters can reproduce the sounds of English words and phrases.

However, it is unlikely the words that your Washington DC court reporter transcribes will look anything like traditional English.  As you may see by now, the court reporter transcribes words by their sound rather than their spelling. Therefore to type “court,” a court reporter will start by pressing not a “c” but a “k” to give the initial sound. Using a single key or a combination of keys, the court reporter also recreates the “o” sound. The same goes for the later consonant sounds.Once this is done the court reporter will need the aforementioned computer to help to translate the words into conventional English orthography.

The court reporters at Washington DC’s Capital Reporting Company use up-to-date software to interpret the court transcripts. Each court reporter has his or her own glossary of sounds that tells a court reporter what a word or a set of sounds should represent. In this way, a Washington DC court reporter can distinguish between words such as “by” and “buy” when context does not make this distinction clear. Advances in technology such as this, in conjunction with years of training and court reporter experience, allows a court reporter to transcribe court dialogue with great accuracy. If you are looking for an experienced court reporter in Washington DC, you can contact us at 800-655-3679 or simply click here to schedule a Washington DC court reporter.

Why Are Court Reporters Necessary?

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Jill Cohen

In the 21st century, there are mountains of choices in hardware and software that can record and even transcribe the human voice. Why, then, you may ask, are court reporters still so essential to the legal process? For one, voice recording and recognition technology are nowhere near capable of detecting the subtle nuances of human speech. How many times have you spoken a command to your smartphone, only to have it completely misinterpret what you’ve said? The human ear, or more accurately, the human mind, is the most careful and precise analyst when it comes to human speech patterns.

In the courtroom, this can mean a difference in verdict or judicial interpretation. If a lawyer says to a witness, “you did it,” this phrase can be read any number of ways. It takes the accurate ear and linguistic knowledge of a court reporter, like those at Capital Reporting Company, to understand the subtleties of that simple, three word phrase. Was it a statement (“You did it.”) or a question (“You did it?”) and on which word did the emphasis fall? These are all inflections that the skilled, experienced ear of a Washington DC court reporter might catch.

Additionally, court reporters are able to accurately interpret other small variations within a language such as accents, speed, or sudden switches between English and one’s native tongue. Especially in a cosmopolitan area like the District of Columbia, Washington DC court reporting relies on trained ears and insightful analytical minds. The list of uses for an accurate human reporter goes on, but let us focus on one of the most important: written record. At the end of the day, judges rely heavily on the detailed written records that court reporters produce. When sound volume and technology fail, judges need reliable transcription of the day’s events.

Court reporting is still a painstaking and highly valued task. Even as courtrooms across the country and in Washington DC cut costs, court reporters are still seen as indispensable within the judicial system. This is why awards for excellence in court reporting are still allocated, such as the “Best Court Reporting Service” award which Capital Reporting Company received from the Legal Times in 2013.

None of this is to say, however, that courtrooms or court reporters do not embrace technology. With today’s electronic advances, computers can instantly translate stenotype shorthand to provide judges with courtroom notes in real time. Combine that with the accuracy and experience of our Washington DC Court Reporters for the most accurate recording of your legal proceedings. Contact us or schedule your Washington DC court reporter here for courtroom transcription with unmatched accuracy.

Court Reporters: Typing Wizards or Technologically Savvy?

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Court reporters: Typing Wizards or Technologically Savvy?

A court reporter can type up to 99.5% of all dialogue accurately. This is important when finances, child custody or legal penalties are at stake. It is crucial that Washington DC court reporter reflect exactly what has been said, so that justice proceeds smoothly. For this purpose, a Washington DC court reporter employs a special machine known as a stenotype. This is how court reporters can transcribe courtroom speech and deposition testimony so quickly.

A stenotype is a kind of word processor, but unlike your computer, it does not use a typical QWERTY keyboard. Instead, the court reporter uses a 22-key machine. How does the court reporter type without all 26 letters of the alphabet? Simply by responding to sounds instead of words: the left hand transcribes the initial consonant sounds of words, such as the “K” phoneme at the beginning of “courtroom”. The right hand types the final consonant phonemes, but since there is no “M” sound at the right hand side of the keyboard (or anywhere for that matter), the court reporter uses a combination of keys that will represent the “M” sound. Below these sets of keys are the numbers and then the vowels. Just four vowel keys can be combined to represent the myriad of vowel sounds in the English language. Think of all the ways we can pronounce the letter “O.”

An experienced Washington DC court reporter relies on his or her ears when reporting, to highlight the unique sound of a word. This saves time and difficulty when guessing how to spell any unfamiliar terminology. While speech recognition technologies exist, they are yet to match the trained accuracy of a court reporter’s ear, and likely will not advance to that stage for many years to come.

At Capital Reporting Company, our highly trained court reporters work with stenotype technology to produce fast and accurate legal transcription. Court reporters, over the years, develop their own unique glossaries of sounds so that they may know, for instance, that “RORT,” typed on a stenotype, translates to “Report.” Using their cultivated shorthand vocabularies, a court reporting professional can translate and review his/her transcriptions to give an accurate, documented account of court proceeding or deposition. In this way, a court reporter can transcribe dictation at a pace of at least 225 words in a minute.

Founded by two attorneys and a seasoned court reporter, Capital Reporting Company combines the speed and accuracy of our stenographers with reliable courtroom technology. The National Law Journal/ Legal Times ranked Capital Reporting Company as 2013’s Best Overall Provider of Court reporting Services. Our court reporting accuracy and reputation for excellence speak to the quality of service you can expect from us. We provide court reporting services not just in the Washington, DC metro area but throughout the United States, to ensure your legal matters are reported carefully and precisely. Contact our Washington, DC office at 800-655-3679 to learn more about our legal transcription and other services.