Description:
Unlike the Pro version, IBM ViaVoice 8.0 Standard Edition only runs on Windows 9x and Windows Me. And, just like its rivals, ViaVoice is a snap to install. You'll need a moderately well-specified PC to get the best of it--a 300 MHz Pentium with 64 to 96 MB of RAM is recommended, although more of either won't go amiss. Plug in the headset, adjust the sound levels, and read out a script to train ViaVoice. This takes a mere five minutes or so--a far cry from when training took anything up to one hour. More training is a good idea, but we experienced excellent recognition accuracies from the word "go"--when you read out reports and business-style letters, you can expect to get as many as 96 words right out of 100, which is remarkable. Correcting mistakes remains a simple task, and is made a lot easier by the playback of what you actually said. You can dictate into any application, but Microsoft Word 2000/97 can be controlled by using "natural language controls." With the mic active, you simply utter "dictate to Word" to get going--Word then is loaded, and you can begin dictation. New to this release is the ability to control Microsoft Internet Explorer in this way. ViaVoice 8.0 is modeless, which means that you can mix dictated speech and commands in the same breath. All you have to do is pause slightly in your flow of words, and ViaVoice will know that your next word is a command instead of text. ViaVoice 8.0 Standard Edition differs from the Professional Edition in a few key areas; but, for basic dictation purposes, the Standard Edition would satisfy the vast majority of users. --Roger Gann
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