Nuance VIAVOICE 10-ADVANCED EDITION User Manual
IBM®ViaVoice®for Windows
Advanced Edition
User’s Guide
Release 10
®
IBM
Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, be sure to read the information in Appendix B,
“Notices” on page 127.
FirstEdition(August2003)
This edition applies to version 1, release 10, modification 0 of IBM ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition US
English (program number 5724-C96) and to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in
new editions.
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with IBM Corp.
Contents
Welcome to ViaVoice ........vii
Conventions in this book ........ix
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system . 1
Installing the ViaVoice software ......2
Setting up your microphone and audio system 5
Creating a voice model.........7
Analyzing your voice .........9
Analyzing your documents .......11
Troubleshooting setup problems .....12
Unable to install ViaVoice ......12
Problems with audio setup ......12
Poor recognition .........13
Chapter 2. The magic of dictating with
ViaVoice .............15
Practice dictating ..........16
Finding recognition errors .......17
Correcting errors ..........18
Try re-dictating your text before correction 18
Correcting misrecognized words ....18
Removing inserted words ......19
Correcting capitalization errors.....19
Next steps after correction .......20
Analyzing My Documents .......21
Troubleshooting dictation problems ....21
Chapter 3. Introducing VoiceCenter . . . 23
VoiceCenter components ........24
ViaVoice menu ...........26
Chapter 4. Dictating into SpeakPad . . . 29
SpeakPad menus and buttons ......30
General hints and tips.........32
Dictating numbers ..........33
Currency ............33
Dates .............33
Decimals ............33
Ordinals ............33
Long numbers ..........33
Timeofday...........33
Dictating numbers in number mode ....33
Spelling words in spell mode ......34
Saying commands while dictating.....34
Inline dictation commands ......34
"Scratch that" command .......34
Text-editing commands .......35
Bullet lists............35
Just say their names ........35
Commands recognized as text .....35
Dictating e-mail user IDs and URLs ....37
Transferring your dictation to another
application ............38
Saving your dictation in SpeakPad ....39
Saving a speech session .......39
Saving your dictation as text .....39
Finding new words in your document . . . 40
Chapter 5. Dictating into Microsoft Word 41
Installing Word Program Support .....41
Try your first dictation into Word .....42
ViaVoice menus and buttons in Word . . . 43
General hints and tips.........45
Dictating numbers ..........46
Currency ............46
Dates .............46
Decimals ............46
Ordinals ............46
Long numbers ..........46
Timeofday...........47
Dictating numbers in number mode ....47
Spelling words in spell mode ......47
Saying commands while dictating.....47
Inline dictation commands ......48
"Scratch that" command .......48
Text-editing commands .......48
Bullet lists............48
Just say their names ........48
Commands recognized as text .....49
Dictating e-mail user IDs and URLs ....51
Saving your dictation .........52
Saving a speech session .......52
Saving your dictation as text .....52
Finding new words in your document . . . 53
Chapter 6. Correcting your dictation . . . 55
Using the Correction window ......56
Correcting by voice .........58
Correcting words by typing .......59
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1998, 2002 iii
Delayed correction ..........60
Delegated correction .........61
Chapter 7. Dictating to your applications 63
Dictating directly ..........63
Using Auto-start dictation .......64
Dictating directly into a spreadsheet ....64
Chapter 8. What Can I Say ......65
Views..............66
Interacting with What Can I Say .....68
Expanding or collapsing a view ....68
Commands with words in angle brackets 68
Changing views..........69
Creating notes for What Can I Say . . . 69
Printing the commands in a view ....69
Using an Attention word with commands . . 69
Training a command .........71
Chapter 9. Using natural commands . . . 73
General guidelines ..........73
Using commands that have variables. . . 75
Correcting errors .........75
Word..............76
Excel ..............77
Entering data into a spreadsheet ....77
Outlook .............79
Chapter 10. Using the Internet and E-mail 81
Internet Explorer ..........81
Working with e-mail .........82
Composing e-mail .........82
Checking for e-mail ........83
America Online (AOL) ........84
Navigating ...........84
