District of Idaho

OVERVIEW

The U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Idaho has deployed video conferencing systems in all courtrooms. These systems allow us to transmit video and audio images between the courthouse and any other location deemed appropriate by the court, including but not limited to all Idaho Courthouses.

The video conferencing equipment is typically used in a courtroom setting, although mobile systems are available for conference rooms. These systems are currently used for non-evidentiary Civil and Bankruptcy matters, as well as selected Criminal proceedings.

SCHEDULING

If you should wish to use the equipment during a hearing please contact the courtroom deputy for the judge that will be hearing your case. There is currently no cost to use the system. All reservations are on a first-come, first served basis and should be made as early as possible. The court does own multi point video conference units (located in Boise) used to connect more than two conference sites during a call.

Counsel may be asked to participate in a test call at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled event, if using a conference system that is not located at one of the Idaho courthouses. Court personnel will be available to test the equipment at all courthouse locations.

ABOUT THE EQUIPMENT

We have a variety of video conferencing equipment, but most of it is manufactured by Polycom. In all cases, our video conferencing equipment utilizes a triple BRI ISDN configuration. These BRI circuits are provided by the phone companies and permit two way video dialing similar to a telephone call. This enables dialing to any one of our courthouses or essentially any video system in the world that is connected to the public telephone system.

All courtrooms in the Boise, Coeur d'Alene and Pocatello courthouses are equipped with Polycom VSX 8000 and HDX 8000 systems. These systems are integrated into the courtroom electronics package for optimum audio and video quality. These systems comply with all video standards for H.320 (TCP/IP) and H.323 (ISDN) video conferencing. The video produced by the VSX video conferencing systems is in a standard definition format and the newer HDX systems are High Definition. The court does also have a number of portable Polycom mobile carts that can be located in various rooms within the courthouses (except Moscow).