Those of us who plan, design, code, test, and deliver software solutions always start with a question—What problem are we trying to solve? And that problem has to be something that we hear from those who use our solution (or might use, if they are not a customer). It’s rare to find a problem that EVERYONE has, but if you listen to enough people, certain recurring problems keep coming to the surface.
The solution I’ve been working on since I came to Stenograph is to help extend CATalyst to be even more than a CAT system.
The stenographers I’ve talked to love what they do, and their skill has an artisanal quality that I admire and appreciate deeply. But the things that are a part of their day that they don’t particularly love include administrative tasks, such as scheduling, if they work for multiple agencies. They might get a text, an email, a phone call…and then they have to check their calendar, get back to the agency, and then do it all over again if there’s a time or location change–often during a short amount of time when they go off the record. Similarly, each agency has a different preferred way of receiving the finished transcript, exhibits, receipts, and other materials, and then there is the process of managing invoices, deposits, etc. All of these administrative tasks take time away from time spent writing—which happens to be the time when a court reporter is maximizing their earning potential.
What if we could save a few minutes here and there by standardizing the process, no matter which agency the reporter works with? Would those minutes add up to a valuable chunk of time that the reporter could use to take an additional assignment, spend more time with their families, or maybe even get a little more sleep? Can we do this within CATalyst, so the reporter doesn’t have to change software when they only have a few minutes? Our goal became clear, and it was possible. But it required development of a solution that agencies would love to use, as well.
This week, CATalyst Version 21.5 was released along with APEX, a web-based solution. It has the potential to standardize processes, adding up to a month in time or $5,000 in additional revenue opportunity. It does this by bringing administrative tasks within a quick change of windows in the CATalyst application. Along with this, Stenograph has launched our Loyalty program, which can earn reporters an average up to $400 in Loyalty points per year that can be used as discounts off of Stenograph products. Our team is excited to unveil what our team has worked on for over two years. I’m more excited to hear how we can continue to extend these new capabilities to make them fit into reporters’ daily routines to save time and let them keep doing. APEX offers similar time-savings for agency processes, and it’s great to hear the positive feedback from them, as well.
Editor’s note: The choice to call this release version 21.5 instead of 22 or something else was made to make it accessible to as many reporters as possible who are already using version 21, without any need to spend more for a new “whole numeral upgrade.” There’s no additional cost to begin using the new features.