Graymar Business Solutions

Court Room Recording III

Posted by admin

November 11th, 2010

As the recording process begins for a case on the docket, the Encompass application displays multiple windows with case related information. The main window shows the case name, case number, time details, annotation and time stamp buttons, and a recording indicator. Another small window shows all the case participants/speakers, listed with title and name, as well as case related events that may occur. A third window is the control panel, used to initiate, pause, or stop recording and manage volume.

As the case progresses, the hearing official may simply click on any listed participant/speaker to instantly mark the digital audio with a time stamp. The official may similarly mark an event such as cross examination or evidence submittal. Decisions, side-bars, and off the record are all events that may be annotated. A generic time stamp may be entered to mark any section of audio for future review.

These annotations during the recording process all have residual value when reviewing the audio. The relational database allows for search of these annotations or to simply move directly to a section of audio of interest without having to fast forward and reverse an analog tape. One could instantly locate the evidence presentation portion of the case audio, or locate every time a certain speaker was noted as actively participating.
As you can see, we are building a knowledge base where we can now locate any digital audio recording of a case based on whatever case filters we wish to use, and once locating the audio may move fluidly through the recording based on annotation of speakers and events, and time stamps. Next week, we’ll talk about a few of the safety features that are embedded within the application to ensure an accurate and clear recording of the hearing.