BEST PRACTICES FOR REMOTE REPORTING

Robin Nodland, CSR, RDR,CRR, RSA, FAPR,

Christine Phipps, CCR, CLR, RPR, RSA

WHAT IT IS AND IS NOTWhat is remote reporting?

• Freelance• Official

What remote reporting is not:• CART/Captioning

Does not make official record

Does not interrupt

Does not control proceeding

See www.ncra.org/Files/.../Sat_1400_BestPractices_Finkel.pdf

WHY DO WE NEED BEST PRACTICES?

• Information is power.• Advise clients with authority: “This is what state

association/NCRA recommends in this situation.” • Be the expert that clients ask for advice, and know

the rules and regulations for your state.• State association leaders develop white paper with

best practices per state that conform with notary, CSR laws, other laws, ensuring transcript will be appeal-ready.

• If needed, ask state AG for opinion; include copy of opinion in back of transcript.

WHAT BUSINESS MODELS CURRENTLY EXIST?

• Depositions – reporter with witness or with remote attendees; others may attend via speakerphone, desktop videoconference, videoconference (either Notary with witness or reporter has certification allowing remote administration of oath) Official –team of reporters dial in via audio in X-minute rotation from remote location, all other attendees in courtroom

• Official– individual reporter dial in to audio/video; all other attendees in courtroom– team of reporters share in X-minute rotation from remote location; all

other attendees in courtroom– Reporters/attorneys appear via audio/desktop videoconference

• Arbitration or meeting reporter – reporter connects via Internet to proceedings, all other attendees present in conference room

PHYSICAL SITELOCATION OF PROCEEDING

• Designation on entry points to room that proceeding is in progress; do not interrupt

• Microphone specs, regular testing and maintenance• Webcam specs, regular testing and maintenance• Best-case scenario for site acoustics (acoustic tiles,

carpet, etc.)• Reporter should have intro conversation with IT person;

get room specs before assignment.• Contact phone, cell phone, e-mail of person for reporter

in case of malfunction during proceeding• Test. Retest.

PHYSICAL SITELOCATION OF COURT REPORTER

• Should be in “qualified” room and in control of any audio/video interruptions (pets, children, spouses, etc.).

• Equipment list: Laptop with CAT software; backup computer ready to go in case of emergency; universal power supply with minimum of 30-minute backup battery; over-the-ear audio headset with adjustable volume and spare batteries readily on hand; speakerphone as backup; method for viewing video stream of proceedings; emergency contact name. Test and retest.

• Ability to read back, if requested.

• If a webcam will be in use and court reporter could possibly be visible, dress appropriately. Also, ensure that the items within the camera view are professional and not offensive to anyone.

PROTOCOL FOR ATTENDEES• Create a letter advising as to ground rules.• Get caption, appearances ahead of time. • Verify that all attendees, especially reporter, are connected.

• One person speaks at a time. Do not talk over one another.

• When you speak, please state your name first before speaking.

• Provide identification read-on as follows:

My name is Alicia Florrick, A-L-I-C-I-A, F-L-O-R-R-I-C-K,

with the law firm of Florrick Agos, firm phone number is

123-456-7891 (so we can get the proper spelling), here on behalf of XXXX and XXXX.

AUDIO

• Work with court admin/client contact to determine the electronics of phone/Internet system being utilized.

• Consideration: VoIP cancels out speakers when they interrupt as well as certain types of phones.

• Create a technical paper/outline as to all phone/audio issues. This could be done by creating a guideline for each type of scenario which can be provided to the end user and illuminate the best practices for what their system is.

• Create a guideline for reporters for all types of phone/audio issues and how to deal with them, right down to cell phone best practices. For example, iPhone, putting on “do not disturb” to stop all data from coming to the phone to stop any interruptions.

AUDIO BACKUP/REDUNDANCY

• All proceedings should be audio recorded as back up in the event of a power failure, ISP outage, A/V disconnection, or other technical difficulty.

• How many backups should be made? Should there be two forms as a minimum?

• Audio backup is a tool. We view audio as a safety net to our everyday practice currently. It is of particular importance in these types of proceedings because something is going to happen and you will be happy to have it.

• We acknowledge that it can be challenging to interrupt to ask people to repeat.

BEST PRACTICE:REALTIME ALWAYS

• Realtime in telephonic/video stream proceedings should be the gold standard. The parameters should be outlined.

• Quality control: Ideally the ability to make realtime available for a proceeding so that the judge and parties can view that what is being said is captured accurately and speakers properly identified.

• Security: Password protected and/or read-only realtime to participants to ensure that the parties would not have the ability to copy, paste, and send even a small portion.

• The reporter should be CRR or realtime-qualified.• Whenever possible, keep same reporter/team on assignment

for continuity and quality control.• Set up protocol for same-day drafts to be available.

VIDEO STREAM

• Remote web conferencing would be ideal for identification of speakers and visual cues to reporter.

• Each iPad/desktop system is connected to a Web conferencing session, the speakers could be viewed, and there are Web conferencing solutions that identify the speaker; even if not entered, will still number them Speaker 1 and 2, which would aid in ability to identify the speaker.

• BEST PRACTICE: Use separate camera, not built into device/computer for flexibility.

COMMUNICATION WITH JUDGE/ARBITRATOR/MASTER

Reporter must have ability

to communicate with person

controlling the proceedings

via text, IM, visual cue that

something was not heard.

ADMINISTERING OATH• Reporter must abide by local laws regarding administering oath.

If CSR/Notary or other rules allow remotely administering oath, reporter must keep certification current.

• Where no local authority exists for administering oaths remotely, must be done via remote Notary, present in the room with the witness, and then the court reporter should contact Notary in advance, identify the name of the witness on the notice so that the Notary can verify that is the same person and proceed to swear in. Notary should also be provided a Certificate of Oath in advance so that it can be filled out at the time of the proceeding and sent via fax/email to court reporter immediately and mail the original to an address at the direction of the court reporter.

• BEST PRACTICE: Do not start reporting until Notary form is in your possession.

QUESTIONS? FEEDBACK?

This work is currently available.

Be excellent.

Thank you!