| OPENING AND SAVING OF "SPEECH FILES" AND TRANSCRIPTIONS |
Open native Microsoft Word® ".doc" documents directly |
NO |
Indispensable feature when the Author dictates in Microsoft Word® and even if they contain images and logos |
| TRANSCRIPTION OF VOICE RECORDINGS |
One single button (and Fkey) for transcription of a voice recording (dictation) |
NO |
Transcription Aid® provides many more sophisticated user settings for this operation. See the detailed comments hereunder |
Background transcription from Pocket® PC |
YES |
Transcription Aid® also supports this feature with releases 6 and 7 of NaturallySpeaking®
|
Background transcription from Palm® PDA |
YES |
Transcription Aid® also supports this feature with releases 6 and 7 of NaturallySpeaking® |
Background transcription from Sony Clié® |
YES (but only if recordings of stardard quality) |
Automatic detection and conversion of ANY ADPCM voice recordings whatever its quality, for transcription |
Background transcription from MP3 music player with good voice recording capabilities |
YES (idem as above) |
Automatic detection and conversion of ANY MP3 voice recordings whatever its quality, for transcription |
Background transcription from Windows Mobile® Smartphone and other types |
YES (idem as above) |
Windows Mobile® Smartphones can generate WAV files without additional software. Other Smartphones capable of generating either WAV or MP3 voice recordings with third-party software, as for instance the Sony Ericsson P800, P900 and P910i models, are also supported |
| PLAYBACK AND NAVIGATION OF TRANSCRIPTIONS |
Full-support of foot pedal for all playback functions |
NO |
Playback, move the cursor backwards or rewind a certain number of words (1 to 5) and play them back, all by simply pressing the foot pedal. See the detailed comments hereunder |
Play the transcription forward |
YES (but only with Menu item, Icon click, Shortcut key or Voice Command) |
Transcription Aid® achieves this action either by clicking an icon; pressing a function key (F5); pressing and holding F12 (or the central foot pedal) |
Automatic rewind from the cursor position and playback of a certain number of words (1 to 5) |
NO |
Amazingly useful feature for safe verification and correction. Access this feature either by clicking a button with the mouse or pressing a function key (F3). The (1 to 5) words amount is user configurable with a pop-up menu |
Move the cursor word by word backwards in the transcription, without playback |
NO |
Transcription Aid® also achieves this action by clicking a button with the mouse; pressing a function key (F2); pressing and holding either F11 (or the right foot pedal) |
Automatic playback from the start of either the current Paragraph, the current Sentence or the current Line |
NO |
By clicking on the corresponding icons with the mouse or a shortcut combination |
Change the color of the text while playing it back, for easier tracking of the cursor location by the transcriptionist |
NO |
The color of the text is user configurable |
Playback segments that has been changed or corrected by the secretary with the keyboard and mouse in the main window of Transcription Aid® ("No Sound Dropout" technology) |
YES (but as an option and at the expense of a substantial delay when switching from window to window) |
Correction output can be substantially increased as the transcriptionist does not need to use repetitively the standard Dragon Spell window, with high-quality Speech files. Essential feature for lawyers and medical doctors, as it preserves the integrity of the ".dra" file |
Insertion of "real-time" Voice comments (as well as color their transcription differently for easier identification) with instructions for the secretary, anywhere within the dictation (or voice recording) |
YES (Idem as above) |
Another benefit of the "No Playback Dropout" technology. The secretary can delete them directly in the screen, once transcribed, without affecting the normal Playback of the whole document |
Playback an unlimited number of utterances in transcriptions from Dragon "*.dra" files and voice recordings |
NO (limited to approximately 100 utterances, according to Nuance's Technote 3744) |
Transcription Aid® plays back transcriptions from up to approximately 40 minutes long Dragon "*.dra" files, as well as those from virtually any voice recording, whatever its length |
| EDITING OF TRANSCRIPTIONS |
Multilevel Undo in the transcription without damaging the playback |
NO (only one Undo) |
Allows for repetitive Undo operations in the transcription, thanks to the unique "No Sound Dropout" technology |
Multilevel Redo in the transcription without damaging the playback |
NO |
Allows for repetitive Redo operations in the transcription, thanks to the unique "No Sound Dropout" technology |
Paragraph and hanging indents of transcription |
YES (but more limited) |
Essential feature for lawyers and other professionals |
Margin Justification of transcription |
NO |
Essential feature for lawyers and other professionals |
Five standard Tab Settings |
NO (only one Setting) |
Essential feature for lawyers and other professionals |
Bulleted & Numbered lists |
NO (only Bullets are available) |
Essential feature for lawyers and other professionals |
Graphic insertion |
NO |
Insertion of virtually any type of graphic in the transcription |
Optional Font Type and Size of the transcription by default |
