wireless hookups to clients
Does anyone out there know of another wireless system to feed realtime to clients other than Stenocast? I want to go wireless and I want to look at all the options. Thanks, Sam Vaughn
Mike,There is only so much we can do. We use a Captcha in an attempt to prevent bots from creating accounts and posting. Once a spammer is found, that account is blocked and they can no longer post in the forums. We are looking in to implementing other options as well. However, as long as companies are willing to pay people living in other countried pennies per post to create these spam posts, we will never be able to stop them all.
I am having a lot of trouble with the Stenocast Xi opening up and catching the wireless signal plus the adapter isn't being acknowledged by the computer. So I went out and bought a usb to adapter serial port. I have took both into a seven-hole hub. My software key will not "work" in the hub so it has to be plugged into the main machine. I still am having the Stenocast Xi work. It will actually stop in the middle of real time and freeze, even after nine pages. And usually when I get to around 100 or 125 pages or so, well, forget any more real time. It just won't go. So I have to break it up to using it for the morning session, the after=recess session etc. So when I need to give the attorneys a rough disc at night, I then have to go in and put everything into one file. And, frankly, they don't want to hang around for me, if you get my drift. I have to be up and running Monday morning to do a real time feed stream on LiveNote for the attorneys and I can't have these problems going on. Can anyone out there let me know if they've had these problems and how they've resolved them? We're in our twelfth week of trial and it looks like we have another two months to go and they're not going to want me in there if I can't give them what they want. Help!
This thread started with Naola asking if there was an alternative system to StenoCast. I haven't seen such a thing myself. I wonder if one exists. Stenocast sounds like a good product to buy, but not at the prices they're charging. The new RED unit costs a thousand bucks for 7 receivers. If it was half that, they'd be selling thousands of units. Methinks they are a bit greedy.
I agree, Michael, too expensive for me right now!
Is it just me or does $300 for the X7 or $400 for the new RED transmitter PLUS a hundred bucks for each EZ receiver sound a tad expensive? Hell, doesn't it sound SUPER expensive?
I've just started using Stenocast's usb ez receivers. Sometimes it's not a problem. I load the driver via a flash drive, insert the Stenocast usb, check device manager for the proper port, set up Livenote for them and ready to go. A few times, though, in the Livenote realtime options setup, the designated com port is not available. Device manager might tell me the usb is in com 10, but Livenote is not giving that option. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I have to add that one time this happened, I was able to use the serial ez receiver, which easily connected.
The older versions of LiveNote wouldn't allow higher COM ports. There is a way to get around it, but it requires tweaking the atty's computer, which the atty's IT department will most very likely not appreciate.
Best practice is to just use alternative methods of delivering realtime. One of those ways will work without having to be so invasive into the atty's computer.
ETA: I see this is a very old string, and the given information below is no longer relevant. Technology has changed since.
Which I have been doing -- breaking out the old cables. I did that the other day, broke out the old cables, and then two other attorneys wandered in a minute before we were supposed to begin and asked if I had wireless. Doh! Should have hooked up first atty to Stenocast ez serial (forgot I had that option). But then again, I only have one of those, and the two later arriving attorneys might not have been able to hook up with the usb, and we would have started late. Guess I just have to keep bringing both options.
I use Stenocast. You're right, though. I come across that problem every single job just about where an attorney comes in at the last minute and says, make it work.
They never have a USB-to-serial cable, so I have to keep quite a few on hand. Even the times the atty's IT guys bother to give them a cable, the driver is not installed.
It was so much easier and faster when every computer had a serial cable connection.
As for the bluetooth portion of Stenocast, I have given up on those. Bluetooth is just too unreliable. You can make a connection, and then for no apparent reason, it just stops. Windows is just getting into the busines of Bluetooth, and it was conflicting with the Stenocast Bluetooth driver. I am certain the guys at Stenocast have made adjustments to these devices, but with every Windows upgrade, you run the risk of another conflict rearing its ugly head. On top of that, if there are other devices around using Bluetooth, they can conflict as well. Think of it like the AM channel on your radio. Bluetooth uses lower frequencies like that, so you know the lower you get, the more interference you get. Not only that, but whenever you set up Bluetooth on your computer, it MUST steal just about every single possible COM port you have left to use in your computer. I quickly got to the point where I was COM port starved.
