Serial Architecture

The traditional serial architecture for realtime transcript involves the following A stenographer transcribes phonetics onto a steno or cat machine The phonetics feed into a computer running translation software The translation feeds into a serial splitter box A serial line from the splitter connects to a comm port on a client computer Specialised software reads the serial feed and displays it to the user The reach of the serial feed can be extended though modems to a remote location The serial lines are single purpose only. They are used simply to take the text feed of transcript. Serial lines do not allow for networking therefore any networking services require a second set of wires. The specialised software required dictates that all users must use computers based on the windows software platform. Other platforms such as unix and macintosh are excluded through a lack of available software. The software is generally single purpose. It's only purpose being to receive and manage the realtime textual feed of transcript. Other services such as databases, images and email must be obtained through other pieces of software and associated networking wires. This architecture does not scale well in 2 areas It is not easy to extend the reach of the court outside of the physical court building It is not easy to integrate the transcript with other electronic services The IP architecture used in intranet technologies is scalable in both of these areas