The Rise of Eclipse RSR – How Court Reporting is Evolving in 2025

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inCourt ReportingTags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the evolving world of court reporting, the convergence of tradition and technology has reached a pivotal point. At the center of this transformation is Eclipse RSR—a voice-to-text software by Advantage that’s rapidly redefining what it means to be a modern court reporter.

For years, the field has been primarily dominated by stenographers and voice writers, with digital reporting often viewed as the lesser sibling. But RSR (RealSpeak Realtime) is changing that narrative. Designed as the next iteration of Eclipse software, RSR builds on familiar platforms and integrates automatic speech recognition (ASR) to allow users—stenos, voice writers, and even newcomers—to produce real-time transcripts with remarkable accuracy and speed.

While RSR isn’t generative AI in the typical sense, it is an advanced ASR tool that transforms spoken words into editable text in real time. For traditional stenographers, it might sound like heresy, but many are quietly experimenting with RSR—and some are already using it in their daily workflow. The benefits are hard to ignore: streamlined real-time transcripts, quicker rough drafts, and powerful collaborative features like “team editing,” where scopists or editors can join a live deposition and assist in real-time editing. This drastically reduces turnaround times and enhances transcript quality.

The Resistance and the Shift

Not everyone is thrilled. Some highly skilled realtime stenographers express concern over training digital reporters to use these tools, fearing it may erode their hard-earned market share. After all, helping someone new master RSR might just equip them to compete for the same realtime jobs. But many within the community also see the inevitability of change. Instead of resisting, they advocate for owning the transition—helping train others, shaping ethical standards, and ensuring quality remains high.

This shift is not just about technology; it’s about labor, economics, and professional identity. Many digitals, once relegated to low-paying roles with little autonomy, are seizing the opportunity RSR offers. It empowers them to produce and certify their own work, assuming they have the necessary skills in grammar, punctuation, and transcript editing. For some, it’s a lifeline out of exploitative agency structures where they log notes while someone else gets paid to finalize their work.

The Skills Gap

Despite RSR’s promise, it’s not a magic button. It demands competence. Knowing how to edit effectively in Eclipse, maintain transcript integrity, and manage the demands of realtime work is critical. Those who assume the software alone will do the job are in for a wake-up call. Professionals—regardless of background—must still meet the same high standards.

And that’s why some stenos don’t see RSR as a threat, but as a tool—especially valuable for those dealing with physical strain, career burnout, or a lack of retirement savings. With RSR, they can continue working without the physical toll of machine writing.

The Economics of Access

There is, however, a significant barrier to entry: cost. RSR is expensive, and many digital reporters earning hourly wages struggle to afford it. Agencies, which often control the software, are slow to provide access or support. As a result, even as the technology becomes more widespread, many digitals remain on the fringes—locked out of opportunities that could elevate them to full reporting professionals.

This has sparked frustration. Many aspiring reporters feel left behind—not for lack of skill, but due to institutional reluctance to invest in them. Meanwhile, some experienced reporters, disheartened by industry gatekeeping and gossip, are taking matters into their own hands: investing in RSR independently, training others, and pushing for a more equitable system.

The Future of Reporting

The world of court reporting is evolving rapidly. With RSR, we are witnessing not the end of steno, but a diversification of pathways into the profession. Whether you’re a steno veteran, a digital reporter, or a language-savvy newcomer, the same message rings true: adapt, learn, and evolve.

RSR isn’t perfect. It won’t replace the best realtime reporters overnight. But it’s here. It’s powerful. And it’s leveling the playing field for those willing to master it.

The question is no longer if this technology will reshape the industry, but how we, as a community, choose to shape it.

Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

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