Transcription

ed by voice recognition software?takes to transcribe. He asked if I would be
This article indicates a number of reasons whyprepared to use a voice recognition program and
transcription will not be replaced by voicere-speak his files for him at a rate that reflected
recognition software, at least for the foreseeablethe 2.5 hours per hour. I agreed to purchase the
future. Well, maybe as a professionalsoftware as I’d been toying with the idea
transcriptionist I could be considered biased, butof doing so anyway, and do a trial tape for him. I
there are issues with voice recognition softwaresaid I wasn’t prepared to agree to 2.5
that I don't think will be solved in the next fewhours per hour until I’d proved it to
years.myself, and he accepted this.
Well maybe as a professional transcriptionist IFunnily enough, several months on, I’m still
could be considered biased, but this articlewaiting for that trial tape. Having experimented
indicates a number of reasons why transcriptionwith the software I find that re-speaking actually
will not be replaced by voice recognition software,takes me …guess how long — once the
at least for the foreseeable future.checking has all been done, about four hours per
What is voice recognition software?hour of recording!
Voice recognition software (the best knownI do use the software now and then, because on
example is probably Dragon Naturally Speaking bya busy week it saves the fingers and wrists, but
Nuance) is software that allows the operator towhat it doesn’t save is time! When
speak in the computer in order to give theI’m transcribing I proofread as I type.
computer commands (e.g. to save a file) or toThen just a quick skim through is required
dictate speech into the computer. Over the pastafterwards to make sure no errors have sneaked
ten years it has been hailed a number of times asthrough. Using the software to dictate one can
the answer to fast and accurate dictationprobably do this, and there may be a little time
— but we’re still waiting. The latestsaved, but one cannot do this while re-speaking
version of Dragon claims to be 99% accurate andbecause one is concentrating on listening to the
three times faster than typing, so I recentlywords being said and repeating them a few
purchased a copy to see.words after, while trying to continuously play the
Dictation only?recording.
It is important to remember, especially if you areAlso because the speech recognition software is
producing interviews rather than one-personnot intelligent it often doesn’t know which
dictation, that the software will only recognise thehomonyms to use. This is something that has
one voice it’s trained in. If you try tobeen vastly improved over the years, and in
record an interview into it, it will pick up yoursimple sentences it is often capable of working
voice but not the interviewee’s. It isout whether to, two or too is required; or
possible to re-speak an interview — listenwhether it’s here or hear. However in a
to the interview recording and speak the wordslonger and more complex sentence it frequently
of both interviewer and interviewee a few wordsstruggles with this and very careful proofreading
after they’re said. However, that’sis required afterwards.
an art in itself, and even a trained courtAlso, when you’re dictating you
stenographer would struggle to listen to andon’t really want to also have to use the
interview straight through, with no pausing, and dokeyboard, so the software allows you to include
this, so how much time does it really save?commands for making words bold, underling them
Why is this software not about to take over theetc. However, you need to leave a small pause
world?between the command and general dictation or
A recent seminar given by a seller of digitalthe software just things the command is part of
dictation systems and associated voice recognitionthe words being dictated. That also slows things
the presenter indicated that voice recognitionup, as compared to professional transcribe using
would probably only work well for three in tenkeyboard shortcut keys for these commands.
people. This is because the software has to beAnd re-speaking an interview is even worse
first trained to recognise your voice (a processbecause every time there’s a change of
which really does only take a few minutes) andspeaker that needs to be indicated either with the
then continuously corrected and trained toname or initials and a tab, or the name and a new
recognise words that it’s either not familiarparagraph, so there are a number of commands
with or simply doesn’t recognise frominvolved around that.
your speech patterns, which is an ongoing processTo save time the latest version of Naturally
and does take time.Speaking will actually try to punctuate for you …
I used this software first about five years agoso you dictate and it puts the commas and full
and I have to say it’s come on in leapsstops in the right places. That’s the theory
and bounds since then, but even the latestanyway. Suffice it to say that I wouldn’t
version can be a struggle! I purchased the latestrecommend it!
version on the advice of a potential client whoConclusion
claimed that even re-speaking his interviewsAll in all I’d say Dragon 9, the latest
(listening to a recording and then speaking theversion, is a very useful tool, but it will be some
words into the software as they were said) hetime before it’s really ready to replace
could get an hour of recording down in 2.5 hourstranscriptionists.
rather than the four hours per hour it usually