Voice recognition software for word processing

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

Is there any kind of voice or word recognition software currrently made that can be used for word processing applications? What I am thinking of is some type of software that could be used in a board meeting type of situation that would be able to transcribe (If that is the right term?) , all of the different people that speak at a meeting that was recorded on a CD. This would be used in place of a cassette tape recorder where the person has to listen to the tape and type out everything they hear on the tape.

[Jim Becker]

IBM has a lot of technology in this area, but voice to text is still a very difficult application, especially with multiple speakers. Nuance is a big player, too. Speech recognition is a very big "developing area" in the communications sector...my company is doing a lot with it and I actually use it daily for access to voice mail, email, calendar, directory and for PBX commands. But this is with a limited set of words involved. Even the speech-based interactive response systems you'll find, like when you call Amtrak or some of the airlines, have a limited set of expected responses they will recognize and they will not transcribe normal speech.

You might check out software designed for people with special needs, but again, it may not work well when multiple speakers are involved nor provide the required accuracy that transcriptions of public meetings demand.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

GOOGLE the phrase "voice recognition software"
You will be amazed. The software has come a long way in the last several years it is still very much dependant on the hardware you use to transmit and pick up the speach so you gotta get a good mic' etc..

As aways you get what you pay for. So $$ matters.