Dictating e-mail ..........84
Dictating in a chat room .......85
Sending messages with Instant Messenger
(sm)..............85
Chapter 11. Navigating with your voice . . 87
Desktop commands .........88
Navigate the active program ......88
Just say their name.........88
Say what you can’t see .......88
Say letters and numbers .......89
When you see 'Pardon me' ......89
Text editing ...........90
Selecting keys with your voice .....90
Voice Mouse ............90
Positioning the pointer .......91
Stopping and fine-tuning the pointer . . . 91
Clicking the mouse buttons ......91
Chapter 12. Customizing ViaVoice ....93
Changing VoiceCenter’s appearance ....93
Appearance tab ..........93
General tab ...........94
Taskbar tab ...........94
Docked tab ...........94
Agent tab ............94
Floating tab ...........94
Changing the microphone’s startup state . . 95
Creating additional voice models .....96
Selecting a vocabulary or topic ......96
Adding a user ...........98
Making a user name the current user . . . 98
Backing up and restoring user data ....99
Deleting a user name or voice model....99
Setting dictation options .......100
Changing the appearance of the Correction
window .............102
Enabling command sets ........103
Setting Text-To-Speech options .....104
Adjusting recognition sensitivity .....105
Chapter 13. Creating macros .....107
Creating a dictation macro .......107
Creating a macro template .......109
Before you start .........109
Creating the template form .....109
Creating navigation macros ......112
Always Active macro .......113
Application macro ........113
Cross Program macro .......115
Importing and exporting ......116
Chapter 14. Getting help .......117
Information Central .........117
Getting context-sensitive help ......118
Question Button Help .......118
What’s This Help .........118
Printing help ...........118
Using Teach Me commands ......118
How do I troubleshoot a problem? ....119
Appendix A. Frequently used commands
in dictation ...........121
Formatting and spacing ........121
Punctuation in dictation........121
iv ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Symbols and characters in dictation ....122
Symbols and characters in number mode 123
Symbols and characters in spell mode . . . 123
Other attributions ..........129
Glossary ............131
Appendix B. Notices ........127
Trademarks ............128
Index .............133
Contents v
vi ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Welcome to ViaVoice
IBM ViaVoice will change the way you use your computer. You can now
dictate text and control your computer by voice.
Imagine yourself sitting at your computer, composing a letter to a friend. Say
"Dictate to SpeakPad". ViaVoice’s word processor opens, and you dictate the
letter using normal speech. You can do this with ViaVoice—you talk, it types!
The computer translates your words and phrases into actions that carry out
commands or create text. Imagine the simplicity of working at your computer
just by speaking. With ViaVoice, say goodbye to the drudgery of typing.
ViaVoice is probably not like any software you have ever used! To get the
most from ViaVoice and become a great user—even if you have already used
a speech-recognition product—we recommend that you go through this book
following these sign posts.
Install the software and set up your speech system. Start by
following the instructions in Chapter 1 to install ViaVoice and prepare
your sound system so that ViaVoice can understand you. You must set
up your speech system as described in Chapter 1 before you can
work satisfactorily with ViaVoice.
Get comfortable by practicing dictation. Having installed ViaVoice
and set up your speech system, you will then probably want to
practice dictating. Chapter 2 shows you how to dictate into SpeakPad.
We recommend that you practice with the material in this chapter, and
become comfortable speaking to SpeakPad, before exploring other
parts of ViaVoice.
Learn how to use the VoiceCenter. Once you are comfortable with
speaking to your computer, familiarize yourself with VoiceCenter, the
heart of your speech system. VoiceCenter controls your spoken
interactions with your computer. Chapter 3 describes the functions
available through VoiceCenter.
Once you have mastered the material in the first three chapters, explore the
other ViaVoice functions to become even more productive:
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1998, 2002 vii
v Use SpeakPad, described in Chapter 4, to dictate your documents and
letters. A word of advice: make sure you’ve gone through Chapter 2,
mentioned above, before turning to this chapter.