I only use the EZ Receivers now. They are eons more painless than the Bluetooth receivers, but then you still have to deal with the USB-to-serial cable issues. Sure would be a whole lot easier if Stenocast made a USB EZ Receiver.
What I did was get a USB storage device that holds all the drivers for the USB-to-serial cables; however, I just had a realtime job where it took ten minutes or more for their computers to even recognize the USB storage device. Go figure.
I can get any computer set up to receive realtime. That's never a problem. The problem is time, and with everything else we have to do before starting a job, it is just too much, especially with people coming in at the last minute saying, make it work. You can go through all the setup procedure only to find that the attorney has no tokens for Livenote.
If you're thinking that buying this system will resolve all your problems, it won't. But you do not have any other choices. I always carry an extra laptop to the job pre-set up just in case. If that's not enough, I can always send realtime over the net.
I realize you'd want to look at all of your options, but I've had stenocast for a couple of years and have never had a problem. I would suggest getting the optional USB EZ receiver to hook up to attorneys to bypass any locked down computers.
http://www.stenocast.com/Ez%20info.htm
You'll also see my testimonial in the testimonial section. I really did write it and believe every word..
Good Luck.
Steve
Steve - thanks for the plug for Stenocast. It's not that I didn't believe there was necessarily anything better - I just like to research all my options and be informed before making a decision on purchasing equipment. I see there's not much choice regardless.
I think going wireless will do nothing more than get rid of the wires for me. I see, by reading the info on the EZ receiver it would not totally solve the problem I always seem to run into, and that is attorneys showing up on depos with no serial port and no USB to serial adaptor, which I then have to supply and load the drivers for on their computers. Sometimes they show up with them, but the firm has purchased one for them and no one's bothered to install drivers and I still end up using mine. I was hoping by going wireless I wouldn't have to purchase 3 or 4 more of the USB to serial adaptors and worry about carrying them with me, as well as the driver CD, but I see that may not be the case. It becomes even more complicated when I have attorneys show up with no floopy or CD drive.
Anyway, I'm thinking I'll probably treat myself for Xmas and get the Stenocast system.
Thanks,
Sam
Sam,
I don't know if it's clear from the other messages that Stenocast has both serial port and USB EZ receivers for you to plug into the atty computers. If you get the USB ones, you won't need the USB/serial port adapters for the attys. You will still need to load a driver for the USB EZ receiver to work the first time, but that's a quick and relatively painless process. You can copy that driver on to a USB flash drive so you'll have no problems getting it installed to the atty computer even if they don't have a CD drive.
Laura
I believe the lawyer's computer does not need a driver with the USB EZ receiver. You just plug it into his USB port and that's all that's necessary. If I'm wrong, please let me know.
Mike
Mike,
I had a discussion with Stenocast about this. I think occasionally the ez receiver will work without a driver being installed, but that's not the norm. That having been said, they are working on one that will install automatically -- so you should be in touch with them to find out when that will be available.
ellen
__________________
Ellen
Ellen,
Since we last spoke regarding the USB receivers that automatically install, we have completed beta testing and are now including those receivers with all X7 orders. We have found that virtually all computers that are running XP and are updated will not need to install the driver, as the driver is already installed compliments of Microsoft. If that isn't the case and the driver is not already present, if there is an internet connection available, the driver will be downloaded automatically and installed automatically. If an attorney shows up with an older operating system that is never updated and has never heard of the internet, the course of last resort is to install the driver via a CD or flash drive.
If the driver needs to be installed manually, it just needs to be done once. Also, we do have available for download on our website the necessary driver.
Michael Appelman, StenoCast Inc.
Michael,
I am interested in going totally wireless with the X7 equipment, but I am a litte gun shy, as I have heard there are still driver issues with the USB EZ receivers. Just spoke to Dave Stanley yesterday, who said he tested, at my behest, the EZ receivers in his laptops, and that they are still not automatically loading drivers. I am extremely concerned about this issue. Cannot have these types of glitches occuring on jobs where there is already pressure to get the realtime up and running ASAP. I am quite anxious to buy your product, but I cannot and will not until this issue is resolved. Please e-mail me privately at aesikora@gmail.com to discuss this problem. Also, what is the warranty period on the EZ receivers? 15 days is just not enough. What happens if something breaks or an attorney breaks an EZ receiver on you. I'm sure it has been known to happen. Can the unit be repaired or replaced? Need to take the plunge. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. Thanks, Amy
The last time I used the USB receivers, the Windows bluetooth driver was problematic. The realtime feed would just stop for no apparent reason. It was like if you didn't hold your mouth just right, it wouldn't work.
