AVTranz | The Court Record Online

AVTranz launches The Court Record Online – New Hampshire

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:23:37 +0000

AVTranz – New Hampshire Judicial Branch

AVTranz launches The Court Record Online – New Hampshire

May 1, 2012, Phoenix, AZ – AVTranz today announced that it has officially launched The Court Record Online – New Hampshire (http://nh.tcro.us/). AVTranz holds the exclusive contract to produce NH certified transcripts as part of a competitive bid awarded last year. “This secure digital audio/video and transcription management website is revolutionary in the court reporting industry and will provide New Hampshire Judicial Branch and the New Hampshire legal community with a new level of customer service,” said Steve Townsend, AVTranz’ CEO.

The website provides a simple, password-protected interface for attorneys, paralegals and private litigants to order New Hampshire Judicial Branch certified transcripts. The site will also facilitate credit card payments, provide 24/7 status updates and allow for the secure download of completed transcripts. Authorized court personnel can monitor all orders, including Supreme Court appeals. Court staff can also upload digital audio recordings of court proceedings quickly and easily when a transcript is ordered.

Quick access to the audio recordings means that AVTranz can offer expedited transcript turnaround times including, 1- and 3-day options in addition to the standard 7-, 14- and 30-day options. Purchasers can also obtain printed transcripts and Real Legal e-transcripts in addition to standard PDF files.

According to Erik Lige, AVTranz’ VP of Sales & Marketing, “This Web-based platform represents the future of ordering court transcripts and managing the digital audio/video recording, not only for the New Hampshire Judicial Branch but for courts across the country.” AVTranz plans to launch versions of this site for a number of other court jurisdictions around the country over the next 12 months.

“New Hampshire court administrators have worked closely with AVTranz over the past 12 months to make the site easy to use,” states Don Goodnow, Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, “We are looking forward to the benefits that The Court Record Online – New Hampshire will provide to the courts, the New Hampshire legal community and the public.”

Link to Press Release in PDF Format –> HERE

Contact:
Erik Lige
VP, Sales & Marketing
AVTranz
845 N. 3rd Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85003
www.avtranz.com
(602) 263-0885 x132
Erik.lige@avtranz.com

AVTranz Job Opportunities

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:30:22 +0000

Electronic Reporter Positions:

AVTranz is currently looking for Part-Time, Experienced, Electronic Court Reporters in the San Francisco / Oakland area. Ideal candidates will be experienced in both Digital Recording and Courtroom procedures / policies. AVTranz will provide all equipment, training, and will cover Travel Expenses (When necessary).

For more information, or to schedule a meeting, please send your resume to reportingjobs@avtranz.com.

If you are looking for transcription only, email transcriptionjobs@avtranz.com.

Transcriber Positions:

We are always looking for experienced Transcribers. Please forward all resumes to

transcriptionjobs@avtranz.com

AVTranz – Vermont Judiciary Award

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:11:14 +0000

AVTranz has been awarded a state-wide transcription services contract.

September 29, 2011, Phoenix, AZ – AVTranz today announced that it has received and signed an appointment and interim agreement with Vermont Judiciary to provide transcription services for the entire state court system.

The Judiciary expects to negotiate final terms and sign a contract in the coming weeks. ”AVTranz is currently providing transcription service to the New Hampshire Judicial Branch and this award will extend our presence in the greater New England area,” said Steve Townsend, AVTranz’ CEO.

Much like the New Hampshire Judicial Branch, the Vermont Judiciary is an example of a court system leveraging technology to solve problems and provide great customer service. The Judiciary uses a combination of tape and digital audio
recording to capture the record and should be fully digital in the future. According to Erik Lige, AVTranz’ VP of Sales & Marketing, “AVTranz is looking forward to rolling out our online rich media management system, The Court Record Online, to facilitate the entire transcription ordering and production process through a secure, hosted website for the Vermont Judiciary early next year.”
AVTranz has experienced significant growth over the past 3 years and is now producing over 45,000 pages of certified transcript each month. Lige stated, “This award and our growth is a great example of the progression from stenographic reporting to high quality digital audio/video recording and transcription happening in court systems across the country.

That opportunity was recently discussed by the AAERT Planning Task Force in the video they released earlier this week - AAERT
State of the Industry 2011.”

Link to Press Release : HERE

AVTranz – New Hampshire Judicial Branch

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:39:48 +0000

PDF VERSION OF PRESS RELEASE –> LINK

July 6, 2011, Phoenix, AZ – AVTranz today announced that it has been awarded a contract, projected to last five years, with the New Hampshire Judicial Branch (NHJB) to provide transcription services for the entire state court system.

