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SPEECH RECOGNITION SOFTWARE - VOICE RECOGNITION - DICTATION SOFTWARE
What is voice recognition software, should I buy it and why?
This review of voice recognition or speech recognition software is not an in-depth article of how it works, but simply my review of the software I believe is the best product for the job. Speech recognition software allows you to speak into a microphone and dictate what you want to type. As you speak into the microphone, voice recognition software determines what you are saying and types what you say. There have been enormous improvements over the years and speech recognition software is now at a point where its use is indispensable. I initially purchased Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation software so that I could dictate the injury paragraph in a bill of particulars. It made my job very easy, because I was able to read medical reports and records and while I was reading, I dictated the injuries and treatment I wanted to include in the bill of particulars. After dictating from each of the medical records, I then reviewed what had been typed by Dragon NaturallySpeaking and organized the injuries and treatment. I now use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type template letters and documents which are used by SAGA, my personal injury case management software; e-mails; and pages such as this one for my web site. Dragon NaturallySpeaking will allow a lawyer to produce paperwork more quickly and easily and will free up secretaries to perform paralegal work instead of typing. For the injured victim hurt in an accident with arm or wrist injuries or for some who suffers from a repetitive strain injury involving the wrist or hand, Dragon NaturallySpeaking will allow you to continue using a computer without pain.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software is absolutely amazing! Dragon was the first company (in the late 1970's) to start producing dictation software. Simply put on a headset and type by dictating at up to 160 words per minute. After a lot of training with the last version I used (version 5), Dragon's accuracy was flawless with medical terminology (great for typing injury paragraphs in a Bill of Particulars) and very good with other dictation. I just obtained a copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 8 Professional. Version 8 is a substantial improvement over previous versions, which I thought were no less than amazing. There are many new improvements in version 8, including automatic punctuation, however, the most noticeable difference between version 8 and earlier versions is that the software has substantially improved accuracy, almost flawlessly accurate, and that was right out-of-the-box after only five minutes of training. I have even found a Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 8 frequently types the correct words, even when I use poor pronunciation while speaking in the microphone. My installation of version 8 was a new installation and not an upgrade, so the training files from my earlier versions (3, 4 & 5) were not included in this new installation and I don't see that I need them. Another fabulous improvement, for personal injury lawyers, is that medical terminology is already loaded in the program, and so far has not required any training, which was required for earlier versions.
Dragon will not work well unless you have a good sound card or use a USB headset, so if you've heard from someone else that Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn't work well, it's because they were using a cheap soundcard. I've had several lawyers tell me that Dragon doesn't work well, however, in every case, I found that the sound card, they were using was a cheap soundcard. Dragon comes with an "entry level" headset that is not USB which means that your sound card becomes an important factor. Using a USB headset bypasses the soundcard, so it doesn't matter, what kind of soundcard, you have. If you really don't want to use a USB headset, the soundcard I recommend would be a Creative Sound Blaster. The only suggestion I have for ScanSoft, the makers of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, is that the product should be shipped with a USB headset. I bought the vxi Parrott Talk Pro USB headset. Dragon tech support now uses the NC-7100 USB Headset from Andrea Electronics. Bypassing the sound card and using a USB headset is the easiest way to insure that you get the best sound connection. To type this paragraph, I used Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 with a Parrott Talk Pro USB headset on a computer I built myself, using Windows XP with Service Pack 2 on an AMD Athlon 2200+ 1.80 GHz. processor with 1 GB of RAM.
Tips:
Installation: When installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 8, note that the instructions tell you to close any virus checking software prior to installation. Make sure that after closing or virus checking software, you press the "Control, Alt & Delete" keys to open Windows task manager; then click on the Processes tab and look for another file, belonging to your virus checking software and click on End Process for that file. For instance, the virus software that I use, AVG from Grisoft will leave behind a file called avgserv.exe after closing, the virus program.
Microphone window turns red and Dragon is not working: Turn off your microphone using the microphone button on your headset; turn off your microphone using the plus key on your keyboard; then turn the microphone on-again using both the microphone button on your headset and the plus key on your keyboard.
Backing up Dragon Naturally Speaking 8 & Corrupted Vocabulary File: Be sure to periodically back up your vocabulary files. The vocabulary files can become corrupted and it is important to back up these files. I had a problem with Win XP and needed to do a system restore. Earlier in the day I had already used Dragon and saved my voice files. When I did a system restore, it corrupted the Dragon vocabulary file. Dragon would not load my vocabulary and I got an error message "The vocabulary you have chosen 'General - Large' is incompatible. Would you like to open the acoustic files?".I had to delete the "Users" folder and create a new folder named "Users", which was now empty and required that I retrain Dragon all over again. Today, I experienced a different error. When attempting to start up Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8, it would not start and gave me an error message. Thankfully, I have been backing up the "Users" folder and simply copied it to my c: drive. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 immediately worked fine.
Dragon should have a backup button, but unfortunately it does not. As long as you know which folder to backup, it's not difficult. Back up the folder named "Users" which you will find using the following path: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ScanSoft\NaturallySpeaking8/Users. If you do not see the folder "Application Data", when in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users folder, it is probably a hidden folder. In WinXP, click on Tools; Folder Options; then click on the tab marked View; then click on "Show hidden files and folders". If your vocabulary file becomes corrupt, simply replace the "Users" file with the one you backed up.
I use Dragon to type everything on my web site, typing e-mails, letters and documents. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is no longer optional software, if you want to be competitive or simply reduce office overhead. Even if you're retiring, you can use Dragon to type all the e-mails you will be sending to your friends and grandchildren. At prices starting on the internet at $155.72, you absolutely must buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8. If you already own a previous version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you can buy an upgrade to version 8 for even less. Dragon is easy to install and you can learn how to use it in minutes. Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM ViaVoice Gold are now both owned by ScanSoft. When considering which voice recognition software to buy, my choice is Dragon NaturallySpeaking. BUY BOTH THE PARROT TALK PRO USB HEADSET & DRAGON, NOW!
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