Ilisten with Headset Microphone 1.7 [OLD VERSION]

by CSDC

Product Features

• Continuous Speech Recognition - Dictation in normal tone of voice and at a normal pace using the Philips FreeSpeech 2000 speech engine
• Direct Dictation - Dictate, edit and format text directly in any Application
• Correction - Correct and Update your Voice Model in almost any Application
• Hands Free Correction - Correct using your voice, no need to use the keyboard or mouse
• Correction Playback - Hear what you said in your own Voice

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000FTPMC2
• Item model number: ILISTEN WITH HEADSET
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 22, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,613 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #67 in Software > Business & Office > Communication > Voice Recognition
  • #92 in Software > Operating Systems > Macintosh
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

iListen provides you with the simplest and easiest way to get text into the applications that you use, simply dictate anywhere you would type. Our exclusive TalkAnywhere technology allow to dictate and correct directly into almost any application on Mac OS X. Now you save yourself all the problems of typing, just use iListen. You can even navigate the Finder, print, cut, copy, paste, and much more all by using your voice. Even if your hands are on the keyboard and mouse, you can use your voice to control your Mac. The iListen Watch and Learn Complete video is an excellent way to learn how to get the best of iListen. The video takes you through each step and setup and installation, training and advanced usage. See how easy iListen is to use in this Video Training Sample. Hands Free Correction makes it easy to correct, update and teach iListen new words and phrases. Adapts to your Speech - iListen adapts to your pronunciation of words faster and more accurately Huge Vocabulary - Vocabulary of more than 330,000 words developed in cooperation with Oxford University Command and Control - Speech control of the computer through built-in normal language and individually created commands Constant Feedback - The iListen Floating Palette provides you with constant feedback Dock Menu - You can even use the Dock to access iListen functions on Mac OS X Multiple Profiles - Everyone in your home can create their own voice profile, now everyone can use it Text Macro Capabilities - Insert (up to 32,000 character) standardized or predetermined phrases and text with a single spoken phrase Speech Navigation - Open, close and control applications and navigate the desktop by speech AppleScript Compatible - Ability to take advantage of Apple's built-in scripting language Internet Ready - Surf the web with your voice System Requirement - Mac OS X 10.2.8 or newer, Mac OS 10.4 or later recommended

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Buy, October 3, 2007

By 

SRSD "Sam" (HOUSTON, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ilisten with Headset Microphone 1.7 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking, and have had great sucess with it. Since I have a desktop Macintosh, I decided to try iListen to use with it. I spent over three hours training the software, and everything appeared to be going well. When I tried to use it with my G5 Mac, I have gotten nothing but garbage.

This program is worse than useless. Don't waste your money or your time on it.

Here is the above text dictated to iListen:

I may have a step tried and neck generally speaking, and then fed great success with that to but area in sense I have a desktop Mac in Dallas, I decided to drive I've listened to use with that to. Eyes had only three hours during the software, and everything up the year to be going well. But I too late to use it with 95 McCann, I've got nothing but there are page. The click the program is worse than useless don't waste your money or time on that to. In in in in in in in the in
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should be updated to 3 stars --- see updated review comments, December 27, 2007

By 

macleath "a cats life" (New Hampshire USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ilisten with Headset Microphone 1.7 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

Update:
After my first 9.5 days of waiting for support, I finally broke down and called the paid support telephone. I did get to speak to a really good support contact who waived paying for the support call as I couldn't get the app to open and it had been 9.5 days of no support for the issue.

This tech contact was great-- very knowledgeable, friendly and smart... he walked me thru all the potential problems using this speech recognition program and he lead me step by step to resolving the problem and to open and use the application... i.e. after a long support session he realized that the since I was running the ilisten app off a large 500GB home disk that the app was having trouble finding and properly setting up the profile file which kept the app from launching... so bottom line I have just started to use the app now and in this early stage I can say that the application has good potential for my usage ...i.e. to help me efficiently write a lot of content... if my experience with this app further

Original Review:
This application (both Version 1.71 and the V1.8 update) does not open on my G5 Power Mac with OSX 10.51 altho MacSpeech claims V1.8 is compatible with this OS and computer, so I have paid a lot of money for an app that doesn't easily work on my Mac. My biggest beef is the MacSpeech Support process and efforts... It has been over a week since I filed my first ticket thru a somewhat complicated support ticket process that is augmented with a knowledge base that seems very cryptic to my problems. In this week of waiting for a reply from the Support team, nothing has happened and my support ticket is still reported as not reviewed by the support team. I submitted a 2nd ticket with an update to my problem 2 days ago and still nothing has happened....

Mac Speech has a policy that if you want phone support you have to pay 15$ for 15 minutes and then 1$ per minute. This is not customer friendly for those of us who can't even get this app installed in a way that it opens...

I have given this a 2 star rating as I am still hoping that MacSpeech will help me at least find a way try to use this app... I will upgrade and change my rating if I get a positive outcome from the app and the company... If MacSpeech continues to stick it to me, I will further rate this app as 1 star along with the long list of other reviewers that have had bad experiences with this application and Mac Speech.

BOTTOM LINE: WATCH OUT! --- it seems like this company needs to go the extra mile to improve the customer experience on what some folks report is a good application. Hopefully the company will improve their support process or they will face more negative customer reviews, legal consequences and market pressures.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Probably adequate if you put in the time, November 18, 2006

By 

B. Ramm "BGR" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ilisten with Headset Microphone 1.7 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I stopped using iListen after a few weeks because it was just too hard to make it work accurately. I get the sense that if I put in more time to correcting mistakes that it made or reading to it more to improve it's accuracy, I would like the results better. But, it processed words so slowly on my 867 mhz laptop that I found it easier to type.