The contract calls for AVTranz to release a new version of its online rich media management system, The Court Record Online, to facilitate the entire transcription ordering and production process through a secure, hosted website. Transcript ordering, uploading of digital recordings, assignment and preparation of the transcript as well as final delivery of transcript and payment will occur through The Court Record Online v2 (TCRO2).

“AVTranz is well positioned for this contract,” said Steve Townsend, AVTranz’ CEO. “We have been developing a new version of The Court Record Online for a contract of this size and scope for the past year.” TCRO2 is due to be released early this fall and a final version meeting New Hampshire’s specifications will be released early in 2012. “This project is another example of how digital reporting and transcription is maturing in the US court market,” added Townsend.

According to Erik Lige, AVTranz’ VP of Sales & Marketing “The NHJB is asking AVTranz to help them leverage their investment in digital audio recording to provide the highest level of customer service to the Court’s internal and external customers and create efficiencies and cost savings system-wide; savings that were unachievable with the previous methods.”

AVTranz has partnered with McMurry’s Web division for the development of TCRO2. McMurry, based in Phoenix, AZ, has extensive experience in web design, online services and web-based rich media asset management solutions. “This project has been a terrific opportunity for our designers and developers,” said Chris McMurry, President and CEO of McMurry. “Managing large quantities of audio and video online, in an elegant workflow process, can be really challenging. It has been great working with AVTranz, the industry leader in digital reporting, to design a perfectly suited solution for this rapidly growing market.”

Don Goodnow, Director of the New Hampshire Judicial Branch noted that AVTranz was selected through a competitive bid process. “We are impressed with AVTranz as a company and its management. We look forward to working with them as they launch TCRO2 and going forward as they provide transcription services for the court and the citizens of New Hampshire.”

More Infomation — LINK

AVTranz Case Study – 9th Judicial Florida

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:48:02 +0000

AVTranz Case Study ‐ 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida

AVTranz Case Study – 9th Judicial Florida – LINK TO PDF

The Courts Situation:

The court implemented a sophisticated digital court reporting system throughout many of the courtrooms in the circuit. This implementation has been successful for over 10 years and has provided a significant savings for the court. (http://www.ninthcircuit.org/programs‐services/court‐reporters/)

Transcription for indigent criminal appeals was being completed by court staff transcribers. The volume of appeals had overwhelmed the in‐house team and created a backlog of approximately 40,000 pages of transcripts that needed to be produced from its Orlando courthouse.

AVTranz Solution:

The court contacted AVTranz to help eliminate the transcription backlog. AVTranz negotiated an aggressive pricing structure with the court to produce appeal transcripts, in the court’s required format on a 20 business day turn.
AVTranz would use their qualified contract transcribers spread across the country, many located in the state of Florida to prepare accurate and timely transcripts for the court.

The court was happy to use AVTranz’ rich media asset management system, TheCourtRecordOnline (TCRO) to better leverage their investment in the digital court reporting system. TCRO allows the court to upload all digital recordings and
paperwork for each job to a secure AVTranz website quickly and easily using a standard internet browser.

The court began uploading jobs to the AVTranz site shortly after the first contact and AVTranz began the process of producing the appeal transcripts. Completed transcripts are delivered to the www.avtranz.com 845 N. 3rd Ave. Phoenix AZ 85003 (800) 257‐0885

According to the Court Spokesperson “TheCourtRecordOnline was easy to use and so efficient that we were uploading recordings the next day.”

Results:

The court is consistently striving to provide great customer service to their internal and external customers and that includes timely transcripts for indigent appeals.

Within 3 months of starting the relationship with AVTranz, then entire 40,000 page backlog had been eliminated and transcripts were consistently being produced on a 20 business day turn from the day AVTranz received a new transcript request.

“The court’s relationship with AVTranz has lowered our transcription cost, significantly reduced overtime pay in the transcription department and completely eliminated our transcription backlog” states the court spokesperson.
The court expects to extend this model to their Osceola courthouse in the near future.

AVTranz NLRB Contract

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:50:48 +0000

AVTranz has been awarded 5 regions for digital court reporting and transcription.

October 4, 2010, Phoenix, AZ – AVTranz today announced that it has been awarded a contract, projected to last 5-years, with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for court reporting and transcription services. The regions cover much of the western United States and include the main hubs of Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, California as well as Portland, Oregon and Denver, Colorado. AVTranz will be responsible for servicing all NLRB hearings throughout Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and most of California and Oregon as well as parts of Arizona and Washington….

