Case Study: Sutter Court
Using Modern Technology to Create a Seamless Courthouse Experience
The Client
Sutter County Superior Court was originally established in the State of California back in 1850. In 2016 the courthouse consolidated all court services from three locations to one, resulting in a complete courthouse experience. Located in Yuba City, CA—it’s widely considered one of California’s premiere historic landmark county courthouses. Their stated mission is to resolve disputes assuring that individuals are not deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or denied equal protection of the law.
The Challenge
Sutter County Superior Court handles a number of case types including: civil, criminal, family court, and more. However, out-of-date technology was causing disruptions and inefficiencies within the courthouse where hearings are held, both in-person and remote, due to COVID-19.
One of the main issues the court had to address immediately was their lack of ability to conduct court hearings for remote participants. Considering factors like social distancing, travel bans, capacity limitations and more, Sutter Court was faced with a number of challenges in the effort to comply with the CDC’s recommended health and safety guidelines.
In addition to revamping the system to ease the concerns of the pandemic, there were a number of other problems, including microphone issues, outdated cameras, and improperly installed audio equipment.
All participants of the courthouse including jurors, witnesses, counsel, and the judge needed to stay actively involved in proceedings—especially with ongoing pandemic concerns.
Sutter Court and Spinitar sought to modernize all courtrooms with new cameras, video conferencing components, streaming capabilities, and multi-window processors in the effort to improve litigation efficiencies for both remote and local participants.
The Approach
Spinitar won the project based on a design by Spinitar’s System Engineer, John Neal, who was able to match the client’s scope of work while achieving a fine balance of cost effectiveness and superior quality. Sutter Court worked with Spinitar to integrate new audiovisual components to support remote and local courtroom capabilities. They sought to upgrade cameras, improve audio functionality, and enhance overall streaming video quality.
Spinitar proposed using high definition video so that jury members could have a complete and accurate visual representation of the courtroom. Other recommendations included updating video conferencing systems, media pedestal capabilities, and security camera systems. Each of these features would drastically improve both in-person and remote courtroom hearings.
The project would also increase the scalability of remote courtroom proceedings while simultaneously bringing AV technologies up-to-date. Automating camera selection and enhanced streaming capabilities were the main drivers in improving courtroom efficiency while creating a beneficial experience for all participants.
Spinitar was absolutely on top of their game, always helping us out and doing an excellent job at everything we asked them to do — whether it was maintenance, installation, the general design, or the little added features that we’ve asked for — Spinitar has always gone above and beyond, creating the system that we needed to the tee.
A.J. Guzman
IT ANALYST, SUTTER SUPERIOR COURT
The Technology
Spinitar was aware of current issues related to existing technological infrastructures. Prior to beginning the project, existing equipment lacked the technical capabilities required for company growth and expansion. Although current accommodations worked for smaller teams, a number of technical issues existed. Microphones and insufficient computer hardware caused individuals to become frustrated and inundated with mindless tasks. Furthermore, existing equipment and sporadic technical components created frustration amongst leaders.
In collaboration with Happy Money, Spinitar used their years of AV integration experience and design expertise to create highly functional yet sophisticated and innovative technological solutions. This gave Spinitar the creative flexibility to implement a design geared towards Happy Money’s specific business needs.
Since Happy Money was moving into a brand new office building and was the first company to occupy the space—it was easier for Spinitar to create designs with specifications geared towards company objectives and goals. With a heavy emphasis centered around automated functionality, Spinitar attempted to make the interface as straightforward as possible.
The following technologies were implemented throughout the new Happy Money office space facility:
19 Huddle Rooms
Each of the rooms contain a 65” mounted Samsung commercial grade display monitor.
Creston Mercury devices with built-in VoIP functionality were used with swivel mounts integrated directly into the table.
Cameras were then attached to the bottom of displays and USB/HDMI extenders were used for connectivity from the Mercury devices at the table to the displays on the wall.
2 Interview Rooms
Each room received a 55” Samsung wall mounted display.
Creston Mercury devices with built-in VoIP functionality were used with swivel mounts integrated directly into the table.
Cameras were then attached to the bottom of displays and USB/HDMI extenders were used for connectivity from the Mercury devices at the table to the displays on the wall.
All Hands Area
The All Hands area consisted of a 4x4 video wall which utilizes (16) 55” LCD monitors mounted to form a 165” diagonal display with (8) dedicated electrical circuits.
A 24 port network switch and (1) POE+ injector facilitates the networking side of the equipment and is well hidden inside a credenza rack underneath the video wall.
The audio consists of (4) JBL speaker line arrays which were floated from multiple I-Beams along with a DSP for line level mixing, zone control, and equalization.
The lighting is made up of (4) Martin LED lights mounted to lighting pipes attached to I-Beams in front of the stage.
An in-wall transmitter is provided to allow for quick local display of video and a nearby in-wall video transmitter allows for plug and play of a local video source. By distributing this feed back to the MDF and into the NVX matrix, this allows the feed from the All Hands area to be routed to any other signage displays in the building. This includes any display on a separate floor or even the video wall in the Reception area.
A white Crestron 10” touch panel is mounted in-wall nearby to provide control of the whole system for on/off functionality, volume, microphone selection and lighting control.
Additionally an external iPad was provided which mirrors the in-wall touch panel and allows for wireless control from anywhere in the room.