NO |
User defined |
Keeps User defined Font Size after pressing Return, along the whole transcription |
NO |
NaturallySpeaking® DragonPad uses to get back to the default Arial 10 after inserting a new paragraph |
| CORRECTION OF TRANSCRIPTIONS AND IMPROVEMENT OF "SPEECH FILES" |
Full-support of foot pedal for most correction and editing functions |
NO |
See the detailed comments hereunder |
Automatic selection of a certain number of words (2 by default) for "Quick Correction" |
NO |
Amazingly useful feature for quick correction. Access this feature either by clicking a button, pressing a function key (F10) or the left foot pedal. 1 to 5 words amount is user configurable with a pop-up menu |
Automatic (left foot pedal) selection of a certain number of words from the cursor position (1 to 5 words) and opening of the Dragon Spell window for "Traditional Correction" |
NO |
NaturallySpeaking® DragonPad only allows for automatic selection of the full utterance in the Spell window. Correction of long utterances, typical of fast dictating Authors, may become substantially slower and difficult |
Much faster navigation of the Dragon Spell window |
NO |
When the Dragon Spell window is opened, pressing the center foot pedal navigates the Choice list downwards; letting up the foot and pressing again, upwards. Speeds up correction output by another 20% on an average |
Optional automatic selection of the most probable choice within the Dragon Spell window (normally Choice 2) |
NO |
Speeds up correction output by 20% on an average |
Optional automatic playback of the selected 1 to 5 words when opening Dragon Spell window, for quicker verification of misrecognition |
NO |
Speeds up correction output by 5% on an average |
Playback of the selected (1 to 5) words in the Dragon Spell window, even when the 'Playback' button is deactivated (grayed out), for confirmation of misrecognition |
NO |
Thanks to the unique "No Sound Dropout" technology. Works with the right hand side foot pedal |
Closing of the Dragon Spell window, as when clicking in the 'Cancel' button |
NO |
Works with the left-hand side foot pedal |
| WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT OF "SPEECH FILES", VOICE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTIONS |
Advance Speech file management for importing and exporting User Speech files |
NO |
Transcription Aid® 'Copy to User' and 'Copy from User' menus have built-in "smart" features (i.e. check for the date of the User profile before copying), to avoid corruption when transferring them to and from the secretary PC |
Automatic verification of the Speech file used to generate a given transcription ("*.dra" file) at the moment of opening it for correction |
NO |
Transcription Aid® warns the transcriptionist if the active Speech file is not the correct one, to avoid its corruption when correcting |
Pack, Compress and Send or E-mail the transcription and voice recording together for revision |
NO |
"Pack" links the transcription ("*.doc" or "*.rtf" files) with the corresponding voice recording ("*.dra" file). "Compress", "Zips" them (up to -40%) for easier and faster sending through a network or e-mail connection, to the transcriptionist |
Add a Voice comment to the "Package" above, with processing instructions for the transcriptionist |
NO |
Maximum length of one minute for the voice recording or comment |
Automatic archival of the intact original "*.dra" file (the voice recording of the Author), even after the corrections are introduced by the transcriptionist with the keyboard and without using the Dragon Spell window |
YES (but slows down the engine a lot, when switching from a window to another one, as NaturallySpeaking has to "map" the transcription with the voice recording) |
Essential feature for lawyers and medical for tracking and verification purposes. Ideal to mix dictation with comments at any time of the voice recording (the secretary will simply delete them from the transcription, later on). Another benefit of the unique "No Playback Dropout" technology |
| USER FRIENDLINESS |
Informative on-line message windows with instructions and tips to guide inexperienced transcriptionists through the different processes |
NO |
Most of them include a 'Print' button and a deactivation box |
Extensive on-line Help on all aspects of transcribing voice recordings, correcting the transcriptions and improving the Speech files of the dictating Authors |
NO |
They can also be printed |
| OTHER INTERESTING FEATURES |
The license is always bundle with either a proprietary USB/Serial foot pedal or USB key dongle |
NO |
The proprietary USB foot pedal provides "plug and play" support for the most useful features above |
One single license allows for two installations (author/secretary PCs) |
YES (but may require two licences, as it is not easy correct without Voice commands and the creation of a new Speech file by the secretary, in the absence of most features above) |
The dictating Author will need to purchase a second USB key dongle or foot pedal for the second installation |
Wide choice of configurations |
YES |
Transcription Aid® is offered in three configurations: Individual (for correction of one Speech file); Full (for three Speech files), and Corporate (unlimited number of Speech files). The same installation is user upgradable with a Code provided by resellers |