®
v Do you prefer using Microsoft
Word? Chapter 5 gives you the complete
picture on dictating into Word 97, Word 2000, or Word 2002.
v Your dictation is not finished until you have corrected the recognition errors
in the text. Correcting these errors is one of the most important ways to
help ViaVoice learn what you say. Do not close your dictation sessions until
you have corrected them as described in Chapter 6.
v What do you want to do? You can see all the commands for controlling
your computer in the What Can I Say window, described in Chapter 8. If
you are primarily interested in dictating documents rather than speaking
commands, you can skip this chapter.
v If you are not comfortable with the mouse and keyboard, no problem! Issue
commands and control your computer by speaking. See Chapter 11 for
information on navigating by voice.
v Once you are comfortable with your system, personalize ViaVoice.
Chapter 12 describes the features for extending the usefulness of your
system and gives you suggestions for tailoring it for your needs.
v ViaVoice is loaded with information like online help and printable online
material. Chapter 14 describes all the information available at your
fingertips.
viii ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Conventions in this book
Please note the following textual and graphical conventions used in this book.
Commands and words that you say to
your computer are shown in bold within
double quotation marks.
Some multiple-word commands are shown
as joined words or hyphenated words.
Spelling a word is shown with a hyphen
separating each letter in the word.
The names of buttons, fields and check
boxes appear in bold.
A series of items that you click with the
mouse to start a function appear in bold
and are separated by angle brackets. In
this example, the first item to click is the
Start button, and the last is the function to
open VoiceCenter.
This symbol identifies information that is
particularly important.
In addition, navigation and some
commands are available only when
ViaVoice is installed on Windows 98
Second Edition, Windows Me, or Windows
XP Home and Professional Edition. This
symbol alerts you to information about
this limitation.
Say "Capitalize this".
Say "What Can I Say for Desktop".
NEWPARAGRAPH
NEWLINE
NO-SPACE
Dictate "r-e-c-o-g-n-i-t-i-o-n".
Click OK to accept the name in the User
Name field.
Select Start > Programs > IBM ViaVoice >
VoiceCenter.
Woodrow, the ViaVoice agent, points out a
helpful hint or tip.
Welcome to ViaVoice ix
x ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system
This chapter describes how to install ViaVoice on your computer and then set
up your sound system. You should allow 30–45 minutes to complete the
procedures in this chapter:
v Install ViaVoice from the CD-ROM that comes in your package.
v Set up your audio system. The User Wizard will assist you!
v Record a story and let ViaVoice create a model of your voice.
v Optionally, if you already have documents that reflect the style and words
(lexicon) that you plan to dictate, you can have ViaVoice analyze those
documents.
The computer on which you will set up your speech system should be in the location where
you plan to dictate. During setup, background noises should be like those you will hear
during future dictation sessions. If there is unusual background noise (for example, street
repairs being done outside an open window) or if you plan to dictate in a noisy location
which is now quiet, wait until the acoustics return to normal before setting up your speech
system.
First check the following points before installing this program.
1. Refer to the side of the box to ensure your computer meets the minimum
requirements for installing this program.
2. Ensure that the disk drive where you plan to install ViaVoice has not been
compressed with disk-compression utilities.
3. If you are installing on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, your user ID must
have administrator authority.
4. If you are installing ViaVoice over an existing IBM speech product or have
IBM speech products in more than one language, read the information in
the Readme file on the ViaVoice distribution CD before installing ViaVoice.
5. If you plan to use ViaVoice with a digital recorder, read the information in
the Readme file on the ViaVoice distribution CD before installing ViaVoice.
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1998, 2002 1
Installing the ViaVoice software
1. Insert the ViaVoice CD in your CD-ROM drive to start the installation
program. If it does not start automatically, do the following:
a. Click Start > Run from the Windows taskbar.
b. Type d:\setup (where d is your CD-ROM drive).
c. Click OK.
