Speech Empowered Computing is pleased to announce it will be holding a series of free Webinars (web conferences) over the next few months on the benefits of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking system and how it can enhance personal productivity.

The first webinar in the series is scheduled for 10.30 a.m. GMT on Thursday 19th March.

Peter Maddern will be running through some live demonstrations where he will use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to create reports in Microsoft Word and e-mails/calendar management in Microsoft Outlook using speech recognition. He will also take participants on a tour of the features and benefits of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking programme. He will conclude with a questions and answer session.

How will I benefit from attending the Webinar?

Nowadays, there is more and more to accomplish with fewer resources. You will learn how speech recognition can greatly enhance your PC (and hence personal) productivity. Free yourself from the constraints of typing all your reports, e-mails, presentations and spreadsheets etc and learn how the system can allow you to dictate at up to 99% accuracy at speeds of up to 160 words per minute.

Who should attend:

Anyone who would like to be more productive and be able to create their own notes, reports and e-mail e.g.:-

• Solicitors
• Surveyors
• Building Engineers
• CEO’s, Executives, Team Members 
• Users with disabilities
• Sales and Marketing Professionals
• Medical Professionals
• Academic staff (Teachers, Lecturers, Academic administrative staff, students etc)
• Administrators
• Authors
• Technical Authors
• Translators

However, this Webinar will really benefit anyone who relies heavily on their computer to get their job done and who has ever considered getting started with Dragon NaturallySpeaking computer speech recognition but don’t know how to go about it.

Please note – the Webinar will cover only European versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking designed for UK English/American English/Australian English speakers in Europe so registration is necessarily restricted to those with English as their first language living in Europe.

How do I register to attend?

Registration can be found here – places limited to 12 so register soon to book your place.

What do I need to join?

All you need is a fast internet connection and Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox with the most up to date Java client. You will call in via a local telephone number provided by Speech Empowered Computing (you just pay for the cost of the call) or you can join at no cost with a headset microphone using VOIP.

Full joining instructions (link and meeting ID) will be sent to registered participants ahead of time.

Dr Peter Maddern
Speech Empowered Computing

Recently, I invited users to write in to say what they were using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for.

Great minds think alike!

Nuance USA have got the same idea except that they are offering a prizes for selected entries. See:-

http://www.nuance.com/dragonstories/

On this page, you can submit stories and read others’ stories.

What do you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS) for? Do you know others who use DNS? Do you know what they use it for?

Please leave a comment as I’d be interested to build up an understanding of the various uses for computer speech recognition technology that I maybe not even aware of! Read the rest of this entry »

Do you have to fight to get through your e-mail “mountain” every day. Do you let customers and suppliers down by not replying to their e-mails in a timely fashion and with a decent amount of content in your messages? Often it can be easier to pick up the phone and call someone, but having said that, e-mail has now become an accepted business tool and one which is probably here to stay! you will gain substantial efficiency by using e-mail in addition to verbal communications.  Speech recognition is an excellent tool that’ll have you conquering this syndrome once and for all!  Dragon NaturallySpeaking contains built-in commands for the several e-mail applications e.g. AOL versions 8 and 9, Microsoft Outlook versions 2000, XP, and 2003 (Professional and higher editions), Microsoft Outlook Express versions 5 and 6 (Professional and higher editions) and Lotus Notes 5, 6, and 7(Professional and higher editions.)
 The e-mail commands described here are designed to work in these four applications. To use them, make sure Dragon NaturallySpeaking and your e-mail application are both running. If you use Microsoft® Outlook, Outlook Express, or Lotus Notes, you can add the contact names in your address book to your vocabulary, which improves accuracy when you dictate these names. You can also have Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically scan your sent e-mail messages so it can better learn your writing style. But be careful with this tool as it will also scan messages that contain replies from others and so Dragon will adapt to their writing style, not yours!

Checking for new e-mail 

To check for new mail, say “Check For New Mail” or “Check For E-Mail”. You must be connected to the internet to check your e-mail. You can say “Mail”, “Message,” “Memo” or “E-Mail” interchangeably in any of the e-mail commands.

Opening and closing e-mail

To open an e-mail message, select it and say “Open Mail” or “Open That”. To close an open message, say “Close Mail.” You can also move to the message and select it by “pressing” function and arrow keys by voice. Or just say “move up/down x” where x is a number. You can switch to personal file folders by saying “Press Ctrl Y”, then “move up/down x” 

Composing e-mail

To compose a new message, say “New Mail” or “New Message.” Once the new blank message appears, you can navigate to any field by voice and start dictating.  e.g. you can say “Go To” or “Move To” “To Field” “CC Field” “BCC Field” “Body Field” “First Field”  “Last Field” “Next Field” To dictate an e-mail message

Say “New Mail”. The new message opens on your screen. Say “Go to To Field”, pause (to make sure you are in the correct field), then dictate the recipient’s e-mail address, for example, “peter at btinternet  dot com.” (Dragon recognises e-mail formatting by the way). If it’s a complex e-mail address, use the spell command to spell out the e-mail address. If you are entering more than one address, separate each one by saying “semicolon” or “comma”; depending on your application.   Say “Go to CC Field” or “Go to BCC Field”, pause, and dictate the addresses of the people who should receive copies or blind copies of your message (optional). In many e-mail programs, you can also say just “Subject” or “BCC” to move to the respective field by that name.  Say “Go to Subject Field”, pause, and dictate the subject of your message, for example, “Next week’s meeting”. Say “Go to Body Field”, pause, and begin dictating the body of your message.

Sending and printing e-mail:

Once your message is ready to send, you can simply say “Send Mail” to send your e­mail on its way. To print a message, say “Print Mail” and the message will be sent to your printer.

Forwarding and replying to e-mail

To forward a message selected in your Inbox, simply say “Forward Mail”, then dictate the recipient’s address in the To Field of the new message.  Select a message and say “Reply to Mail” to create a new message addressed to the sender. To reply to everyone on the mailing list, say “Reply To All”. Then move to the Body Field and dictate your reply.

Deleting mail

You can delete the currently selected message by saying “Delete Mail.” This command will work on all selected messages, so make sure you have selected only those you want to delete.   

Data entry is an obvious activity which speech recognition be of great assistance. DragonNaturallySpeaking integrates very well with Microsoft Excel and text and numbers can be added quickly and efficiently without using the keyboard.

There are many uses for Dragon NaturallySpeaking. One application that I like using in conjunction with it is mind mapping software developed by Tony Buzan. I use mind maps to help with projects, decisions, problem analysis, brainstorming and many other things. I typically use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to create the map by voice input and this greatly speeds up the mapping process. This allows me to create a finished mind map in a fraction of the time and frees up my brain for creative thinking! Some examples of mind mapping software include:-

http://www.mindgenius.com

http://www.mindjet.com/uk/

Time management is a vast field and much has been written about it. Third-generation time management deals mainly with tools that you can use to save time and do things more productively. I went on a time management course a few years ago in the UK. It was called Priority Manager and we were trained on how to unleash the hidden power of Microsoft Outlook. I found the course to be excellent. Note that I have no affiliation with Priority Manager and this course. Read the rest of this entry »

 I find Microsoft OneNote to be a really good programme for capturing my random thoughts, ideas and information. It has a facility to record audio into a OneNote page which I sometimes use. You can also add drawings and annotations if you have a graphics tablet input device or a tablet PC. Very often, what I’ll do is to handwrite some notes e.g. of a phone conversation then go back and use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to re – enter my scribbles by voice to “tidy up” the real estate on the OneNote pages.