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Comment by Janet Thompson on March 19, 2021 at 7:33

I have my first realtime scoping job on the horizon. I would appreciate any input.  What happens when the depo is over and scoping still needs to be done? How is it to scope? 

Comment by Jessie Edwards on January 9, 2013 at 7:47

Hello,

I've been a Case CAT scopist for six-plus years, experienced with using DropBox, trials, hearings, and depositions looking for some more work during this slow season.  Available for dailies and expedites. 

Comment by Cindy Clark on February 20, 2012 at 9:30

I had the opportunity recently to work on a realtime job.  In this instance there was one scopist and two proofreaders (I happened to be one of the proofers this time).  We used DropBox.  It was an awesome experience!  I've decided that this is what I really enjoy doing!  The technology behind it was so simple and easy to use. 

Comment by Mary K. Levy on July 25, 2011 at 11:03

There may be a problem using SPEEX when scoping the transcript because I found that you could not back up the audio to listen to the prior few words.  I called tech support then, and I was told that was true.  Maybe that has been improved by now.  I stopped trying to use my CATs to play audio files when I discovered that reporters are increasingly sending .mp3 files rather than .wav.   I have found that in older Eclipse versions, sometimes the audio is not really clear, and may even drop a word or two.  So I use a player program unless I am really sure the reporter has a good audio file to play with Eclipse. 

Comment by Kelli Combs (admin) on July 25, 2011 at 10:56

I know using SPEEX for audio files, the files are much, much smaller and an all-day job for audio can be sent in like three minutes on T3, just love that.

Comment by Mary K. Levy on July 25, 2011 at 10:00

To my understanding, that is possible only if the reporter and the scopist are working in an internet setting such as GoToMeeting or the Cloud, or a similar setting.  Like everything in the court reporting industry, these new things take time to get popular and accepted.  I have been watching this particular working setup since 1997, when I attended the ACT '97 NCRA convention and Jim Woitalla and his scopist, Shirley, gave a demo of it as part of a seminar.  They gave out handout instructions at that time to work that way, but look how long it has been to finally get there.  By the way, this is one of the benefits of being older.  You remember all these little tidbits of history. 

 

Since I am now on my soapbox after morning coffee, I would like to break down this area of reporting and scoping a little bit.  Yes, Total Eclipse and Case have the ability to create work units, or automatically break a transcript according to reporter preferences as to settings, and upload the files to a designated storage area for retrieval by a scopist.  The Internet storage places like iBackup, have had this capability built in with their accounts if one sets it up with their account.  I used that capability in working with a reporter, who set up an automatic upload on her end into my account for sending me work.  I downloaded files and went to work on them, both dailies and regular work.

 

I am sure with newer companies out there, one could find a company which works well.  Again, as with all these things, you have to eliminate or greatly reduce upload time for the reporter.  You also need to have CAT software which also includes the audio with the broken file.  If the reporter does not use audiosync for recording, that has to be resolved, which would bring everybody right back to creating a new realtime file with breaks, at least twice a day, or more often if you can.  I would recommend breaking anyway into at least two parts if the proceeding is all day due to the fact that something can happen, and an entire day of audio could be lost, even though the transcript is still there.  Been there and had that happen to a customer, very unpleasant.

 

Again, as has been said, this is not for newbies, or even scopists with only a year or two in the game.  This is very serious business for the reporter, who has to deliver, and a scopist who cannot, for one reason or another, produce the quality of work needed for a daily in the time frame needed.  The scopist also needs a certain amount of computer savvy to solve glitches on both ends sometimes to get the job done.  I would think the reporter needs to be free to completely focus on the proceeding, not worrying about how it is going on somewhere else. 

 

I also think T3 is the best company around for working dailies.  It seems to be the only service with a good upload time, and making sure the file gets through.  I know the lunchtime and early afternoons on the Internet are very slow, and can be problematic to send or download files.

Comment by Kelli Combs (admin) on July 25, 2011 at 9:42

Mary Ann,

 

Did you read the article above that Breck Record posted?  I got the impression from reading that, that that's exactly what scopists are doing.  I know Eclipse has a program where a scopist edits right after the the reporter but I think it's about 15 minutes behind, which is still better than three hours.  Maybe I am misunderstanding the article.  Let me know shat you think after you read it.

Comment by Kelli Combs (admin) on July 25, 2011 at 8:59

Thanks, Mary Ann

 

I do a lot of daily work and always send the first half to my scopist at lunch, second half at 3:00 p.m. and the last half when I am done.  I also use T3, which works great and have used it for years.   I just thought it would be great to have her editing while I write for immediate delivery. 

Comment by Kelli Combs (admin) on July 25, 2011 at 8:31

I have started working for a firm that wants immediate turnaround, not the next day, so ASAP.  RT scoping would be so handy in this situation.  I would love to learn more about it too.

Comment by Lois Whitley on April 16, 2009 at 15:31

The "middleman" site would be of the reporter's choosing.

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