2. Follow the instructions on the screen.
During installation you will see the following windows. (This section does not
show all windows you will see.)
User Information—Type your name and company name, if appropriate. Click
Next when you have finished.
2 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Installation Options—Select the Installation Options. To clear an option, click
on the tick mark in the box.
Select to install ViaVoice support for Microsoft Office. This option is only
available if you have Microsoft Office 97, Office 2000, or Office XP programs
installed on your computer. This option includes support for dictation into
Word and natural commands
1
for Word, Excel and Outlook®. If you choose
not to install this support now, you can install it later.
®
Adobe
Acrobat®Reader—If Adobe Acrobat Reader is not already installed
on your computer, you can select this option to have ViaVoice automatically
start the Adobe Acrobat Reader installation program. Adobe Acrobat Reader
enables you to view the ViaVoice Command Reference and this book.
Click Next when you have finished.
1. Natural commands are commands that use a flexible, natural speaking style like "Make the next paragraph bold"
and "Select from here to the top". More information can be found in Chapter 9, “Using natural commands” on
page 73.
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system
3
Setup Complete—This window indicates that you have successfully installed
the software.
4 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Setting up your microphone and audio system
Woodrow appears if you placed VoiceCenter in your StartUp folder. If
Woodrow does not appear, start VoiceCenter by clicking Start > Programs >
IBM ViaVoice VoiceCenter.
Woodrow gives you a short presentation. (To skip this presentation, right-click
on Woodrow and then select Hide.) Then, the Audio Setup Wizard starts to
help you set up the microphone and audio system so you can get started with
ViaVoice.
The name in the User Name field is probably the one you typed earlier. Leave
it as it is, or type a name by which you want ViaVoice to know you. As you
use ViaVoice, words you add and other enhancements you make go into your
personal speech files. These files are associated with your user name.
You can use any name that contains the letters a to z in both uppercase and
lowercase as well as numbers, but it must not contain typographic symbols
(like " or /).
If other people will use your speech system, add their user names later but
before they start ViaVoice for themselves. (“Adding a user” on page 98
describes how to do this.) People using your speech system must have their
own user names. 'Sharing' your user name with others will corrupt your
personal speech files and cause recognition problems.
For now, ignore the other three fields and click Next.
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system 5
Audio Setup Wizard—This wizard presents several windows to help you set
up your microphone. We recommend that you use the microphone that comes
with ViaVoice until you are thoroughly comfortable with your speech system.
1. If you have not already done so, remove the microphone and its
equipment from the package:
v The microphone itself
v One or more plugs and USB adapters
2
v Warranty and other material from the manufacturer.
The Audio Setup Wizard will prompt you to identify the type of
microphone and components you have.
2. With the microphone on, complete all audio tests that the Audio Setup
Wizard presents to you.
At the window shown below, for example, click Start and then read aloud the
text inside the box. Speak the text clearly in your normal voice, pausing
naturally between phrases or after punctuation marks. (Imagine you are
speaking to someone for whom English is not the native language.) After you
have read the sentences, ViaVoice will display the quality of your audio.
Should ViaVoice find that the audio quality is poor, click Fixing Poor Audio
Quality to learn how to take corrective action.
2. If you are using a USB microphone and do not have the USB port installed, the Windows program for adding this
new hardware begins. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the USB device driver. After installing the new
hardware and restarting your computer, run VoiceCenter and complete the Audio Setup Wizard.
6 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
During these tests, the Audio Setup Wizard might display information
windows or even start your Web browser to display a ViaVoice-related Web
page. Use the information proposed by the wizard to solve any difficulty you
might encounter during Audio Setup. ViaVoice needs these tests to be
completed successfully to set up your system properly.
If you have difficulty completing any test successfully in the Audio Setup
Wizard, see “Troubleshooting setup problems” on page 12.
Creating a voice model
You must give ViaVoice a sample of your voice so that it can understand you.
The User Wizard makes it easy for you to do this.
