I received a copy of Via Voice free with Computer Shopper issue 178, so I thought I`d try it out and tell you what I thought of it. It says you can do 140 words per minute on it, but being a bit of a sceptic I expected to speak slowly, one word at a time into the mic, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it very easy to use even straight from the box.
Setting up and using Via Voice I found very easy, and so far I've been using it for about an hour and it seems to have found my voice easy to understand. With Via Voice speak pad it has a correction window which helps it to understand your Voice if it makes any mistakes, you have an option to read to it and hear it played back to see if understands you correctly.The more you use it the easier it is for it to understand your Voice.
With the last paragraph I only had to correct two mistakes it made which is very good considering I`ve only been using it for a short time. When you run Via Voice for the first time the wizard comes up and helps you set up the programme, in there you are given several options on which type of microphone to use, as I already had a microphone I was able to use that, but the full version comes with a good quality headset, so you have everything you need straight from the box. Part of the Wizard involves reading several articles so the computer can get used to your Voice, this can take about an hour so leave plenty of time when you set this up for the first time. You can skip that bit and start using it straight away but until it gets used to your voice it is bound to make some mistakes, so it`s well worth spending the time and effort setting it up correctly.
The IBM website gives you a list of the features in Via Voice :-
| EASY | |
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Talk normally to your PC and the words appear on screen. |
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Adjust ViaVoice to your environment with the new background noise sensitivity control. |
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Say numbers normally and they will be formatted correctly. Dictate "thirty-nine pounds ninety-nine" and ViaVoice will "type" £39.99. |
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Transfer your SpeakPad documents easily to other text-based applications. |
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Use the text-to-speech option to read e-mail aloud to you or to help you check your dictated text. |
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Make corrections easily with the new streamlined correction facility. |
ACCURATE |
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New speech engine for greater dictation accuracy and fewer corrections. |
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With over 150,000 words, the UK English vocabulary offers exceptional accuracy. |
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ViaVoice knows the spellings and pronunciations of over 260,000 words in its back-up dictionary. |
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ViaVoice uses the context of your words to help it "type" the correct word. It can even tell the difference between words that sound the same such as to, too and two. |
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Keep talking. ViaVoice learns from you so, the more you use it, the better it gets. |
FAST |
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Personalise the vocabulary quickly with your own names and specialist terms using the improved document analyser; or just add new words as you go. |
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Complete the short, optional 'enrollment' so ViaVoice understands the way you speak. |
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Save time – the latest VoiceCentre starts up faster and is more flexible. |
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Enjoy optimum performance. The speed and accuracy settings of ViaVoice are adjusted automatically at installation to suit your PC's power. |
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Save time by using voice shortcuts to insert frequently used text such as addresses. |
As you can see, this product could save people like me who type slowly a lot of frustration. Also don`t forget it spells everything correctly as it types, saving you more time and effort. And now that the newer versions even let you control your E-mail and web browsing without touching the keyboard, this programme is invaluable to those who have trouble typing or are disabled.
So for the price of around £35 including a pair of good quality headphones, this is a very reasonable buy, that could save you a lot of time and may even stop you taking a hammer to your keyboard in frustration.
