Customer Reviews

VIA VOICE FOR WINDOWS PERSONAL

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I got ViaVoice...I have to say that it is very fun to use. And with every word it seems that it gets more precise. I still have to finish the voice analyzations, but even so the software is getting very good at understanding what I'm saying. I even tried to trick it a few times with some nonsense words that I use to "talk" to my cats. I even taught it to understand some bad words. LOL If you know what I mean. Voice recognition software isn't at the level of StarTrek yet, but it's getting there. There is one problem I have though. At startup it prevents either MSN Messenger or MSNBC News Alert from starting up. And sometimes prevent's Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect from starting up. You can fix this by just starting the features mentioned manually, but it can be a pain in the butt. Though, it's nothing to uninstall ViaVoice over. Not a bad package...

I am very pleased with the performance of IBM ViaVoice. The technology upon which this package is based is obviously very sophisticated and powerful. I have been using ViaVoice for just over a month and the recognition rate is very high. Since the software provides for correction of any recognition errors, ViaVoice progressively refines my speech profile, resulting in a higher accuracy rate. Thus the accuracy is now significantly better than when I first started using the package. The vocabulary is amazingly big, including most proper names. Correction of any errors is quick and easy.

I can dictate to Speak Pad (which is the ViaVoice document processing program), or I can dictate directly into Word 2000. It is both easier and faster to use ViaVoice rather than having to key-enter text. I do have to copy and paste text in order to send out an e-mail or post a message on an Internet bulletin board. But that is simple and it certainly beats having to key-enter my message. I definitely believe that voice recognition has come of age and is an excellent application for anyone who composes messages frequently. Considering the very reasonable price of the Personal Edition of ViaVoice, I believe it is an excellent buy.

We use Via Voice 8 and love it. My 11 yo son is dyslexic. By using Via Voice he can dictate all his writing assignments. He wouldn't be able to keep up with his composition work without it.

I use the read back function to "read" news articles on the web. I can hop on my treadmill while Mr. Woodrow, the talking pencil reads website content to me.

And, best of all, (price). In fact I am here buying this product for other family members now!

This program is just what I need and it fits my miniscule budget. It offers the same quality as other products but is only a fraction of the cost.

This comes with a noise-canceling headset that includes a microphone. It is not by IBM. It works with Microsoft Word 2002 the best, but will also allow dictation to other software. Your words can be read back to you by an agent which is actually a robot that appears when you summon it. It can also read back aloud words that you didn't type; in other words, any text it "sees" which is rather ingenius. It will make corrections if you speak over it when you see an error. You can also teach ViaVoice new words after it has learned to recognize your voice and inflections in your speech by creating your voice model. IBM gives you a 95-page User's Guide with black and white pictures to illustrate procedures.

I got this product free with a coupon on the site. Aside from shipping which was almost nothing, now I have something cool to show my friends. After all it was free. It comes with a headset microphone which is alright but too short and uncomfortable. The software is ok but still having trouble making out simple things. Not to mention, if you want to dictate places, names, etc FORGET IT. I typed a paper about 4x faster than I can use this to write it. Kind of fun how wrong it is. Don't spend you money, but if it's still free you can order it for a kick.

This software looks great on paper and I've read plenty of positive reviews, but I'm having major installation problems that IBM's technical support team seems incapable is solving. Halfway through the voice analyzation procedure, the software simply stops recording, thus rendering itself useless. I'm very disappointed with ViaVoice and will return it for a refund.

This doesn't work. It prints back garbage. It was recommended to add a "signal attenuator" for our sound card, but this has
been impossible to find. NOBODY carries such a thing. Very frustrated and disappointed -- was a waste of money.

This doesn't work. It prints back garbage. It was recommended to add a "signal attenuator" for our sound card, but this has
been impossible to find. NOBODY carries such a thing. Very frustrated and disappointed -- was a waste of money.