When you see this window, click Start, then read aloud the text in the box,
speaking in a normal style. As ViaVoice recognizes you, some text will become
gray. In the window below, the first sentence and all but the last word of the
next sentence have been recognized. If ViaVoice does not recognize what you
say, simply say the text again until it is grayed.
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system 7
When you have finished reading this text aloud, ViaVoice displays the
Analyzing My Voice window. Here you can choose what to do next.
Record my voice
This is the recommended choice. Recording your voice requires about
10 to 30 minutes and significantly increases the recognition accuracy
of ViaVoice.
I prefer to do this later
If you select this option, the User Wizard presents the Analyze My
Documents panel. (See “Analyzing your documents” on page 11 for
details.) However, your speech recognition accuracy might not be
optimal. To improve your recognition accuracy you can relaunch the
User Wizard at any time by selecting Tools > Analyze My Voice from
the ViaVoice menu.
8 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Analyzing your voice
After selecting Record my voice and clicking Next, ViaVoice displays the
Choosing a Story window. Select the story that you want to read aloud for
analyzing your voice. If the story you want has two Parts, select Part 1 first.
Read the story aloud using your normal speaking voice.
When ViaVoice has enough recorded data, you will see the Story Finished
window. Click Analyze to have ViaVoice create your voice model. However, if
you have a strong regional accent, we recommend that you click Continue
Reading so that you can record more sentences, giving ViaVoice more data for
analysis. Doing everything you can to give ViaVoice as much information
about your voice as possible is one of the best ways to ensure excellent
recognition accuracy.
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system 9
You see this window after clicking Analyze.
Wait until ViaVoice has fully processed your recording before turning off your
computer or working with other processing-intensive programs.
10 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Analyzing your documents
You can get a head start on dictation by having ViaVoice analyze your
existing document files.
ViaVoice can analyze Word document files (DOC), Rich Text Format files
(RTF), text files (TXT) and HTML document files (HTM, HTML).
The User Wizard displays this window so that you can make these files
available for analysis:
When ViaVoice analyzes your files, it identifies words that are not in its base
vocabulary. You can then select which words you want added to your personal
vocabulary. (Your personal vocabulary contains new words that ViaVoice finds
in your dictated documents.) ViaVoice also updates its information with your
personal writing style so that, when you dictate in that style, it will
understand you better.
For now, select the middle or bottom option, then click Next.
Once a voice model has been created, you can go on to the next chapter,
where you will begin dictating with SpeakPad, the speech-enabled word
processor in ViaVoice. We recommend that you start with SpeakPad, which is
easy to use.
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system 11
Troubleshooting setup problems
Before you can obtain satisfactory results with ViaVoice, you must install the
ViaVoice software, set up your microphone and audio system properly and
create a model of your voice. The procedures for doing these successfully
were described above. If you are unable to solve a setup problem, look for it
in this section and carry out the suggested corrective action.
Unable to install ViaVoice
U Your computer must meet the hardware and software requirements
listed on the side panel of your ViaVoice package. Refer to your
computer’s documentation to ensure that the type and speed of your
processor are sufficient for ViaVoice. Also ensure that the drive on
which you want to install ViaVoice has sufficient free disk space.
U During software installation, you should completely and accurately
provide data at every window and click Next when prompted to do
so. In windows where the Next button was inactive, did you type
data or select with the mouse until the button became active and
clickable? Dismissing windows instead of continuing with Next,or
clicking a button to cancel or exit, prevents the installation program
from completing successfully.
U If you are installing on Windows XP, your user ID must have
administrator authority.
Problems with audio setup
U The Audio Setup Wizard configures your sound system. You must
complete Audio Setup successfully. To do so, the microphone must be
plugged into your sound card or USB adapter and port correctly. The
Audio Setup Wizard shows you how to do these properly.
