Welcome back. We are now at Part 3 of a 3 part series on Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking software review.

In Part 1, we introduced the program with information and discussion of its features and capabilities.

In Part 2, we took a good look at the program’s capabilities through screenshots and videos.

In this last part, we will provide a personal observation of the program and conclude with our assessment.

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Here are my observations of the program:

Wow! This is quite an interesting software! As mentioned previously, I have tried the Microsoft Speech Recognition software that came with Windows XP and it’s definitely no contest! Even after hours (I’m not kidding!) of training and speaking with the Microsoft Speech Recognition software, its accuracy wasn’t even close to the accuracy level of Naturally Speaking upon initial use. Of course, Naturally Speaking isn’t free and doesn’t come with bundled software so it’s somewhat of an unfair comparison.

Regardless, Dragon Naturally Speaking is amazingly accurate. Of course, as I keep saying, no software will be 100% accurate and it will come up with incorrect words from time to time, but it’s very easy to correct and work with. The software is intelligent enough that it will improve greatly over repeated use and training. The reason is that the software will analyze and keep a database or databank of your writing style or choice of words that it will “learn” to use that instead of trying to recognize each word you say. This is where it excels against other competitors. At the end of each session, the program will save and update the current user profile which shows that it is a very dynamic and intelligent program that will adjust and improve with repeated use.

I really like how the program can perform a variety of tasks, whether it be to recognize your voice for dictation, perform a variety of commands inside many different Windows programs by voice, transcribe voice recordings imported into the program from external sources, as well as being capable of being “trained” to learn an individual user’s writing style. Even with programs that are not normally supported by the program, with features like the Dictation Box and Dragon Pad, they will enable you to work within those programs and transfer the results over.

With its intelligent and accurate speech recognition technology, I can practically work faster simply by saying or dictating my sentences rather than typing them out by hand. Actually, I am writing this particular paragraph with Dragon Naturally Speaking using the supplied headset that came with the package. Compared to typing on the keyboard with my fingers, where I can easily make mistakes, the software is quite accurate and obviously can type much faster than me. Of course, this program is perfectly capable of making mistakes as well but it’s quite easy to be able to make the necessary corrections simply by speaking rather than hitting all the backspaces that I normally do on the keyboard. I have also tried using other microphones such as the tiny one supplied by USB Fever and even the built-in microphone on my Dell Vostro 1700 laptop and they both have worked very well. Naturally Speaking has no difficulty understanding what I said. In some ways, I may opt to go this route instead of putting on my Plantronics 470 headset since it offers me much more comfort and freedom without feeling tied to a wired headphone/headset. Enough praise, here are the some observations on the other side.

I have already mentioned the discomfort of using the supplied headset due to the rigid headband that pushed hard against the side of the head in the video review. Regardless of how I bend the headband, it will revert back to its original shape. One way around this problem in terms of wearing it without feeling as much discomfort is to wear the headband slightly forward rather than directly on top of the head. Then, adjust the microphone accordingly. Although it may feel awkward to wear it this way, you may feel less discomfort.

This next observation is not in regards to the software itself, but more to my personal preference. Through the years, I have gotten used to typing out what I think inside my head directly onto the keyboard. With Naturally Speaking, in order to compose my sentences, I have to change the way how things are done. I need to dictate my sentences or thoughts aloud and unlike the direct interpretation from thought to fingers, it has now changed from thought to voice. Sentences now have to be thought out carefully before spoken or the software will misinterpret and add all the extra um’s, ah’s and pauses. Personally for me, it seems to be the only deterrant as at this time I am forced to spend extra time in thinking out my sentences and correcting mistakes as opposed to the old way of typing it out on the keyboard. With repeated use, I’m sure that I will adjust to this new method and improve my accuracy.

On a related note, from time to time, commands may be misinterpreted as dictation, which may be somewhat disconcerting and annoying but normally, they can easily be corrected. The key to maximizing the effectiveness of this software is to balance the use of your voice, with the mouse and keyboard in the best way possible according to your needs and preferences.

Also, with regards to the software, although it’s very nice to have the Dictation Bar available to support Windows programs not normally supported, there have been some times when things didn’t go the way I expected. I have experienced a few times where I would dictate into the Dictation Box and expected it to transfer into an application only to find that the entire text was lost because the computer cursor not being placed inside my intended application before the Dictation Box was brought up. Thus, the entire text was transferred out of the dictation box but not into the desired application. In other words, the entire text was lost. Of course, this is partly my fault for not ensuring that the cursor was on the application before the Dictation Bar was brought up. But, with the application directly underneath the floating Dictation Bar, I was expecting that it was going to go there and not disappear into thin air, which obviously ended up happening. Perhaps the software has a feature whereby I can retrieve that text but I am not aware of it. If so, kindly please leave me a comment and point me in the right direction. Thank you.

I have mentioned this many times already and although it is expected that it’s impossible for any software, especially speech to text software to be 100% accurate, it can be a bit discouraging to know that you can only increase the software’s accuracy through repeated use, training and time. So, expect to invest some time in getting used to the program, re-learn and un-learn old habits. So get used to thinking and composing your sentences before you speak and eliminate all those um’s and ah’s (yes, I know that I’m guilty of that).

Review Summary

Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking is everything you’ve heard about and it is an amazing software that is extremely accurate in translating your speech into text. Its intelligent software is what sets it apart from many others as it will “learn” and adapt to your personal writing style which greatly improve its accuracy with repeated use and training. It can perform a variety of tasks and programs including support for Microsoft Word, Excel, Internet Explorer. With programs not normally supported by the software, you can still use its Dictation Box and Dragon Pad from within the program and later transfer it over. As if that isn’t enough, even when you’re not working, you can still be productive by dictating into your voice recorder or smartphone or PDA and later have it transcribed by the software when you’re back at the office.

I have only scratched a thin surface of what the software is capable of doing in my videos and this three part review and I hope that you will take a closer look at the program by doing more research and hopefully decide to purchase a copy and decide for yourself. I thank everyone in advance for your continued support of Palm Discovery.

Nuance’s Naturally Dragon Speaking is now at version 10. Unfortunately, I am unable to obtain a copy of it but I’m sure you can understand it will be even better than version 9. Please feel free to check out the software at either OneNetworkDirect/Digital River or at the Nuance Online Store.

OneNetworkDirect


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