Introduction

I’ve been somewhat fanatic about microphone testing for over 12 years now, intent on always using the best currently available.

Why?

A quality microphone truly can make all the difference with speech recognition accuracy. Yes, there are other factors such as:

• how you articulate,
• how effectively you set up Dragon’s options and
• how you use the accuracy functions within the software (some are effective and some are downright disruptive, in fact).

However, one of the integral aspects to effective speech recognition is using a quality microphone. In addition to quality, it must be easy to use. Too many buttons or a cumbersome setup can lead to unsatisfactory results. Comfort should also be a consideration, which segues into another important factor…

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Many have waited patiently, and now this exciting new technology is here:

Wireless handheld microphone dictation

Perfect for medical practioners or anyone else who enjoys the use of a handheld microphone (instead of a headset) with the flexibility of being able to dictate without being tethered to the computer.

Delivering almost as accurate recognition accuracy with Dragon as its wired counterpart, the Philips SpeechMike Air is a unique and well thought out product that may very well change the way you operate.

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One of the most problematic issues in using Dragon with MS Office is the utterly (seemingly) random loss of functionality within MS Office — specifically MS Word and MS Outlook.

You may lose select-and-say (the ability to select or correct text) or you may no longer be able to use commands. The problem may seem to vanish with a restart of your computer, but the symptoms reappear in fairly short order, resulting in endless frustration.

This is, however, a simple matter to correct. The reasons for these symptoms are varied and may include: insufficient system resources, a previous crash, a previous update of MS Office or Windows. There is no way to prevent this from happening, nor do these symptoms plague everyone. But knowing how to contend with it when it does is very useful.

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While the number of PC users far outweigh Mac users, even some medical practitioners are making a switch to Mac for various reasons. As a result, MacSpeech Dictate has recently diversified, providing versions for Medical and Legal users.

The questions are:

Is MacSpeech Dictate Medical ready for prime time use?

Is MacSpeech Dictate Medical as good as Dragon Medical?

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Whether you are selecting multiple files to:

• open them simultaneously,
• attach them to an email,
• use during the Add Words from Documents feature in Dragon,
• or other reasons,

there are several ways in which you can accomplish this task. Windows 7 provides a new way to select multiple files, but I find more often than not, I lose the list of selected files all too easily. However, you may have more success.

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The following example scenarios have likely happened to most Dragon users:

(1) You are hurriedly dictating your email, enjoying the speed at which you can now create and reply to email, when suddenly your thoughts slow and you utter a single syllabled word that sounds like “send”. In MS Outlook, this will click the Send icon and, not so surprisingly, send your email message — before you are finished said message.

(2) In MS Word you may be dictating a letter, slow down and utter a single syllabled word that Dragon mishears as “print”, and you have now printed your unfinished document.

These are situations that do happen, despite our best efforts to remember to think before we speak and speak in continuous phrases. Thankfully, there is a simple resolution for Dragon Professional, Legal and Medical users.

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One of the greatest unanswered questions of all time will inevitably go down in history as: “Why did Microsoft change the normal.dot template of MS Word to Calibri 11 with extra spacing and multiple lines?” The question following that will be: “Who on this planet actually enjoys using this style?” My speculations and further comments on the matter cannot be written in a public venue.

So, what is the normal.dot or normal.dotm? This is the “blank” document on which all new MS Word documents are based. If you work at a larger office or corporation, chances are your IT staff have already rectified this ghastly situation for you. If you are a solo practitioner or in a small office, you are perhaps still struggling with the aforementioned unwieldly style. Here is the quick solution.

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Speakeasy Solutions recommends the following absolute minimum PC desktop hardware requirements for Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10:

For a Windows XP OS, DuoCore 2.0 GHz and 2 GB RAM.

If the OS is Vista, a higher processor speed and definitely more RAM will yield increased performance from Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

For a Windows 7 OS, DuoCore 2.0 GHz and 4 GB RAM.

Minimum PC notebook requirements should be comparable with respect to speed and power of the above specifications.

If antivirus is required, we recommend: the Home versions of NOD32 Antivirus, plus Smart Security if there is no firewall in place (http://www.eset.com/).

As a side note, Speakeasy Solutions has been testing Dragon 10 in a Windows 7 OS environment for a few months now, and has found the solution works brilliantly. In fact, Windows 7 is the most robust OS since Windows XP and has proven itself to be extremely efficient.

If our clients have any concerns, please speak with Dean Husby of our office.

Whether you are selecting files via an open folder/drive, Windows Explorer or even from an application’s Open dialog box, you can select multiple files almost as easily as you can select a single file.

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There is often much confusion regarding the use of the Acoustic & Language Model Optimizer feature within Dragon. When first introduced several versions ago, it was problematic and best not run. Dragon 10’s Acoustic & Language Model Optimizer feature does work reasonably well, however, Speakeasy Solutions offers the following tips and advice.

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