Planet Depos is 10! And what a journey it’s been. The DiMontes had a vision, created a game plan, and developed a formula for an innovative and fun company built on professionalism, creativity, hard work, and dedication to “making it happen,” every day, for every client and each other, for 10 years and beyond. The numbers alone do the talking. But I’m doing the writing here and have lots more than stats to talk about!
In the words of Planet Depos Chair Lisa DiMonte, “We began as a small company and are now a fast-growing global organization. So much has changed during the last 10 years, but one thing has remained constant, and that is despite our growth, we are still very much a family. We have remained successful and motivated because we care.”
These words ring so true to those of us working here at Planet Depos. It’s reflected daily in the offers to assist others with their workload, and the involved and sometimes humorous consultations with colleagues and management about how to best confront and resolve or, even better, avoid an issue. This genuine interest in helping each other make it happen mirrors the family bond, everyone working together to keep the unit strong and growing and to keep the atmosphere pleasant. It makes the workday so much easier when there are none of the typical office politics and pettiness — you know you’re a part of something special.
Clients’ comments consistently drive home the point that Planet Depos is unique. Working with more than 90,000 clients over the first 10 years, our team still recognizes that each firm is different and that each paralegal and attorney has his or her own preferences and expectations. One size does not fit all; one size fits one. Making it happen for each individual client is the goal, and seamless teamwork is what gets it done. Compliments are daily and very much appreciated occurrences. Everyone – reporters, videographers, technicians, hosts, as well as the teams from scheduling, production, and billing — receives constant positive feedback. Account reps hear and share praise from their clients regularly. As it should, praise and feedback push us to constantly innovate and improve.
“We began as a small company and are now a fast-growing global organization. So much has changed during the last 10 years, but one thing has remained constant, and that is despite our growth, we are still very much a family. We have remained successful and motivated because we care.” – Lisa DiMonte
Innovations and enhancements keep us fresh as we continue to adapt in an ever-changing industry. It’s exciting to look back at some of the milestones of the last 10 years.
Our Client Services Department grew out of a recognized need to enable Production to focus entirely on processing transcripts so that it could respond and attend to the needs of our clients and reporters. They’re kept busy fielding and following up on requests, answering questions, and making things happen in a timely fashion.
Moving from paper to electronic billing and payment has resulted in a substantial improvement and convenience for our valued clients.
As a result of the stenographic shortage, we led the industry by supplementing our pool of highly skilled stenographic court reporters with in-house training of digital reporters and development of our proprietary software and state-of-the-art digital recording equipment. With our reporting leadership possessing more than 125 years in the profession, they are well-equipped to train these new court reporting professionals.
The newly created Transcription Department not only handles the transcription from our digital reporters, but it also manages client-provided audio as well.
In addition to our organic growth, the acquisition of five reporting agencies – 4 domestic and 1 international – has fueled our growth, and so has our commitment to getting the right people on the Planet Depos bus and in the right seats. As founding partner Nico DiMonte commented, “Starting with just 5 people, we could have never imagined growing to 150 in such a short period of time. Our success is owed to the hard work and dedication of each and every member of the Planet Depos family.”
Family. The word keeps coming up. Many businesses refer to themselves as a family and try to cultivate that environment. We started with a family, so it’s been a natural progression for us. More impressive, our family is worldwide, with offices and staff literally around the planet. We have built a reputation as the go-to agency for international depositions. As unlikely as it may seem, our international team is just as cohesive as our domestic team, with the same professionalism, work ethic, and sense of humor. Clients can schedule abroad, comfortable in the knowledge that we will make it happen for them there, too.
Maintaining and surpassing high expectations is what sets us apart from our competition. Our response time is, simply put, unmatchable. The atmosphere fostered by the DiMonte family and embraced by the whole Planet Depos family facilitates the level of teamwork needed to do just that. It’s a daily can-do attitude passed from team member to team member. To quote founding partner Billy DiMonte addressing our team, “Your consummate professionalism day in and day out is contagious not only to our clients, but to each other. It’s what keeps our clients coming back and what creates the environment where people are excited to join our team and come to work every day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for always making it happen. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years has in store for us!”
Founding partner Joseph DiMonte echoes the sentiment regarding the future of Planet Depos, even while celebrating the past and present. “Today, though, I am much more excited about PD’s future than its past. Our industry will evolve faster in the next 10 years than it ever has before. We are well positioned to flourish in this new age of court reporting.”
As the court reporting industry continues to change, the Planet Depos family will get to flex our creative muscles, set new goals, impress new and loyal clients, and continue our growth.
It all started with a vision.
