Speech Recognition Software

These programs have improved their speed and accuracy to the point where they can be useful tools. If you do a lot of dictating, these programs may be cost-effective and improve your dictation turn-around time. They are not recommended for computer novices.

How do the programs work?
You speak into a headset microphone attached to the sound card of your computer. The program translates this speech into text on the computer screen. Modern programs can interpret your speech at normal conversation speeds. They are now able to cope with accents and with voice changes caused by colds or nasal allergies. Some can be trained to recognize the speech of several different users.

Can I use the program with my current software?
All programs provide their own basic word-processing software. Many will also allow you to dictate directly into Microsoft Word, which is currently the most popular word processor. If you use a different word processor, check the vendor's website for compatibility. ViaVoice allows you to give verbal commands to the Windows operating system.

Do the programs provide medical vocabularies?
ViaVoice provides a medical vocabulary as an inexpensive upgrade. NaturallySpeaking only provides a vocabulary as part of an expensive medical office package. All the programs are capable of learning new words.

What computer hardware is required?
To be truly useful, these programs require a powerful computer with a large amount of random access memory (RAM). NaturallySpeaking and ViaVoice have versions that take advantage of the new Pentium III processor. Some vendors offer versions for Macintosh computers.

What type of microphone is required?
Most programs include a high-quality microphone as part of the package. Check the vendor's website to confirm that their microphone is compatible with your sound card. This is particularly important before installing the program on a laptop computer.

What about digital voice recorders?
These portable recorders are the latest gadgets in the field. The user dictates into the device and later transfers the recording to the computer. One informal report suggests that this causes a small, but acceptable, drop in accuracy. These may prove to be a very useful tool for physicians who need to dictate reports at the bedside.

How accurate is the software?
A review in PC Magazine (October 20, 1998) rated the accuracy of NaturallySpeaking at 91 percent, and ViaVoice at 81 percent. My personal frustration is with errors in small words (e.g. a, an, and, the), despite repeated efforts to train the computer to my voice. It is very easy to miss these small errors when proofreading. Dr. Robert Patterson confirms this in his excellent article (CMAJ, Mar 23, 1999, 160(6), page 885).

Speech Recognition Software Resources

Naturally Speaking (Nuance, formerly known as Scansoft) 
A medical package is available, but is still quite expensive

ViaVoice (Nuance)
One of the least expensive programs, it has one of the largest vocabularies and provides the least expensive medical vocabulary; Hardware requirements are high

Additional Resources

PC Magazine Review (October 20, 1998, page 191)
This article compared all four programs and selected NaturallySpeaking as the "Editor's Choice"; NaturallySpeaking and Voice Xpress have been upgraded since the review

Family Practice Management
The author (Dr. Thomas G. Savel) favors the ViaVoice program over NaturallySpeaking and Voice Xpress; This article was reprinted in the May 19, 1999 issue of the Canadian "Family Practice" newspaper

MedSpeech Discussion Group
This newsgroup discusses medical speech recognition; To subscribe send an e-mail message to majordomo@list.sirius.com – leave the subject field blank, and in the body of the message type "subscribe medspeech" followed by your email address