- Platform: Windows 98 / 2000 / Me
- Media: CD-ROM
- Item Quantity: 1
System Requirements
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Allowing the software to speak for itself, the first few paragraphs of this review were written, or spoken, using IBM's ViaVoice 9. Any typos you see are there resell--er, are the result--of a misinterpretation on the part of ViaVoice. The new voice and dictation program shows a marked improvement over previous dictation packages, but it also proves that such technology still has a way to go before it true we could come--uh, make that truly becomes--convenient.
It's important to distinguish between limitations of consumer computing power and the quality of dictation programs relative to each other. Voice dictation is extremely complex, and it is difficult to create truly reliable software without massive, NASA-level computers to run it on. With that in mind, ViaVoice 9 is an excellent dictation package, and the Pro U.S. bee (that should be USB) addition (edition) comes with the plant phonics Dee's pee 300 (uh, make that Plantronics DSP-300), a headset with outstanding microphone quality and fairly decent earphones.
Upon installation, the program asks you to read several paragraphs aloud to help it get to know your voice. The better "trained" ViaVoice is to your vocal nuances, the more adapted it is at translating your vocal commands and dictation. Unfortunately, even after hours of training, you can see it's still far from perfect, which is why I'm typing from this point on.
If you can get past its vocal follies, you'll appreciate the rest of ViaVoice 9's package. It's loaded with outstanding, user-friendly features, including its own dictation pad, a direct-dictate mode that works with just about every word processor you can think of, and the ability to format text and manipulate pull-down menus with intuitive vocal commands. It lets your voice perform other tasks, too, such as checking e-mail, surfing the Web, and using an applet called Voice Mouse to command the mouse cursor. In addition, ViaVoice packs the best help interface we've seen in years. For instance, for a list of vocal commands, you only have to utter the words "What can I say?"
Although its specs recommend differently, we suggest running ViaVoice on a machine equipped with a 1 GHz or faster processor and 256 MB or more RAM. Dictation was slow and error prone on our 1.5 GHz/256 MB test bed.
If you have a lot of patience, some spare time for extra proofreading, and the need or desire for a dictation suite, ViaVoice 9 is an excellent choice. Just be prepared for silly misinterpretations. --Joel Durham Jr.
Amazon.com Product Description
Designed for executives, professionals, and writers who place a premium on fast, effective computer communications, ViaVoice Pro USB Edition 9.0 comes with a stereo USB headset microphone with digital signal processor for higher speech recognition accuracy--the most advanced microphone ever included in a ViaVoice software product. Designed for speech recognition, this full-range stereo microphone is great for listening to MP3s, CDs, and DVDs, as well.
ViaVoice Professional Edition 9.0 gives you the best ViaVoice accuracy yet as you dictate, edit, and format text and numbers in popular productivity suites and applications such as Microsoft Office 97, 2000, and XP, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Netscape Messenger, and Lotus SmartSuite Millennium Edition 9.5. Dictate, edit, and format text in SpeakPad, the ViaVoice speech-enabled word processor, or directly in Microsoft Word 2000 and 2002. Voice Marks monitors your macro commands as ViaVoice carries them out. With ViaVoice Documents, custom templates are ready for quick and easy creation of business and personal letters, faxes, and memos in Microsoft Word 97, 2000, and 2002.
Create customized voice shortcuts with the Navigation Macro Center, which allows you to cut down on keystrokes and mouse clicks. The Dynamic Web Navigation feature lets you surf Web sites using your voice in popular Internet applications, just by saying the first few words of a URL. Included is a group of specialized vocabulary topics for computers, business and finance, cuisine, and "chatter's" jargon. These can be switched on or off as a complement to the standard 160,000-word vocabulary. With the Text to Speech feature, ViaVoice can read back both your typed and dictated text, making editing your documents easier. An improved Analyze My Documents feature allows ViaVoice to recognize your writing style and the words you use frequently, leading to greater accuracy.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent stuff,
By
This review is from: VIA VOICE FOR WINDOWS PRO (CD-ROM)
Having read the above reviews I am astounded at the misfortune of the guy with 3 computers and the recommended specs given in the other review.I have a bog-standard Compaq Presario 450mhz - 192mb RAM and have recently installed WinXP and - in a spate of idleness - Viavoice Release 9 along with the patch from the IBM website for WinXP compatibilty. The product works beautifully!! Much better than Release 8 on Win98 (which already worked well). Recognition seems vastly improved and desktop navigation works splendidly (direct dictation into MS-DOS prompts is great fun). I'd love to have a 1.4ghz with 256mb to try it on but given that my recognition accuracy is around 95% anyway I can't see what difference it would make.
26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very dissapointed!,
By
This review is from: VIA VOICE FOR WINDOWS PRO (CD-ROM)
I was very dissapointed with this product! The USB headset that comes with it will not work on all 3 of my comupters! I contacted Plantronics, and they told me it wasn't compatible with the Intel USB chipset on my motherboards. 3 Computers, and I can't use the thing!Also, ViaVoice keeps crashing my computer. It works great when it works, but I'm afraid to use it be it causes my otherwise stable system to lock up every 15-20 minutes or so. I think this product is still buggy and not quite ready for prime time. Buyer beware!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
OK, not great,
By Tcat Houser (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: VIA VOICE FOR WINDOWS PRO (CD-ROM)
I tried both Via Voice 8 and 9. For the most part I still prefer L&H Voice Xpress V.4 The accuracy of IBM Via Voice V 9 is better, but lacks featurs such as adjusting the microphone level found in Voice Xpress. I see that version 10 of Via Voice is out as an upgrade (a change in the previous policy). I would have considered spending the $90 or so bucks to upgrade and get the mike control for background noise, but I never got my $75 rebate from IBM for purchasing Version 9 a year ago. You can get Voice Xpress V 4 (standard) with the Platronics DSP folding headset for the price of the Upgrade cost of Via Voice alone. A better way to go if you are on a budget.
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