U Your sound card must be fully compliant with the specification on the
ViaVoice package, and the latest device driver for your sound card
should be installed on your computer. Check the sound-card
informationatourWebsiteathttp://www.scansoft.com/viavoice,
and contact your sound-card manufacturer to obtain the latest device
driver. If you have more than one sound card, there should be no
address conflict between the sound cards. ViaVoice must use the
sound card to which you attach the microphone. You can see whether
a conflict exists by looking at Start > Settings > Control Panel >
System > Device Manager. (Windows XP: Click on Start > Control
Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System > Hardware >
Device Manager.) A sound card showing a yellow exclamation mark
has an address in conflict with another device on your computer.
Look in Windows help for instructions on resolving this conflict.
U Use the microphone supplied with ViaVoice. If you want to use a
12 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
different microphone, it must be one listed at
http://www.scansoft.com/viavoice ontheInternet.Youcanalso
see a list of supported microphones during Audio Setup. When setting
up your microphone, select Other microphone as the type of
microphone you are using, then click the Other microphones button
to see the list of supported microphones.
U Ensure that no special effects are set in Windows. These settings,
which can prevent the sound card from working with ViaVoice, are
found in Advanced Settings in the Device Manager for your sound
card. Effects like full-duplex, 3-D sound and reverb should be turned
off when using ViaVoice.
U Is your computer set up to record sound? If you are unsure, test your
system by doing this:
1. Click Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound
Recorder.
2. Try to record your voice and play it back with the Sound Recorder.
If you cannot hear your recording, contact your computer or
sound card manufacturer. If the Sound Recorder is working but
Audio Setup still fails, you might need to update the device driver
for your sound card.
The sound you hear should be free of hiss or other noise.
U Make sure that settings like volume control are set. Check boxes for
muting audio components in Windows should not be ticked. Search
for Windows Audio Settings in Windows help to see how to adjust
sound settings. Multiple mixers can cause problems.
Poor recognition
U Speak at a normal pace, not too fast, not too slowly. Don’t clip or slur
words, or elongate or exaggerate their pronunciation. Do not run
words together, but avoid overemphasizing them. At first you might
tend to speak quickly. Be patient and slow down a bit.
U Make sure you wear your microphone headset correctly and in the
same way each time you speak. The white dot next to the microphone
under the foam pad must face your mouth. Do not remove the foam
pad from the microphone when speaking; this pad acts as a
windshield. Do not position the microphone directly in front of your
mouth where it will capture breathing noises; instead, position it to
either side of your mouth, about 2 cm away from your mouth. When
speaking, do not change the position of the microphone boom or
touch the foam pad or boom. Do not allow the microphone to touch
your face or hair.
U Say only the words shown to you for the tests. Should you talk to
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system 13
someone while the microphone is on, ViaVoice will capture your
conversation and not recognize your words as part of the story.
Hesitation noises like 'um' or 'uh', coughing and 'slips of the tongue'
are picked up as words.
U If a word can be pronounced more than one way—like 'thuh' and
'thee' for the word the—try both pronunciations.
U Are you actually saying all words correctly? For example, do not
misread this as the. Do not skip any words.
U If you are speaking in a room with a lot of unusual background noise,
wait until the noise subsides before reading the story.
14 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Chapter 2. The magic of dictating with ViaVoice
Congratulations! You have successfully set up your speech system and are
now ready to practice dictation with SpeakPad, the speech-enabled word
processor in ViaVoice.
We should first establish a few guidelines to help you get started.
v If you have not used speech recognition before, relax! Talking to
your computer is fun and easy. Get a glass of water and follow
along with us in this chapter.
v ViaVoice understands when you speak clearly and in a normal,
natural manner. For some people, getting comfortable with speech
recognition takes time and practice. So, please be patient and try
not to be self-conscious! Talking to your computer is almost as
easy as talking on the telephone, and the more you use your
speech system, the more comfortable you’ll become.
v As you work through this chapter, consider everything you do as
practice—we sincerely want you to become a great ViaVoice user!
This is your chance to play with the technology and learn how to
make ViaVoice serve you.
v Work through the material in this chapter until you obtain
satisfactory results and feel comfortable speaking to your
computer.
