What is Court Reporter Software?

Court reporter software makes the often complex courtroom world more manageable by providing two distinct services. The most important element of these programs is the ability to create a court transcript. Another benefit is the court management tools that help track cases, depositions, payroll and more. These two duties of court reporting equipment make the process faster and the job of a court reporter simpler.

Making court transcripts of the stenographer's notes is an essential part of court reporter software. The stenographer must keep a detailed account of everything that is said in court, so notes are typed out in shorthand to save time. The problem with this record is that it is difficult to read without understanding shorthand. In the past, the court reporter would manually read the transcript and translate it into full words and sentences. Software removes this step with some unique tools.

When the stenographer's keyboard is hooked up to a computer network, the court reporting software can take those shorthand notes and convert them to legible sentences. The stenography notes can be saved and printed later or printed immediately. Court reporter software is a major benefit for lawyers and judges that need to immediately review court proceedings.

Another type of court reporter software helps manage the goings on of a courtroom. This type of computer program is normally separate from the transcription software, but equally serves to make court reporting more efficient. Every aspect of the reporter's job is digitally accessible and savable, eliminating the paperwork and filing that once made this duty very difficult and time consuming. Most of the features are intended to make managing many court reporters and courtrooms much simpler.

Court reporter software helps the reporter handle calendaring so the manager can be certain each courtroom has a reporter on duty for proceedings. Deposition scheduling is similar to calendaring, but is normally done as a service to the firms and attorneys working within the court system. This service is shared because most court reporting software allows outside parties, like lawyers and firms, to log in and see specific aspects, like depositions. Managing money is another benefit of this software, because invoicing and payroll can all be drawn directly from the calendaring tool. These programs frequently offer the user an opportunity to run reports on various elements, from what cases a specific judge has to how many overtime hours were clocked during a particular month.