Read the Press Release — AVTranz Press Release (NLRB Contract)

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:42:33 +0000

Using Quotes in a Court Transcript

Tagged:

quoted material q&a quotes indents deposition read Alt+M

Highlight changes

The use of quotes in a court transcript is one of the more confusing formatting concerns. There are a number of ways to approach quoting and many of them may be correct. However, it is important to all of us that we are consistent between transcripts and within transcripts as to how we handle quotes. It looks bad when there are inconsistencies within a transcript because different transcribers have taken a different approach to quoting.

This article attempts to simplify the way AVT transcribers handle quotes. Keep in mind that some courts may have VERY specific rules regarding quoted material. If that is the case, the AVT template should highlight that in the quoting macro, Alt+N. If there are no specific instruction, then these rules should apply.

To begin, let’s categorize quotes into the following groups:

1. In-line quotes – It is common for speakers to quote others in normal conversation. For example:

- I walked toward the table and she said, “Stop right there and don’t come any closer.” -

Use quotes only for direct quotes, not implied quotes.

- She told me she was going to the store. – (no quotes)

If the speaker says the word “quote”, then type it as spoken and do not use quotation marks.

- He said, quote, you look nice, unquote. – (no quotes)

Commas and period always go inside the quote. Question marks follow the logic of whether the quote is a question or the sentence, which contains the quote, is the question.

See the following site for some additional rules: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp

If a quote goes longer than one or two lines, you should move in to a “quoted material” style.

2. Quoted Material style - All AVT templates have a Word Style called Quoted Material. This style will place text in the proper format for quoted material that exists in a paragraph by itself. Note that the ‘Quoted Material’ style replaces ‘AVT Body’ style, but never replaces ‘Colloquy’ style or ‘Q and A’ style. For Example:

1             MR. SEXTON: Your Honor, I know we are pressed for time here today,

2   but if you will, my I read the first paragraph of that section.

3                    ”Four score and seven years ago our fathers

4             brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation,

5             conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition

6             that all men are created equal.”

7             THE COURT: Thank you Mr. Sexton.

When you create a new paragraph to begin typing what Mr. Sexton is reading, you need to select ‘Quoted Material’ style for that paragraph and make sure it stays in ‘Quoted Material’ for each paragraph he is reading. Most of the time, ‘Quoted Material’ will indent the first line to position 15 and then wrap to position 10. However, that might vary slightly for different courts. You should rely on the formatting determined by the ‘Quoted Material’ style, which should be adjusted to the specifications of that court.

Stand alone paragraphs that are in ‘Quoted Material’ style can exist in colloquy or in Q and A. If it is a stand-alone paragraph, ‘Quoted Material’ style works fine, but if a longer than in-line quote begins with a speaker ID in colloquy or a ‘Q’ or an ‘A’ in Q and A, then you need to use the ‘Hanging Quote’ style.

3. Hanging Quotes – Hanging quotes occur when the first line of the quoted material must have speaker ID, Q or A preceding the quote. For Example:

1        Q      Mr. Witness, please go ahead and read paragraph six.

2        A      ”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought

3               forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in

4               Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men

5               are created equal.”

And, and example in colloquy:

1             THE COURT:   Mr. Sexton, I believe you want to read

something to us. Please read paragraph six.

2             MR. SEXTON:  ”Four score and seven years ago our

3             fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new

4             nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the

5             proposition that all men are created equal.”

Note that in the case of the ‘Hanging Quote’ there is no additional indentation of the first line of quoted text. We decided that had an odd look when indenting within the ‘Hanging Quote’ style. Simply a judgment call by Harold (lol)

As you can see, ‘Quoted Material’ style will not let you have the ‘A’ or ‘MR. SEXTON’ at the correct position. To allow these speaker IDs to be placed properly, select ‘Hanging Quote’ for this paragraph. You may need to add a tab (or two) before a speaker ID in colloquy because ‘Hanging Quote’ style is designed to put the first character at the ‘Q and A’ style position (left margin or at position 5 depending on the court format).

Remember, if the quote continues on to the next paragraph, you would change the style to ‘Quoted Material’.

4. Quoted Q and A – Sometimes attorneys will read, or have a witness read, parts of a deposition transcript or previous trial testimony. In that case, they are usually reading Q and A material. They may slip in and out of saying the words “question” or “answer”, or they may say “Q” or “A” before each question or response. Or, they may completely ignore the Q and A and simply read the questions and answers in a way that the listener should understand what was a question and what was an answer.

