What does it take to be a digital court reporter?

Not much.  The majority of electronic recording monitors who call themselves court reporters only have on-the-job training.  This training consists of learning how to use the laptop which they record proceedings on which tells them whether a microphone is recording or not.  They also learn to take notes on assigning speaker identification to the microphones, if individually miked up.  Other than that, they sit back and watch the microphone lights go back and forth.  There is no training in legal, technical, medical terminology.  No training on procedures of the court.  No training on how to work with attorneys and what is important to their role.  Their job is to simply make sure the recording equipment is running.  Although they can see that the microphones are recording, this does not tell them whether the words are audible enough for their transcriber to hear.  There are two major problems with this method of "training."  The first major and most important problem with this method is that the record is not guarded.  The second problem is that the majority of people who are recruited for these jobs are people who are not experienced in the law in any way, shape or form.  They do not understand the duty with which they are charged, the importance of their role in the judicial system.  If they are certified through the AAERT (American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers), this does not mean much as they are only required to pass a test with a 70% proficiency.  Training on a recording system, passing a test at 70% and no other skill required is a disgrace to the court reporting profession.  Then to call themselves court reporters is simply riding on the coattails of the highly trained professionals who have been guarding the record for decades.  If this method of producing a transcript were anywhere near acceptable, I would fully support it.  In light of the training involved and the pitfalls that come along with it, there is no way this method can be anything other than a fad that will pass as it will prove itself ineffective.