VIAVOICE

Access Route Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø ViaVoice - Speak Pad Ease of Use Easy   llll¡   Difficult                 No              Yes

1/5- READ THIS FIRST

This should be your first stop after installing ViaVoice or before you use it for the first time.

Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø Extra Ø ViaVoice Ø Read This First

If you are like most people, you will want to start using ViaVoice right away. Before you do, there are a few important things you should understand. Investing a few minutes of your time now will make using ViaVoice more productive and enjoyable.

A- View these important topics first

• ViaVoice Startup
• Getting Help

 

B- For more help

Read Me — Your Source For Last-Minute Information

Technical Support

Start Read This First by clicking Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø ViaVoice Ø Read This First.

Visit the ViaVoice FAQ web site at: http://www.software.ibm.com/is/voicetype/faqvvg.html

 

C- What is Speech Recognition?

Speech recognition lets you speak words or phrases that the computer translates into keystrokes. The computer either interprets your speech as commands or displays the words as text in a document.

Imagine yourself sitting at your desk. You want to send a letter to a friend. Click Dictation, Begin-Dictation in SpeakPad (or Microsoft Word). SpeakPad prompts you to begin dictating. Dictate your letter using continuous speech. When you are finished, say Stop-dictation, then proof-read and make corrections, or proof-read, make corrections, then continue dictating. When you're finished dictating, you can insert clip art, modify fonts, save and print.

ViaVoice comes with a 30,000-word base vocabulary of UK English words commonly used in office correspondence. It also includes the most common computer commands. In addition, you can add more of your own words, up to a total of 65,000 words and commands. ViaVoice uses the base vocabulary and your personal vocabulary to process the information it receives during dictation.

 

D- Using Speech with Your Computer

1- Dictation Mode

You use dictation mode for dictating text. SpeakPad or Microsoft Word (with dictation support installed) must be running to be in dictation mode. You enter dictation mode when you click Begin-Dictation on the Dictation menu. While in dictation mode, you dictate using continuous speech.

Speaking naturally, you can dictate letters, memos, reports and other data.

When you say Stop-dictation, you leave dictation mode.

 

2- How ViaVoice outputs speech

Dictation-Playback lets you listen to your dictated words in your own voice. While you dictate, ViaVoice records your voice, just like on a tape recorder. Selecting Playback plays that recording.

 

3- Frequently Used Commands

When speaking, you are in dictation mode. ViaVoice expects your speech to be the words that make up your dictation. This includes words for punctuation marks and for formatting the dictated text. Refer to Frequently Used Commands for a list of the voice commands you can use.

There are several ways to view Frequently Used Commands as online help:

• Click Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø ViaVoice Ø Help Ø Frequently Used Commands.
• Select Frequently Used Commands from the Contents page of the help for SpeakPad or dictation in Microsoft Word.
• Select Frequently Used Commands from the Contents page of the ViaVoice Reference.

 

A- What You Need to Know about User Names

As you train, add, correct, format, delete words, or when you enrol, ViaVoice changes the personal speech files for the selected user name. The result is improved speech recognition.

It's important for ViaVoice to know which user is dictating text and speaking commands. You need to add a user for each person who uses ViaVoice. If more than one person uses ViaVoice on your computer, you should check the user setting each time you start a ViaVoice session. You need to make sure you are the currently selected user and, if necessary, change the setting to your user name. If another user opens ViaVoice on your computer under your user name and corrects errors or trains words, your speech files will change (and will probably lead to poorer recognition for your voice).

Start ViaVoice Options by clicking Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø Extra Ø ViaVoice Ø Tools Ø ViaVoice Options.

Selecting a different user or enrolment: Go to the User page of ViaVoice Options.

Adding a user : Click Add User on the User page of ViaVoice Options.

 

B- Microphone Setup

It is very important that your microphone is working properly before you start using ViaVoice. ViaVoice must be able to hear and process your voice for successful speech recognition.

Microphone Setup helps to make it easy. It shows you how to prepare your audio settings by:

• Adjusting the microphone volume,
• Performing a speech recognition test.

Read This First has a Shortcut to start Microphone Setup. You can also start it by clicking Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø Extra Ø ViaVoice Ø Microphone Setup.

 

C- Which Dictation Method Should I Use?

The dictation method you choose depends on the tasks you want to do. You can use one method or both.

 

1- SpeakPad

SpeakPad is a full-function word processor that has speech-recognition capabilities. As you dictate, your text appears in this window. You can also type in the window, just as you can type in WordPad.

• Dictate into the full-function word processor included with ViaVoice.
  
• Transfer dictated text to another program.
  
• Correct speech-recognition errors either while dictating, or after you proof-read a dictated document using the correct-error pop-up.
  
• Save the speech session (text and audio) so that you can make corrections or continue dictation at a later time.
  
• Delegate correction to another person.
• Save an audio description with a saved speech session.
  
• Create Dictation Templates for dictating data into a form or database.
  
• Start SpeakPad by clicking Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø ViaVoice - SpeakPad. For more information, see the online help and online Dictation Reference.

