MAJOR advances in computer hardware have enabled relatively old speech recognition software to achieve renewed market acceptance.
Memory on standard PCs is such that speech recognition software can now be a fast and accurate medium for business use, a process that can reduce data entry times dramatically.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition software was developed in the US and allows people to speak (via a headset connected to the computer) to a PC and have those words transcribed into computer programs such as Microsoft Word or Outlook.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking’s only WA reseller, SME Equality, proprietor Mark Nesti said the software had been adopted by Wesfarmers, Alcoa and Centrelink, and was proving to be both a time and cost saver for business.
“There are a number of reasons that people want this software. One is that they can’t type properly. They have a difficulty of some sort, or like me, they are a two-finger typist and get sick of it,” Mr Nesti said.
“They have difficulty expressing what they want to say in emails because they shorten everything down. If they read it back some time later they may not be able to make sense of it themselves.
“It also saves money. For instance, I have not come across a business that has laid people off because they’ve implemented Dragon.”
CustomerOne director George Aveling said he purchased Dragon NaturallySpeaking software after a recommendation from a family member.
“It saves me a heap of time. When I do post consultation to a client it goes straight from my notes to the computer. When I’m doing training notes for a client it goes straight from my brain to the machine. I speak it.” he said.
Alcoa maintenance planner Darren Mossman’s hands were injured at work several years ago and the adoption of Dragon Speech Recognition Software has been essential in enabling him to perform all tasks required by his position.
“Using the voice is much quicker and I can navigate through to equipment codes. I just say the name and I am there. We can add new macros [codes] to the system,” Mr Mossman said.