Take your time and just follow the instructions.
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1998, 2002 15
Practice dictating
1. If VoiceCenter is not on your screen, start it by clicking Start > Programs >
2. Click the ViaVoice menu button on the far left side of the VoiceCenter,
3. Dictate this text by speaking clearly in your normal speaking voice:
The new ViaVoice has arrived EXCLAMATION POINT NEWPARAGRAPH
It contains many new features PERIOD NEWPARAGRAPH
Our new User Wizard makes it easy to get started PERIOD NEWPARAGRAPH
We hope you enjoy using the new ViaVoice PERIOD MICROPHONE-OFF
4. The text appears in the SpeakPad window. It should look like this:
IBM ViaVoice VoiceCenter.
then select Dictate To and click SpeakPad.
SpeakPad opens. The microphone button changes and turns green. Your
microphone is on, and SpeakPad is ready to recognize your speech.
Congratulations, you have successfully dictated for the first time!
This being your first dictation, your text probably contains some recognition
errors. Your next step is to learn how to identify these errors, so please go to
the next section.
16 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
Finding recognition errors
After dictating a paragraph or so of text, you should correct any recognition
errors you find in it. Recognition errors are words that ViaVoice understood in
error for the words you said. Several types of recognition errors can occur:
Type of error Examples Causes
A single word is
recognized as some
other word
A single word is
recognized as two or
more words
A word that you did not
say is inserted in the text
Two or more adjacent
words are recognized as
one word
A word is not capitalized
correctly
A command is
recognized as text
You said a, but ViaVoice
displayed the.
You said their, but ViaVoice
displayed there.
You said oversubscribed but got
over subside.
You said for branch staff but got
for a branch staff.
You said that this but got that’s.
You started a sentence with
Their but ViaVoice did not
capitalize it.
You said MICROPHONE OFF
but got the words microphone
off.
v You didn’t say the word clearly.
v The word you said is not in ViaVoice’s
base vocabulary or your personal
vocabulary.
v The context of the word caused ViaVoice
to guess incorrectly.
v You paused between syllables in a word.
v You didn’t say the word clearly.
v The word is not in ViaVoice’s base
vocabulary or your personal vocabulary.
v The microphone picked up background
noise or breathing noises.
v You ran the words together or spoke them
too quickly.
v You slurred the pronunciation of the
words.
v ViaVoice guessed the wrong form of the
word.
v You did not pause before and after saying
the command.
v ViaVoice did not interpret your words as a
command.
Recognition errors happen. Saying words that ViaVoice does not know,
making slips of the tongue, and the occasional bad guess by ViaVoice lead to
errors. By correcting recognition errors, you teach ViaVoice more about the
words you use. The more it knows, the fewer errors ViaVoice will make.
Next you will correct the recognition errors in your practice dictation.
Chapter 2. The magic of dictating with ViaVoice 17
Correcting errors
Correcting recognition errors is easy! Just go through these instructions and
correct any errors you find in your practice dictation. See “Troubleshooting
dictation problems” on page 21 if you have recurring problems while
practicing.
Try re-dictating your text before correction
Before correcting the recognition errors, read your text to see if you’re happy
with it. Ignore the errors for the time being. If you want to change a word,
phrase or sentence, simply select the word by left-clicking with the mouse, or
select multiple words by swiping them with the mouse. Then re-dictate what
you want.
Correcting misrecognized words
1. Turn on your microphone if it is off.
2. Open the Correction window by saying "Show Correction window" or by
3. Using your mouse pointer as a visual guide, go through your dictation,
4. Select a misrecognized word by left-clicking with the mouse. This
5. If the correct word appears in the Correction window, say "Pick <n>",
6. If the correct word is not in the Correction window, re-dictate it. If this
pressing F2. Reposition the window with your mouse pointer if it is
obscuring your dictated text.
word by word and line by line, as a proofreader would, to find any errors.
highlights the entire word. To select a series of words, swipe them with
the mouse. The entire series of words should now be highlighted.
where <n> is the number of the correct word.
