More RT Success

Every time I have a particularly great realtime day, I want to share in case it inspires other reporters.  Realtime is job security!  So I would love to see as many reporters as possible providing it.

Yesterday was such a day.  One of the attorneys (who was hooked up to my RT feed) was answering questions by another attorney (who was not hooked up and was curious about it).  The one attorney who was hooked up said, "It's a Godsend."  Direct quote!  And he read from the screen all day and thanked me at the end of the day.

You guys, it's a great feeling, working toward providing a good usable product right at the job.  You get to feel like more of a craftsperson and less of a clerk, and you get to feel like you're really helping our profession!

VHBs (Very Helpful Briefs) - Phrases

What I'm working on at the moment are briefs of high-frequency phrases.  Once learned, they cut down so much on time required to write, so it's easier to keep up with fast talkers; also, they cut down on wear and tear on the body.  Lots of reporters do this, so I don't claim to be coming up with the idea on my own.  Just sharing some good ones that help me a lot:

prior to   PRAOIRT  (priority is PRIRT)

prior to the   PRAOIRTD

pursuant   PRAON

pursuant to   PRAONT

pursuant to the   PRAONTD

with respect   W-RP  (thanks go to Jill for this one)

with respect to   W-RPT

with respect to the   W-RPTD

on the   OT (Mark Kislingbury's)

on your  ORN

on our   OURN

for me   FORMZ

for myself   FO*RMZ

for you   FROU

for you to   FROUT

for us   FROUS

for us to   FROUTS

from me   FR-MZ

from myself   FR*MZ

from you   FRU

from us   FRUS

to me   TOMZ

to myself   T*OMZ

to you   TOU

to us   TOUS

Affordable Wireless Realtime with Eclipse

With the right software and Bluetooth capability, you can send a wireless realtime feed to your clients reliably and affordably.

 

Here are my step-by-step instructions for setup.  This is the system I use on all realtime jobs.  With it I send a wireless feed from my CAT computer, running Eclipse***, to my loaner laptops, running the free viewing software Bridge.  This system can also be used to send to other laptops and other viewing software.  After the initial setup, it's very easy.  Also, it's a lot more affordable than the major wireless alternative.  I love it, and I'm sharing it here in case it helps others. 

As to whether this system is adaptable for use with non-Eclipse CAT, I don't know that, but Dorothy McGrath might.  She is the reporter who discovered the software this system is based on.

Happy wireless realtiming!

 

***(Use Eclipse v.4.3.0.10.  It is NOT recommended yet to use v.5.)