Description:
Allowing the software to speak for itself, the first few paragraphs of this review were written, or spoken, using IBM's ViaVoice 9. Any typos you see are there resell--er, are the result--of a misinterpretation on the part of ViaVoice. The new voice and dictation program shows a marked improvement over previous dictation packages, but it also proves that such technology still has a way to go before it true we could come--uh, make that truly becomes--convenient. It's important to distinguish between limitations of consumer computing power and the quality of dictation programs relative to each other. Voice dictation is extremely complex, and it is difficult to create truly reliable software without massive, NASA-level computers to run it on. With that in mind, ViaVoice 9 is an excellent dictation package, and the Pro U.S. bee (that should be USB) addition (edition) comes with the plant phonics Dee's pee 300 (uh, make that Plantronics DSP-300), a headset with outstanding microphone quality and fairly decent earphones. Upon installation, the program asks you to read several paragraphs aloud to help it get to know your voice. The better "trained" ViaVoice is to your vocal nuances, the more adapted it is at translating your vocal commands and dictation. Unfortunately, even after hours of training, you can see it's still far from perfect, which is why I'm typing from this point on. If you can get past its vocal follies, you'll appreciate the rest of ViaVoice 9's package. It's loaded with outstanding, user-friendly features, including its own dictation pad, a direct-dictate mode that works with just about every word processor you can think of, and the ability to format text and manipulate pull-down menus with intuitive vocal commands. It lets your voice perform other tasks, too, such as checking e-mail, surfing the Web, and using an applet called Voice Mouse to command the mouse cursor. In addition, ViaVoice packs the best help interface we've seen in years. For instance, for a list of vocal commands, you only have to utter the words "What can I say?" Although its specs recommend differently, we suggest running ViaVoice on a machine equipped with a 1 GHz or faster processor and 256 MB or more RAM. Dictation was slow and error prone on our 1.5 GHz/256 MB test bed. If you have a lot of patience, some spare time for extra proofreading, and the need or desire for a dictation suite, ViaVoice 9 is an excellent choice. Just be prepared for silly misinterpretations. --Joel Durham Jr.
| 
