Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition software relies quite heavily on the human component, which has made for an interesting development and branding journey. The latest version, Dragon Professional Individual 15, benefits from the latest algorithims and features.
Initially, it required you to speak quite slowly one word at a time in order for it to recognise the individual user. While at its time quite revolutionary in its own right, this wasn’t a quick enough input method, struggling to keep up with fast typists and prone to enough errors to make it counter-productive for those with a reasonable typing speed.
Over the years, the software developers have managed to refine the process constantly adjusting algorithms for the best output and accuracy. One of the biggest changes was when Dragon moved from recognising one word at a time to improving its offering by using the context of the words to improve its accuracy, generating better results from using phrases instead.
With fifteen iterations over the last couple of decades, the software has reached a point where one is able to generate speeds of up to 160 words per minute. With out-of-the-box accuracy up to 99%, the software is becoming more streamlined and mainstream simultaneously, which makes you wonder how long it will be before people are primarily using their voice as an input method rather than a keyboard.
While the speech recognition software is primarily seen as a way of transcribing speech into text, it has a range of other useful applications, include navigating around your computer by voice command, transcribing audio files and improving workflow with powerful customisable commands. It’s a massive time-saver for report writers, specifically in the legal and medical industries, who are able to gain more independence, save time and cut costs associated with transcription.
A doctor will be able to see a patient, dictate their notes immediately, and in some cases be able to have a printout ready for the patient before they leave. The speed and accuracy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes it the kind of productivity tool that is used daily, enabling users to get through much more quicker simply using their voice.
While most software is simply plug-and-play, Dragon is one of those products that generates better results and is adopted more readily with some training and coaching. There are users who have managed to successfully implement it in their own capacity, however when it comes to the best practice, recommended settings, dealing with problems, forming good habits and customising the entire program, it’s a good idea to look at training options. Human Capital Development or HCD is one such company, which offers support and training for those wanting to get started with Dragon.