Description:
The newest version of ViaVoice takes great steps toward a complete natural-language solution. Gone are the days when you had to speak to your computer in a stilted, word-by-word patois--ViaVoice works better if you speak with a natural rhythm, though a little slower and more precisely than in normal conversation. Once the program is installed, the ViaVoice VoiceCenter bar sits at the top of the screen. Whatever you say into the supplied noise-canceling headset is interpreted as either dictation or a command. The program works with Microsoft Word, but if you use a different word processor, ViaVoice's own SpeakPad text editor will take dictation just as happily. You can then cut and paste your text into the application of your choice. When you first start using the program, you need to train it to understand your voice. This takes around 20 minutes, and further training can improve accuracy. Getting used to your voice is only half the battle--understanding your vocabulary is just as important. Particularly if you use specialist words in your work, getting to know your jargon can be crucial. ViaVoice 10 Standard understands a wide range of dictation-specific commands, such as "Go to end of line" and "New paragraph," to help navigate around your document. You can work entirely by voice, but most people use a combination of voice dictation and mouse clicks for maximum productivity. No speech recognition system is 100 percent accurate. To cope with the occasional mistake, ViaVoice 10 Standard provides the correction window, where a numbered list of likely alternatives is shown whenever you select dubious text. Saying "Pick [number]" substitutes the word or phrase at that position in the list. ViaVoice 10 Standard can search through your existing documents, adding words not in its extensive vocabulary to its word list. This is a cunning shortcut to boosting recognition accuracy. --Simon Williams
| 