3
does not correct the error, say "Scratch that" and try re-dictating again. If
that works, then you are done with this error and can proceed to the next
one. If the error persists, say "Scratch that" again, click on the
word-display field in the Correction window, and type the correct word in
the field. Say "Correct" or press Enter to insert the typed word into your
text.
3. By default, the Correction window shows a list of up to five alternate words. These are words that sound like the
word you actually said. You can increase or decrease the number of alternate words in the list from ViaVoice
Options. Go there by clicking the ViaVoice menu button then selecting User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice
Options is displayed. Click the Correction tab if it is not on top. At that tab select the number you want from the
drop-down list in Maximum number of alternate words. See “Changing the appearance of the Correction
window” on page 102 for more information.
18 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
When correcting errors, you should correct words to what you actually said,
not to words you meant to say. If you find unwanted words because of a
'slip of the tongue' or because you did not speak clearly, delete them directly
from SpeakPad, then put the cursor at the right location and dictate what
you want.
Removing inserted words
1. Turn on your microphone if it is off.
2. Open the Correction window by saying "Show Correction window" or by
pressing F2. Reposition the window with your mouse pointer if it is
obscuring your dictated text.
3. Select the inserted word (or series of inserted words) with the mouse.
4. Say "Delete this", or press the Delete key.
Correcting capitalization errors
1. Turn on your microphone if it is off.
2. Open the Correction window by saying "Show Correction window" or by
pressing F2. Reposition the window with your mouse pointer if it is
obscuring your dictated text.
3. Select the word (or series of words) with the mouse.
4. Say "Capitalize this", or click the Format icon in the Correction window
and select Capitalize this from the drop-down menu.
Chapter 2. The magic of dictating with ViaVoice 19
Next steps after correction
After correcting the recognition errors, remove the text from the SpeakPad
dictation window and dictate the same practice text again. You should find
that ViaVoice understands your words better.
Should you continue to get recognition errors in your text, correct them
following the guidelines above, then try dictating again.
Dictate and correct the text, then try dictating it again, until you are satisfied
with the results.
To maximize your recognition accuracy, you should try to correct all errors
in your dictated SpeakPad documents before transferring them to another
program or exiting the document. Then allow ViaVoice to find the new
words when exiting the document. By doing so ViaVoice will learn your
manner of speaking. Get a head start on dictating by having ViaVoice
analyze the words and style of your existing documents.
If you want to continue practicing, choose from your favorite newspaper an
article that reflects the kind of documents you plan to dictate. A letter from
the Letters page is ideal. Do keep these points in mind when practicing with
your own text.
v ViaVoice understands best when you use the words and style common to
general business documents. Do not practice with cooking recipes,
sacred/religious text, poetry, text containing unusual names or foreign
words, or highly technical text. You may, of course, dictate these kinds of
text if you already have similar documents that ViaVoice can analyze
beforehand, but while you’re practicing, we recommend that you use
standard business text.
v When dictating, say your words as if ViaVoice already knows every one. Do
not stop and correct every error you see. Instead, dictate and correct a
paragraph at a time. We recommend that you do not watch the screen
while dictating to avoid becoming distracted.
v An 'out-of-vocabulary' recognition error happens when you say a word that
is not in ViaVoice’s base vocabulary or your own personal vocabulary. Use
the Correction window to correct the word to the one you actually said.
The new word will be added to your personal vocabulary. The next time
you say the word, ViaVoice should get it right.
v Say punctuation marks and formatting commands in your text. These are
listed in the What Can I Say window, which is described in Chapter 8,
“What Can I Say” on page 65. They are also shown in Appendix A,
“Frequently used commands in dictation” on page 121.
When you are satisfied with your results, continue with Chapter 3,
“Introducing VoiceCenter” on page 23 to learn about the functions in ViaVoice.
20 ViaVoice for Windows Advanced Edition
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