We receive numerous complaints from our clients, and would therefore like to share a means to put an end to these unwanted messages.

When setting up Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Dragon Medical Practice Edition, there is an option to disable this notification. Unfortunately, this option does not seem to have any effect whatsoever.

Click Start Menu> Software Updates

Once the Manager has fully loaded, click Settings. There you will see your Dragon product listed along with two other columns for Critical and Important notices. By default these are set to check automatically, every day at a specific time. Click each parameter beneath the Critical and Important heading. Pick Manually from the list and then click Apply.

If you are ever curious whether or not there are updates, open the Software Update Manager, and click Updates on the main interface page. You will still receive all of Nuance’s messages (whether applicable or not), but at least such messages will appear at your convenience, rather than make you feel as though you are being spammed.

Nuance has the tendency to release either none or one update per version of its Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Medical Practice Edition products. Moreover, Speakeasy Solutions will alert you to any actual software updates via its newsletter and blog. Any other notices from Nuance are NOT software updates, but advertising notifications.

And so, Speakeasy Solutions now provides Canadians with the Sennheiser ME3.

We have constructed an adapter (the MP3 has an atypical audio plug) for use with the ME3.  The ME3 adapter then plugs directly into a USB adapter. 

All components in this three component solution can be sold separately or in combination.

For an estimate or to place an order (Canadian residents only), please contact Speakeasy Solutions.

Sennheiser Back of the Head Headset Solution

Sennheiser ME3-ew Headset

If a top of the head headset is uncomfortable or disruptive, and you still wish to be hands free, consider the Sennheiser ME3-ew back of the head microphone headset.

The speech recognition accuracy is phenomenal (as with all pro quality Sennheiser products) and works extremely well in a noisy environment.

Due to the unique connector of the ME3-ew, you must use an ME3-ew adapter (see below). This solution is best paired with the Buddy USB adapter or an Andrea USB adapter.

SeS ME3-ew Adapter

This adapter converts the ME3-ew’s custom end into a standard 3.5 mm audio jack which can then be plugged into a USB adapter.

Buddy USB Adapter

Convert a headset’s 3.5 mm audio jack into a USB device, providing superior sound quality and speech recognition accuracy with Dragon.

Primarily used with the Sennheiser ME3-ew solution, but can also be used with any microphone having a standard 3.5 mm end.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast.  We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website.  We look forward to working with you.

This new transcriber replaces the Olympus AS-5000, which will be phased out in the near future.

What are some of the great new features, you may ask?

4 Pedal Foot Switch

The AS-5000 had a 3 pedal foot switch, whereas the new AS-7000 offers 4 pedals.  Transcriptionists now have one more pedal they can assign to a specific function.

The foot switch is also more ergonomic.

Lock/Release Switch

Are one of the central pedals disruptive to the way you work?  Just lock the pedal so you can rest your foot according to your preferred resting position.

New Software

The AS-7000 introduces the next generation of Olympus Dictation Management System (ODMS) software. This new software provides tighter integration with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Geared for Dragon NaturallySpeaking

The new software also boasts real-time and background speech recognition transcription.

More from Speakeasy Solutions

Speakeasy Solutions Inc. will be providing additional information as this finished product is now available and rigorous testing can be performed. As they say “watch this space” for further, honest, reviews and opinions.

Pricing & Availability

The AS-7000 will be available very shortly. Contact us any time for further information.

Olympus AS-5000

Speakeasy Solutions Inc. has a quantity of Olympus AS-5000 transcription kits still available. For clients who do not need or wish to upgrade to the new AS-7000, please contact us as soon as possible to arrange for backup models of the AS-5000. Once again, the AS-5000 will be phased out in the near future, and no longer be available.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Olympus digital voice recorders, installation & setup, as well as Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website. We look forward to working with you.

This new recorder replaces the Olympus DS-5000, which will be phased out in the near future.

What are some of the great new features, you may ask?

Increased Security

Perfect for medical and legal practitioners, the device itself can be password-protected. Moreover, the dictation files can be encrypted with 128 or 256 bit file encryption.

Beautiful Colour LCD Screen

The 2 in. colour LCD screen is positively radiant and very easy to read.

New Software

The DS-7000 introduces the next generation of Olympus Dictation Management System (ODMS) software. This new software provides tighter integration with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

File transfers (from the device to the PC) are faster than before.

Geared for Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Olympus has further improved the recording quality (I, personally, didn’t think it would be possible given the already excellent quality of the DS-7000′s predecessors) by increasing the microphone size and refining its housing. This will provide even higher recognition accuracy for users of Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Medical Practice Edition.

