Kelty & Scott Court Reporting

"A court reporter, stenotype reporter, voice writer or stenomask writer is a person whose occupation is to transcribe spoken or recorded speech into written form, typically using machine shorthand or a voice silencer and digital recorder to produce official transcripts of court hearings, depositions and other official proceedings."

"There are two major methods of live person court reporting, machine shorthand and voice writing."

"Machine shorthand allows the stenotype reporter to keep up with the flow of speech so that no words are missed."

"The voice writer, on the other hand, repeats verbatim what attorneys, witnesses, and others are saying in a proceeding."

"In the United States, the court reporter is often also a notary public who is authorized to administer oaths to witnesses, and who certifies that her or his transcript of the proceedings is a verbatim account of what was said."

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_reporter.