Large Conference Room
The conference room was outfitted with an 82” wall mounted Samsung commercial LED display and a Vaddio 30x PTZ USB camera.
A Shure MXA910 in-ceiling microphone was used in conjunction with a Crestron sound bar allowing for VoIP calling and echo cancellation.
A white 10” table mounted touch panel allows for control of systems on/off, microphone muting, audio volume control, camera adjustment and VoIP call dialing.
Experience Center
The Experience Center is a two way combinable room.
Each room consists of a 2x2 video wall which utilizes (4) 55” LCD monitors mounted to form a 110” diagonal display.
USB PTZ cameras were installed next to each display to allow for video conferencing sessions.
The audio is made up of (1) Shure MXA910 in-ceiling microphone which is pole-mounted to the ceiling along with (8) Crestron pendant speakers in each room.
When combined both rooms act as one utilizing all (16) speakers and both Shure MXA910 microphones in conjunction with each other.
Each video wall mirrors the other depending on which room you select a source from.
The system is controlled by (2) Crestron 10” wall mounted touch panels, one for each side of the space.
Additionally an external iPad was provided which mirrors the control panels and allows for wireless control from anywhere in the room.
3 Mix Training Rooms
An 82” wall mounted commercial grade Samsung display was used along with Creston Mercury devices with swivel mounts integrated into the tables. The Mercury simultaneously acts as both the speakers and microphone while an HD Huddly GO camera is attached to the bottom of the display in the front of the room.
An Intel NUC with bluetooth capabilities functions as the processor in these spaces and acts as the Zoom Rooms hub.
1 Game Room
An 82” wall mounted commercial grade Samsung display was used along with (8) Crestron pendant speakers.
This area functions as one of the main controllable zones for background music which utilizes a Sonos Connect box on the network, one of four distributable background music sources that can be changed on the fly throughout the building.
1 Reception Area
The reception area contains a 2x2 video wall which utilizes (4) 55” LCD displays mounted to form a 110” diagonal display.
A nearby in-wall video transmitter allows for plug and play of a local video source. By distributing this feed back to the MDF and into the NVX matrix, this allows the feed from the Reception area to be routed to any other signage display in the building. This includes any display on a separate floor or even the All Hands video wall.
A 10” in-wall touch panel is used for control to turn the wall off/on, select a source and control volume levels for the speakers.
1 IT Lab
The room consists of (4) 40” wall mounted commercial grade Samsung displays and (4) HDMI input wall plates for local plug and play at each display.
1 Coffee Bar
A 55” wall mounted commercial grade Samsung display was used in the area. This location also acts as part of the distributed digital signage destinations and can be controlled wirelessly via an iPad.
Digital Signage
A total of (13) 65” wall mounted commercial grade Samsung displays were used along with 2 NVX Encoding/Decoding card frames and (16) NVX box decoders located at each digital signage location (This includes the All Hands Space, Reception area and Coffee Bar).
A total of (4) BrightSign media players are used for signage content management along with a Mac Mini, while (4) mobile iPads act as the main interface for control of the signage locations.
The system was set up with user friendly “pick and poke” routing for simple management of all content. Simply pick a source and then pick a destination to route the desired content. If a display is off it automatically turns on. A scheduling system can also be put into place to have all displays turn on and off at specified times of the day.
Distributed Audio
A total of (112) speakers were used along with an (8) channel QSC digital amplifier and a (12) channel Biamp DSP.
Audio systems consist of (5) audio decoder cards, (1) paging microphone station, and (4) Sonos players.
There are a total of (7) speaker zones that can be controlled from touch panels on the 3rd and 4th floors with optional passcode protection.
Sound Masking
A well engineered Biamp/Cambridge sound masking system is used in the 4th floor open office areas to allow for noise management between the call centers and private office areas.
The technological infrastructure was made with the help of several top notch manufacturers, most notably including several products from:
The Solution
Spinitar created advanced programming via a Crestron Control System to automate a dynamic AV feed for distribution within the building, and to the media, using an Extron multi-window processor with Vaddio Cameras, Lifesize Video Conferencing, and attorney laptop presentations. Microphone cues were also programmed to trigger camera presets that result in a video feed that automatically shows the people speaking alongside any presentation content.
Spinitar redesigned the courthouse control system to simplify operation and provide more visibility of current phone & video connections. An upgrade to Lifesize Codecs and the implementation of Lifesize Cloud Services allows simple scheduling and conferencing with any system or web participant.
Spinitar optimized the existing Biamp audio processors to provide significantly better audio quality with much more consistent levels whether someone leaned back from or yelled into a microphone. Automated cameras were also installed to switch between talking individuals in the courtroom — Each of the cameras are programmed to adapt to the various court scenarios, depending on seating arrangements and requirements.
The project successfully stayed on budget using affordable yet high-quality audiovisual components. The result was a harmonious courtroom experience that allowed individuals to participate in proceedings at a remote or local level. Furthermore, the IT department was able to address all issues remotely without having to enter the courtroom. The newly installed technology allowed employees to schedule courtroom hearings in a faster and more efficient manner.
Sutter County Superior Court can now hold courtroom proceedings that allow remote and local attendees to actively participate. All courtrooms are now fully capable of streaming live trials via updated video conferencing and enhanced audio functionality. The newly designed courtrooms surpassed expectations and the client declared the project, “an absolute success.”
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