The vendor is required to provide and implement advanced digital, computer-based audio and video recording equipment and software for its courtroom/ council chamber.
- The primary objectives for this initiative are to upgrade the court’s digital recording capabilities and to expand accessibility to the digital record for the judiciary, court personnel, the legal community, and the public.
- These recordings are duplicated and provided to attorneys, parties involved, and the public, media, and transcription services through downloadable files or CD’s.
- The court is seeking a solution to either replace or enhance the existing system, with an emphasis on leveraging the existing technological infrastructure wherever feasible, while introducing new, cutting-edge technology to ensure reliable, long-term service.
- The court utilizes digital equipment to record, playback, and store all court proceedings.
- A comprehensive solution that ensures the court's needs are fully met, the desired solution could include the following additional features:
1. Scalability and flexibility
• Ability to scale the system to accommodate potential future expansions (e.g., adding more courtrooms or handling higher volumes of recordings).
• Flexibility to adapt to future technological advancements and updates without requiring a complete overhaul.
2. High-quality audio recording
• Superior audio quality that ensures clear, accurate, and reliable recordings, even in noisy or challenging environments.
• Noise reduction capabilities to eliminate background noise or interference, especially in large or crowded courtrooms.
3. User-friendly interface
• Intuitive, easy-to-navigate software for court staff, judges, attorneys, and other users, reducing the learning curve and training time.
• Accessible interface for managing and retrieving recordings quickly and efficiently.
4. Remote access and cloud integration
• Secure remote access for authorized users (e.g., judges, attorneys, and staff) to access and review audio recordings, potentially via a web-based portal or secure cloud storage.
• Cloud-based archiving with high security to store recordings for long-term access and backup, ensuring data protection and preventing loss.
5. Automated transcription integration
• Integration with transcription services to automatically transcribe audio recordings, facilitating easier review and documentation of proceedings.
• Optional machine-generated transcriptions that can be edited and reviewed for accuracy.
6. Search and retrieval functionality
• Advanced search capabilities that allow users to quickly find specific portions of audio recordings by case number, date, parties involved, or keywords.
• Timestamping and indexing features that make it easy to locate specific parts of a recording (e.g., when certain witnesses testify or specific evidence is discussed).
7. Security and compliance
• Strong encryption and data security protocols to protect sensitive case information, ensuring compliance with legal and privacy regulations.
• Features that support audit trails, user permissions, and access logs to track and monitor who accesses recordings and when.
8. Redaction capabilities
• Tools for easy redaction of sensitive information (e.g., personal details or confidential discussions) within recordings, ensuring privacy protections are maintained.
• Integration with automated redaction tools to streamline this process.
9. Maintenance and support services
• Ongoing maintenance and technical support to ensure the system functions optimally, including regular updates, troubleshooting, and user assistance.
• Dedicated customer service for handling system issues or upgrades as needed.
10. Real-time monitoring and alerts
• The ability for administrators or technical staff to monitor the system in real time, ensuring recordings are functioning as expected throughout court proceedings.
• Alerts or notifications for any technical issues, such as equipment failure or recording interruptions, to ensure prompt resolution.
- Compatibility requirements and indexing
• Compatibility with the court’s current operating system (windows 11) and any upgraded windows-based operating systems if available.
• Provide a routine maintenance schedule for windows/application software patching and maintenance that will be maintained by the vendor.
• Ability to import hearing docket data (jurist, hearing date/time, case number(s), children’s names, type of hearing) from court’s case management system or from an exported data file into the digital recording system for purposes of automated addition of hearing/event information for the purposes of indexing.
• Allow for the manual addition or correction of hearing/event information for the purposes of indexing.
- In-person and remote system controls and access
• Provide controls in the courtroom for starting and stopping the digital recording system either at the bench or the judicial assistant workstation.
• Ability for court staff, sitting at their desk inside or outside of the courtroom, to be able to listen in on the proceedings. (This should not impact the recording device’s ability to capture the record due to higher utilization.)
• Ability for any authenticated network users to listen to proceedings in real-time as well as replay captured recordings remotely through software application.
- Capture, replay, download, transfer
• All solutions must maintain the required standards for digital recordings of court proceedings.
• Provide full and clear audio capture from within the courtroom to minimize or eliminate dead spots as participants move within that area.
• Provide real-time archiving recordings in digital format.
• Ability for audio files to convert to industry standard formats such as mpeg, mp3, wma for saving and/or export.
• Ability to record the different audio inputs on separate channels to allow for isolation during playback
• Provide a visual and/or audible warning in the courtroom in the event of a microphone failure or an unintended stoppage of the recording system.
• Ability to allow users to clip portions of a recorded proceeding to accommodate partial record requests for end-users.
• Ability to allow court staff to copy all necessary files onto a CD-ROMs, flash drive or other comparable media for the end user to have for playback and/or 3rd party transcription services.
• Ability to produce “white noise” to block voices at the bench conference from being audible in the courtroom without recording any bench conferences.
- Sealing & expunging
• Ability to electronically seal recordings (based on user permissions) after the event is recorded.
• Ability to unseal a recording (based on user permissions) after an event is recording.
- Digital recording hardware
• Include multiple microphones to capture audio from participants in the courtroom; the number and location of microphones will vary depending upon the size and shape of the courtroom.
• Provide and maintain all necessary equipment, connections, cabling, etc. necessary to support the audio court recording in all court rooms.
- Digital archive and retention and conversion of legal recordings
• Records retention management – ability to delete archived recordings automatically pursuant to the retention schedule.
• Digital recordings of court proceedings shall be archived to servers, cloud storage or both.
• Digital recordings should be encrypted in transit and at rest to ensure data security.
• Chosen storage solution must provide court approved backup and disaster recovery plans.
• Query systems that allow archived recordings to be accessed by any of the following elements: date, time, location, case number, party name and jurist.
• Ability to perform any necessary data conversion (as needed) for legal recordings created in the court’s current system.
- The ongoing service and support must minimally include the following:
• Provide all preventative and manufacturer recommended maintenance including, but not limited to internal batteries, cleaning, replacement of worn parts, and testing of all equipment.
• Include on-site repair or replacement of faulty equipment.
• Include service and repair or replacement of existing digital recording systems and remote monitoring systems and their related components.
• Provide the court with audio-visual industry updates on new technologies and best practices for equipment.
• Provide and install loaner equipment if repairs are to exceed forty-eight (48) hours and assist in securing that equipment from a third-party vendor if necessary.
• Coordinate and oversee the factory repair equipment process on behalf of the court.
• Respond to major failure maintenance calls within two (2) hours; major failures maintenance shall be defined as disruption in services to a single user of material nature; material nature shall mean the court’s operations are critically affected.
• When a major failure occurs for multiple users, send qualified maintenance personnel, as required, to arrive at the affected court facility within four (4) hours of request including weekends and court holidays.
• Respond to all other failure maintenance calls no later than the next business day.
- Contract Period/Term: 2 years
- Pre-Proposal conference Date: April 23, 2025