 

2- Dictation in Microsoft Word

You can dictate into Microsoft Word; it recognises your speech and converts it to text. As you dictate, your text appears in the Microsoft Word document window. You can also type in the window, as usual.

• Dictate into your installed version of Microsoft Word.
• Save your speech session for later correction or continued dictation.
• Delegate correction to another person.

Although ViaVoice is one of the most accurate speech recognition products available, there are likely to be some unrecognisable words. The good news is that as you correct errors, speech recognition improves. This is because ViaVoice learns your unique way of composing sentences and adds any new words you use as you correct errors.

 

3- Correcting a dictated word in SpeakPad

If you want to make corrections while you dictate

Use voice correction. See the topic Correct Errors in Dictation Mode in the online help.

If you want to make corrections while you proof-read a dictated document

With dictation stopped, double-click the dictated word or highlight the phrase, then click Correct Error in the Dictation menu to display the correct-error pop-up.

 

4- Correcting a dictated word when using Microsoft Word

When dictation has stopped, right-click a dictated word or phrase and then click Correct Error or press Alt+F2 to display the correct-error pop-up.

 

5- Correct-error pop-up

The pop-up shows four possible correction choices (OK, Options, Delete, and Cancel) plus a number of alternative words. You also hear an automatic playback of the text you're correcting. Select a word from the list, or, if you don't see the word you intended, type it in at the top of the pop-up, then press Enter. ViaVoice is then more likely to recognise this word the next time you say it—because you have just taught ViaVoice how you pronounce the word.

 

TIP
While you're correcting dictated text, format the words by selecting Capitalise, Lowercase, Uppercase, Numeric, or Spell Out from the Options choice in the correct-error pop-up.

IMPORTANT
Speech-recognition accuracy is improved when you correct errors properly. You could type over the word that was not recognised, but that's just text editing. Typing over words does not add new words to your vocabulary, nor does it update your personal speech files to improve recognition accuracy. It is best to type over only when you dictate a word in error or you want to use a different word, such as "large" instead of "big".

 

 

3/5- GETTING HELP

A- Read Me

We have made it easy for you to find the Read Me files, so be sure to view the Read Me file for the latest information about ViaVoice. There are two versions you can view directly from Read This First:

• A text version of the Read Me that you can view in Notepad.
• A HTML version of the Read Me that you can view in your Web browser.

 

B- Online Help

Online help is always available as your guide while you use ViaVoice. The levels of help work together to give you the kind and amount of help you need at any time.

• Context-sensitive Help
• Task Help
• Reference Help

Start Ø Programs Ø Productivity Ø Extra Ø ViaVoice Ø Help icons

You will get the most out of using the helps if you understand the conventions used.

The help system has extensive search and index facilities. You can look up topics using the index and table of contents, or you can search for information using the find function.

 

 

 

4/5- TOOLS MENU

A- Dictation Trainer

The Dictation Trainer teaches you how to speak with continuous speech to ViaVoice and then provides a way to practice how to dictate. It also teaches you how to correct errors and gives you an opportunity to practice error correction.

 

B- Dictation Macro Editor

A dictation macro is a voice command shortcut for entering text into your dictation. Besides being easy to use, dictation macros save time when you have to put the same text in many dictated documents; for example, greetings and addresses. You can use dictation macros to simplify entering character strings in your dictation. You also use the Dictation Macro Editor to work with dictation macros you have already created.

A dictation macro is composed of a name and an action. The name, which identifies the macro, is the voice command you say while dictating to invoke the action. The action is the text that appears in your dictation when the speech recogniser recognises the macro name. You define the name and action using the Dictation Macro Editor window.

 

C- Enrolment

Enrolment teaches your speech patterns to ViaVoice so it can recognise your words with greater accuracy. Although ViaVoice interprets speech patterns accurately most of the time, you might still choose to enrol to get even better recognition.

There are two parts to enrolment:

1. You record a set of sentences or phrases displayed on your screen. This process gives ViaVoice varied samples of your speech patterns. It takes about 15 minutes to record the minimum 100 phrases, and about 60 minutes for full enrolment.
   
2. ViaVoice analyses your recorded speech and creates a personal speaker model based on your individual speech patterns. This takes 45 to 60 minutes of background processing. You can use your computer for non-speech related tasks during the Training process.

 

D- Vocabulary Expander

The Vocabulary Expander program helps you quickly add words to your vocabulary by analysing existing documents. But it does more than just add words. Vocabulary Expander uses the context of the words in the text to update your personal speech files. As a result, speech-recognition accuracy is improved when you dictate, even if the analysed document was not your own.

Text analysis is fast. Even large documents take only a few seconds to analyse. Vocabulary Expander determines if words exist in your vocabulary and provides a list of words missing from the vocabulary and offers you the opportunity to add those words to the vocabulary.

 

E- Vocabulary Manager

Vocabulary Manager shows you all of the words you have added to your personal vocabulary in the Added Words list. The Added Words list contains both dictation and command words. You can delete words.

A- Dictation Mode Commands  

Begin-Dictation (to enter dictation mode)

Stop-Dictation (to leave dictation mode)

Begin-Spell (to enter spell mode)

Begin-Numbers (to enter number mode)