The new software also boasts real-time and background speech recognition transcription.

More from Speakeasy Solutions

Speakeasy Solutions Inc. will be providing additional information as this finished product is now available and rigorous testing can be performed. As they say “watch this space” for further, honest, reviews and opinions.

Pricing & Availability

The DS-7000 will be available very shortly. Please click here to fill out the form to be placed on the waiting list for further information and/or to pre-order (Canadian residents only).

Olympus DS-5000

Speakeasy Solutions Inc. has a quantity of Olympus DS-5000 digital voice recorder still available. For clients who do not need or wish to upgrade to the new DS-7000, please contact us as soon as possible to arrange for backup models of the DS-5000. Once again, the DS-5000 will be phased out in the near future, and no longer be available.

Olympus DS-6000

You may wonder what happened to the Olympus DS-6000… There wasn’t one. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything. Olympus has jumped from the DS-5000 to the DS-7000. And believe me, the wait has been worthwhile.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Olympus digital voice recorders, installation & setup, as well as Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website. We look forward to working with you.

Obviously this is an extremely disruptive happenstance, and most people do not even realize that Dragon has the ability to “auto punctuate”.  Autopunctuation is perhaps one of the least useful features of Dragon, restricted largely to the young users of Dragon or nonprofessional use.  For our medical and legal practitioners, the inadvertent activation of this feature can be extremely annoying.

As with most features within Dragon, there is a voice commands that will activate the autopunctuation feature.  And as sometimes happens when using Dragon, our mumble, slur or mispronunciation may be interpreted as a command.  We might be unaware that Dragon has acted upon a command, and carry on with our dictation, completely oblivious.  That is… Until we realize that Dragon is punctuating of its own accord.

The voice command to activate autopunctuation is “autopunctuation on”.  Conversely, it can be turned off by voice simply by saying “autopunctuation off”.  However, if you have a phrase or slur that is being misinterpreted by Dragon on a semi regular basis, you will likely wish to utilize a “null command” – that is, a voice command that does absolutely nothing.

Attached below you will find a very simple null command so that when Dragon hears “autopunctuation on”, it does absolutely nothing.

The Command

This command will function only for users of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional & Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal version 11.x, or Dragon Medical Practice Edition.

• Null Command for Auto Punctuation On

Download this command to your computer, and within Dragon say “open Command Browser”, then click on Manage> Import.  Browse to the downloaded command, and complete the importation process.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast. We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon, including the Philips SpeechMike.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website. We look forward to working with you.

The DPMConnect4Mac application will download DSS and DSS Pro dictations from Philips Digital Pocket Memos into a Mac environment.

The software allows configuring several download settings such as target folders and automatic subfolder creation.

It is also possible to specify download rules which enable the user to automatically download only specific dictations.

To also support mixed environments where competitor devices are used DPMConnect4Mac also supports the download from Olympus DS-5000 and DS-3400 including the used subfolder structure.

Key Benefits

Simplicity is key

• Convenient download of dictations from a DPM on a Mac
• Small footprint application running as Menulet in the Mac menu bar
• No need for additional licensing

Satisfy your needs

• Configure the most important download settings according to your personal working style
• Tailor your download workflow according to your personal preferences
• Create subfolders based on keyword definition

Ease your life

• Simply connect your DPM and the download starts
• No need to start up an application to download dictations from the DPM
• Detailed description of download options in the online help

Supported Platforms

Mac Platforms

SpeechControl4Mac was tested with the following Mac operating systems:

•  Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
•  Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

For all listed operating systems, it is recommended that the latest update available is applied before installing DPMConnect4Mac.

Digital Pocket Memo

The new DPMConnect4Mac software supports following portable dictation devices:

•  Digital Pocket Memo 9600/9620
•  Digital Pocket Memo 9500/9520
•  Digital Pocket Memo 9380
•  Digital Pocket Memo 9370
•  Olympus DS-5000
•  Olympus DS-3400

Note: Connecting more than one device at the same time is not supported.

How to Obtain the Software

Speakeasy Solutions Clients

If you are a Speakeasy Solutions client, you may download the software and supporting documentation from our newly developed Client Access Area. This area, while undergoing finishing touches, does provide the new Philips DPMConnect4Mac.

• Philips DPMConnect4Mac
• Register for Client Access

Not a Speakeasy Solutions Client?

Contact Philips and they will be able to provide you with the software.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast. We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon, including the Philips SpeechMike.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website. We look forward to working with you.

The new firmware version is 1.15 and the new Speech Control application is version 2.9 .270.

