Wired for Sound and Pictures - By Darise Ogden

NZ Lawyer Magazine, issue 95, 22 August 2008

If you have clients throughout New Zealand, then all this talk about ‘carbon footprints’ may make you feel a little nervous. How do you provide an effective service to clients (or brief witnesses) who are spread the length and breadth of the country and still keep your carbon use to a minimum?

Tranzscript believes it has the answer. Having successfully deployed the For The Record (FTR) digital audio recording system in most of New Zealand’s courthouses, it has now set its sights on providing law firms with bespoke technical audio-visual solutions to make the practice of law easier. And it has plenty of experience in tailoring these systems to suit their clients. In 2005, Tranzscript contracted with the Ministry of Justice to outfit all the courts in New Zealand with FTR. Recognising that each court had different needs, Tranzscript worked with the individual courts to provide them with solutions that best met their particular needs. In some cases, this meant overcoming significant challenges in order to integrate the FTR software with the existing hardware. However, Tranzscript was not daunted by these challenges. “We have the technical know-how to get an audio system that’s been installed for 25 years integrated with modern digital audio recording software and make it work,” explains Tranzscript’s Richard Wahl. What’s more, they do it for a fixed price.

Now that they’ve almost finished the deployment of FTR throughout New Zealand, the company is ready for fresh challenges – they want to assist lawyers to meet with colleagues, clients, and witnesses without even leaving their own cities.

If you need to meet with other firms or clients based in another city, Tranzscript can facilitate those meetings via a video-conference. Although they have offices in Auckland and Wellington, their fully managed audio-visual service is not restricted to the main centres. They can also utilise the various courtrooms that have become ‘wired for sound and pictures’. Recently, the New Zealand Bar Association held an ‘online’ Council meeting, with Council members sitting in Tranzscript’s Auckland and Wellington offices and in the number 4 courtroom of the Christchurch High Court. According to Wahl, the Courts are more than happy to provide this assistance.

Other options offered by Tranzscript include their mobile video conferencing units. Lightweight, easily transported in a carry case, and designed to work off car batteries, they have been used to service “special jurisdictions”, including rural properties for Maori Land Court hearings.

So, if you need to brief a witness in Houhora in the North or Nightcaps in the South and flying or driving is just not an option, perhaps you should give the team at Tranzscript a call. They consider it their job to deliver the solution that best meets your needs. For more information on the bespoke services offered by Tranzscript, including its transcription and evidence management solutions, contact Richard Wahl, Project Manager/Business Development, on (09) 374 5935 or visit www.tranzscript.co.nz ---------------------------
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