If an accurate transcript is a must for your legal transcriptions, then look no further than Neeson & Associates all of our court reporters are stenographers using the latest technology available. Court reporters who use a shorthand machine produce a transcript in the following way. The spoken word is heard by the reporter; the reporter then writes the words in a type of code using letters of the English alphabet. That is called shorthand. That shorthand is then sent to the court reporters laptop, where sophisticated software part of which contains the reporters dictionary translates the code or shorthand back into the English language. While all of that sounds so simple, its really quite a complex skill set requiring years of training.
Court reporters, as opposed to digital recording methods, are able to bring both sight and sound to the transcript. By watching a persons body language, many cues are picked up as to what is being said. Reporters often lip read to aid in hearing. Extraneous noise can be filtered by the court reporters ear, as opposed to being picked up by the mic. Things such as rustling paper, coughing and sneezing even the tapping of a pen can interfere is proper hearing. Again a stenographer can ensure that extraneous noises do not obliterate the spoken word!
Our world moves at a fast pace and its not going to slow down any time in the future. Qualified stenographers write at high rates of speed the passing speed for certification in Ontario is 200 wpm. In the United States, the certification speed for a Registered Professional Reporter is 225 wpm. However, speeds can hit upwards of 300 wpm typing simply cant compare!
A qualified court reporter using computer aided shorthand is able to provide many, if not all, of the following services: realtime transcription (instantaneous voice-to-text translation); realtime internet streaming (instantaneous voice-to-text translation over secure internet sites); rough drafts of the proceedings at days end; transcripts in various electronic formats including ASCII, Summation, PDF, TXT, Word and Etrans; transcripts with concordance indexing; expedited transcript service; linked exhibits to the transcript and generally speaking, these transcripts are all competitively priced against those who provide regular transcript services using digital recording methods.
Transcripts are not just for legal proceedings anyone requiring a verbatim record of any important meeting should consider this service. For example, interviews, presentations and the like may benefit greatly by having a verbatim record prepared, memorializing the events for all who may need to access the words later. Qualified court reporters who can provide either realtime or a rough draft service also have found work in arbitrations, where often a court reporter is not required. However, parties have found that having a record of what was said is an invaluable tool in case presentation from start to finish. Parties can concentrate on what is happening in the hearing and not have to worry about taking extensive notes. Neeson & Associates has been at the forefront of creating this model of court reporting for this particular niche group.