My Computer Finally Listens To Me!!

Over ten years ago, speech recognition technology was introduced to PCs by several third party vendors and it’s come quite a long way since then. Built into Microsoft Office XP and 2003, Microsoft removed it in Office 2007 and included it with Windows Vista and Windows 7 so it could be used with all software. To get you started, we’ll show you how to work with speech recognition in Word 2003.

First, you’ll need a microphone and a quiet work environment. For best results, use a microphone that can filter out background noise or is intended for speech recognition software.

Next, make sure speech support is installed in Word by clicking on Tools menu command and then on Speech. A “welcome” box will appear recommending you to train the software for about 15 minutes so it becomes familiar with the nuances of your speaking voice. An on-screen wizard walks you through each step of the training process.

When the setup is complete, a web page appears and plays a brief video tutorial covering how to use the Speech features.

After the video is done, you’ll see the new language bar at the top of the screen “listening” and waiting for you to start speaking.

When you begin to speak, you’ll see a series of dots on the screen indicating that Word knows you’re speaking. Once you stop, the computer will process the text and place it on the screen. If you completed the 15 minute software training session, have a quiet room and a decent microphone, you’ll see it’s quite accurate.

If you say “voice commands”, the language bar changes modes and will accept your spoken commands to operate Word’s menus.

For instance, by saying “File Print Current Page”, you’ll print the current page on your default printer. Any commands inside Word’s menus and dialog boxes will respond to your voice.

To switch back to dictation mode, just say “dictation” and your spoken words will appear in the document.

Once you get past the “way cool” aspect of this technology and start using it in your work, you’ll see that it can be a great time saver, especially for those of us who use the keyboard all day long.