Both updates are quite essential to users of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional & Dragon Medical Practice Edition.

Firmware Improvements

The increased switch click suppression should alleviate the injection of unspoken words, as well as increase response time from Dragon.

Speech Control Improvements

Perhaps the most exciting, the new set of Dragon NaturallySpeaking commands affords nearly unlimited flexibility in the configuration of the SpeechMike buttons.

New Dragon Commands

Following are the useful new Dragon command capabilities when programming the SpeechMike’s buttons.

• * Show dictation box – Opens Dragon’s dictation box
• * Transferred text – Transfers the contents of Dragon’s dictation box
• * Next/Previous field – Select the next and previous set of Dragon voice fields
• Clear delimiting characters – Deletes the delimiting characters associated with unmodified voice fields
• User command – THE most useful improvement, is now the ability to activate any of you were Dragon voice commands with the press of a button on your SpeechMike

* indicates a feature that was previously included in the Speakeasy Solutions value added SpeechMike configuration

New Speakeasy Solutions SpeechMike Configuration

Speakeasy Solutions will be providing a revised value added SpeechMike configuration that will take the above new commands into consideration.

How to Obtain the Updates

Speakeasy Solutions Clients

If you are a Speakeasy Solutions client, you may download the updates and supporting documentation from our newly developed Client Access Area. This area, while undergoing finishing touches, does provide the new Philips SpeechMike updates.

• Philips SpeechMike Firmware & Applications
• Register for Client Access

Not a Speakeasy Solutions Client?

Contact Philips and they will be able to provide you with the updates.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast. We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon, including the Philips SpeechMike.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website. We look forward to working with you.

When using Dragon Medical Practice Edition or Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Professional or Legal) across multiple computers with the Roaming User feature enabled, you may encounter the following errors for a variety of reasons:

• The user files you have selected cannot be accessed.
• The local cache files for the user you have selected cannot be accessed.

These can occur when a user doesn’t have sufficient privileges to use the files or because the files are currently being accessed by another program.

Resolution

Pursue the recommendations below to resolve this issue:

1. Close the same Dragon user currently logged in at any other workstation(s).
2. Confirm that the Profile folder structure is not being accessed by another application, including Windows Explorer or any text editor. Windows Explorer from any workstation accessing the folder structure can lock the Profile and therefore should be closed.
3. Check the profile folder structure for any username.lck files, or folder/file names with _DgnRenamed appended.

• username.lck is commonly found under the Profile’s \Current sub-folder and can simply be deleted. Search for this string over the entire profile folder structure.
• _DgnRenamed can be appended to any profile sub-folder or file. It is commonly seen as \[input device]_container\aoptions.ini_DgnRenamed or \ current\options.ini.DgnRenamed. Search for this string over the entire profile folder structure.
  • If the unappended file is also present, compare the modified dates for both files and retain the most recent file which will require renaming both files.
  • Otherwise, if the unappended file is not also present, simply rename that file by removing the “_DgnRenamed” string.
  • If a folder name is appended, simply rename that folder by removing the “_DgnRenamed” string.
  • Dragon places a lock on the folder structure and certain files while synchronizing, saving, and updating the Profile. The presence of the above appended files/folders means that process was somehow interrupted. The causes include:
    • The user shutting the workstation down ungracefully, resulting in Dragon not being able to complete its own proper closure of the user’s profile (most common).
    • Network drop-out / latency issues.

Verify that each Windows user account has the appropriate Read/Write/Modify NTFS permissions to the entire Dragon local/locally-cached, and master roaming folder structure (including the Delete Subfolders and Files permission).

For IT Support

Temporarily disable Antivirus Real-time or Endpoint protection modes to isolate this as a cause.

1. Eliminate any other application or process from locking that profile folder structure (including Windows Explorer, Dragon Acoustic and Language Model Optimization, Antivirus/Security/Malware software, IT backup software, etc.)
2. Try renaming the locally-cached Dragon profile on the workstation. DMEE (Enterprise Edition) Roaming configurations and DMNE (Network Edition) maintain a copy of the master roaming profile on the client workstation.
3. Review the Windows Event Viewer logs on the client workstation, and, if applicable, on any servers where Dragon profiles are stored. Look for evidence of errors or interference with Dragon Medical by another process.

Further Assistance

If the above does not resolve the issue, contact Speakeasy Solutions and we will troubleshoot your symptoms further.  Clients who have purchased a complete speech recognition solution package will receive complimentary remote technical support; all others may contract us at our current support rates.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast.  We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website.  We look forward to working with you.

With some computer systems, multiple CPU cores may result in latency issues with transcribing text (contrary to what one would expect).