In this case, regardless of whether the reader actually says “question” or “Q”, the transcript should be typed in Quoted Q and A format. You use the ‘Quoted Material’ style and transcribe as though you were typing regular Q and A. If the speaker says the word “question” or the word “Q”, simply ignore that and type it as Q and A. For example:

1                MR. SEXTON:  I am going to read to you from your own

2   testimony at your deposition taken on April 12 of this year.

3                ”Q     Have you known Mr. Smith for more than three

4                years?   Yes or no?

5                ”A     Yes.

6                ”Q     Exactly when and where did you meet?

7                ”A     We first met at work when we both worked for

8                Honeywell in Phoenix.

9                         ”I remember that clearly because I had just started

10                working there and didn’t really know anyone.”

Since this quoted Q and A can go on for a while, it is easier if you can type it using your Alt+A and Alt+Q macros. All of the templates should include a macro (or will include it soon), Alt+M, which toggles in and out of ‘Quoted Q and A’ style. If you need to start typing quoted Q and A, select the Alt+M macro one time. A window will pop up telling you that you are now in ‘Quoted Q and A’ mode. From that point on, when you invoke the Alt+A or Alt+Q macros, the text will be changed to ‘Quoted Material’ style and formatting will indent to the proper location for quoted material. Other common macros that supplement Q and A such as Ctrl+A for ‘A That’s correct. Q’ will also be converted to ‘Quoted Material’ style.

By selecting Alt+M again, you will go back to regular Q and A style. This can be confusing, so make sure you play with this a little bit and get used to it.

Sometimes, the reading of a deposition or testimony goes from a few passages here and there, into a lengthy replay of the testimony. In fact, it is not uncommon for attorneys to role play with one attorney sitting in the witness box while the other attorney does the questioning. As they do so, they are actually reading the deposition or trial testimony of another witness. When this happens, we don’t use quoting at all, but rather a parenthetical.

5. Deposition Read – For lengthy readings of depostions or trial testimony, rather than using quotes, you simply preface the reading with the following parenthetical:

(The deposition of John Q. Depoman was read into the record as follows:)

The Ctrl+R macro will ask for the name of the person whose deposition is being read and will insert this parenthetical accordingly.

From that point on, you would simply type the Q and A as though it was happening live.

When the attorney is done reading the deposition, you can use the Shft+Alt+R macro to insert the following parenthetical:

(End of reading of deposition of John Q. Depoman)

If the reading of the same deposition then continues, use the Shft+Ctrl+R macro to insert the following parenthetical:

(Reading of deposition of John Q. Depoman continued as follows:)

You can go back and forth between ‘End of reading…’ and ‘Reading continued…’ until the reading is finally done at which point you can conclude with one last Shft+Alt+R macro. The name of the person whose deposition is being read can be changed simply by invoking the Ctrl+R macro again and you will be asked for another name.

Try it a couple of times and it should make sense.

Summary:

Five types of quoted material:
1.     In-line quotes -
2.     Quoted Material – Word Style option in all AVT Templates
3.     Hanging Quotes – Word Style option in all AVT Templates
4.     Quoted Q and A – Alt+M macro helps
5.     Deposition Read – parentheticals instead of quotes

Microsoft Word Styles Training Videos

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:54:17 +0000

Microsoft Word Styles Training – Section 1 – Overview

Microsoft Word Styles Training Section 2A – Word 2003

Microsoft Word Styles Training – Section 2B – Word 2007

Microsoft Word Styles Training – Section 3

AVTranz at ACA Conference 2010

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:46:05 +0000

AVTranz is pleased to announce our second consecutive year attending the ACA (Arizona Courts Association) conference in Prescott, Arizona, May 19th – 21st. If you’re in the area, please stop by and say hello!

http://www.arizonacourtsassociation.org

MyLegal.com BlogTalkRadio Interview with Steve Townsend

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:25:51 +0000

We’re pleased to post a link to the BlogTalkRadio podcast from 4/28/2010. In this podcast, Steve Townsend, CEO of AVTranz, joins Kathy DiLorenzo and Lisa Demonte to discuss Digital Recording technology and the process of producing verbatim transcripts from digital recordings. Steve talks about the history of AVTranz in the verbatim transcription industry, as well as some of the new directions the company is heading in the future. The conversation also touches on the concepts of Digital Recording systems and how that affects AVTranz as a business deeply rooted in this industry.

Click Here — http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mylegalcom/2010/04/28/court-transcription-producing-a-written-record-from-digital-audio-and-video-recordings