Grand Traverse County Courts manage circuit and district court proceedings throughout Grand Traverse County in northern Michigan.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and social distancing measures were put into place, Grand Traverse County Courts needed a way to keep their court dockets going so cases weren’t canceled or delayed because people couldn’t gather in courtrooms together.
After the Michigan Supreme Court ordered district courts to start running remote proceedings, Cliff DuPuy, Director of IT for Grand Traverse County, immediately began research to find a video conferencing camera that would meet the needs of their courtroom.
According to Cliff: “After watching YouTube videos of the Meeting Owl in action and reading positive reviews, it looked like the Meeting Owl would be the easiest option to set up and start using, without any external moving parts I’d have to manage, so I ordered one as soon as the county shut down to start testing.”
Since early 2020, the staff has been working on an alternating schedule, with half of the employees switching off between working from home and social distancing in the office, so their Meeting Owls have been useful for keeping Cliff’s team connected and productive during meetings.
Grand Traverse County has been able to use the Meeting Owl for criminal and civil trials, and even held the first court case and the first televised court case during the COVID-19 pandemic. With their research and experimentation, they’ve been able to share their model with other court systems for conducting hybrid trials via video conference.
Having used Logitech and Polycom cameras in the past, the Meeting Owl’s portability and ease of use were two key differentiators that stood out to Cliff.
“When we use the Meeting Owl, there’s no management required. It’s easy to set up and start using, I don’t have to stand up or use a remote control to pan and tilt the camera, and the auto-focusing capabilities make conversations and proceedings flow organically.”
The lightheartedness of the Meeting Owl benefits everyone in the courtroom, too. Cliff explains: “Everyone loves when the Meeting Owl hoots when you first plug it in — it de-stresses everyone in what can sometimes be a high-stress setting.”
Grand Traverse County is planning to hold virtual trials and court cases with the Meeting Owl as long as social distancing guidelines are in place, and Cliff is happy to have a virtual courtroom option for when someone can’t make it in-person in the future.