As Dragon version 11 and Dragon Medical Practice Edition are designed to support multiple CPUs, configuring Dragon to run on a single CPU core may actually resolve these performance issues.

Moreover, running Dragon at a higher priority may also assist.

Modifying Dragon’s CPU Affinity & Processor Priority

You may wish to adjust either or both of the following:

1. Browse to C:\Program Files\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking11\Program.
2. Right-click on natspeak.exe and select Send To>Desktop (create shortcut).
3. Browse to the newly created shortcut on the desktop Shortcut to natspeak.exe.
4. Right-click on the icon and select Properties.
5. Under the Shortcut tab, modify the Target field with:
   C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c start /high /affinity 1 natspeak.exe
6. Click Apply and OK to exit.
7. Exit Dragon and re-launch using the new shortcut.

Confirm the above changes have occurred by right-clicking the natspeak.exe process in the Windows Task Manager.

Other Considerations

You may wish to consider reviewing the following blog posts pertaining to Dragon’s performance:

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PC requirements
• The power of restarting your computer
• Antivirus software & its impact on a computer’s performance

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast.  We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website.  We look forward to working with you.

However, there is very little information out there to explain exactly what the differences are between all of these interfaces. Every day I field phone calls from clients who are confused by what is possible, and I hope I may be able to explain the differences with this brief post.

Speech Recognition Versus Voice Recognition

In a nutshell, speech recognition is speaker dependent, and voice recognition is speaker independent.

Speech recognition, such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Dragon Medical Practice Edition etc. requires you to train Dragon (even if for a couple of paragraphs) how you speak.

Voice recognition, such as the iDevice’s Dragon app, Siri, Android’s Google, voice-activated phone trees, etc. does not require you to train the application and is based on generalized speech patterns.

While voice recognition can be reasonably accurate, especially when the vocabulary available is limited, speech recognition will always be more flexible and often more accurate as a result. I have no doubts that one day the accuracy will be comparable, but that day is far in the future.

Accuracy Variances

While all of the above mentioned products are based on virtually the same programming core, a smaller vocabulary will yield higher accuracy. However, the ability to dynamically train the application will also increase the accuracy.

When using voice recognition applications on your mobile devices (Apple and Android), you will have a limited vocabulary that cannot be modified. This does not make these products ideal for medical, legal or other fields using specialized jargon. Speech recognition applications for your computer (such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, Dragon Medical Practice Edition and even Dragon Dictate for Mac) allow you to modify the vocabulary as you see fit, thereby adapting to your specific needs.

Speech recognition applications for your computer only require you to train the application for about 5 minutes in order to be extremely accurate, however, we all have vocal variances from the average manner of speaking that require us to sometimes train specific words. Such customization is not available in voice recognition applications for your mobile Devices.

Privacy Concerns

Speech recognition applications for your computer processes your speech locally on the computer on which the application is installed. Voice recognition applications for your mobile devices, on the other hand, transmit your voice to another location over the Internet (i.e. usually a server in the United States), perform the voice to text on another server and transmit the results back to you.

For Canadian physicians and lawyers concerned with privacy, using voice recognition applications would therefore not be prudent. Not only is your voice sent out of the country, your voice (and subsequently, your text) is analyzed and used by Dragon, Google and Apple for quality assurance and future improvement of the technology.

There is a fantastic article entitled “New iPad feature ‘Dictation’ sends/stores private data to Apple servers” by Stephen Chapman that I encourage you to read if you have privacy concerns regarding the use of dictation on mobile devices.  This same information can be applied to Android’s Google voice recognition.

In Conclusion

Voice recognition apps for mobile devices are fabulous helpers for personal use, even limited as they are. However, for medical and legal professional use, speech recognition conducted on your local computer is the most flexible, accurate and also private.

If you need to dictate on the go, consider a digital dictation device such as the Philips DPM 9600 or the Olympus DS5000. These digital recordings can be sent securely from remote locations to your office, where they can be transcribed locally by Dragon.

About Speakeasy Solutions

Based in Vancouver, BC, Speakeasy Solutions Inc. provides Dragon software/licenses, along with installation, support and training services across Canada, from coast to coast.  We carry a variety of microphones for use with Dragon.

We also provide Philips and Olympus digital dictation recorders & transcribers, as well as related services such as installation & setup, and support.

We are in our 12th year of assisting physicians, lawyers and professionals expertly utilize speech recognition and digital dictation solutions towards streamlining office efficiencies.

Contact us any time for further information, a telephone consult or place an order via our website.  We look forward to working with you.