Have you guys solved that problem?
Laura:
Thanks for the info on the EZ receivers. No, it wasn't clear from their web site or other messages that it can be serial or USB. As you know, almost all new computers come with no serial port unless specifically requested, it seems, and 99% or the attorneys who show up to depos wanting realtime don't have serial ports - hence the extra USB to serial adaptors that I carry.
Thanks again,
Sam
We are encouraged not to touch or fiddle with attorney's laptops. The courts don't want to have the liability issues so if an attorney wants realtime, it's up to them to figure it out. We only use Live Note and not allowed to use Bridge in the courts. Kind of glad I don't do depos any longer. Who needs the headaches. As far as the drivers and all, I'm not sure with the EX Receiver that you need all of those "extras," but I'm not sure. Never run into that problem.
Good Luck!
Steve
I use the StenoCast X1. My question is does the StenoCast X7 replace that and add the wireless feed to attorneys or is the X7 used in conjunction with the X1?
Thanks so much for the excellent information. I appreciated the link about StenoCast X7. It definitely looks like the most simple way to provide wireless service!
Elizabeth
The X1 is from the connection between your steno machine and your laptop. The X7 is like a little radio broadcaster from your laptop up to 7 other connections. Now if the attorney's latptop has bluetooth, your fine. But if not, many law firms don't allow you to add programs to THEIR computers, so that's why I urge you to also purchase a couple of those EX receivers. You just plug it into a USB for power and then a 9-pin receiver and you're ready to go..
Good Luck
I have an X1 for my writer with a usb receiver for the laptop. Are you saying that if the attorney has bluetooth on his computer, he can connect to me wirelessly?
"Now if the attorney's latptop has bluetooth, your fine. But if not, many law firms don't allow you to add programs to THEIR computers, so that's why I urge you to also purchase a couple of those EX receivers. You just plug it into a USB for power and then a 9-pin receiver and you're ready to go."
Steve: Doesn't the lawyer have to have either LiveNote or Bridge installed on his computer in order to receive the realtime from you?
I love my X1!
The other day I had to unexpectedly go into the courtroom nextdoor to mine and the XI sent my file to my computer in my own courtroom, no problem with the distance!
Had an RT job this week where the lawyer's laptop made the EZ connector's port 12. Couldn't connect with her laptop with X7. On the first break I went into her computer and changed the com port to 2, which was available, and connection was achieved. The setup I use is 2400 baud and Caseview/Summation. Is there still some reason that the com port number must be under 10? Seemed as though that was the case in this instance.
As a caveat, I've worked with IT people in law firms where there was nothing available and assigned a com port that was assigned to get the RT working. I'm unsure as to what makes a com port in use versus not, but it seems as though the listing is endless for the in-use listing. The idea that I'm going to lose out on an RT connection because of some liability seems far-fetched. I'll do what the lawyer wants because they are generally clueless. The problem is they're often champing at the bit to start when all this setup is causing a delay. I do what I can and then try again at the earliest convenient point, in this instance successfully. I'll write Stenocast re the number of the com port. I find it maddening that that should matter at this late date.
That actually has to do with the software the attorney was using, not StenoCast.
You can force reassign COM ports, but I suspect it was this practice that prompted IT departments to start locking down the Device Manager and not allowing access. You really don't know what their IT departments have assigned to those COM ports, and it could mess with their internal system.
You know, just because you know how to get around a problem doesn't always mean you should. For instance, I know how to get around a locked Device Manager, but I wouldn't even think of doing it. They've locked me out for a reason.
Whenever I encounter that problem, I just use a different method. Besides that, changing to a different RT method is far less time-consuming than troubleshooting.
Cindy: There have been some odd postings to this website lately. Can't you exclude the senders from being able to post? Here is the latest one:
Write and send a testimonial to your web host, web designer, web developer and SEO. They probably publish it at their site and if you are lucky they link to you as well.arizona pay per click