IBM® ViaVoice® for Windows® Standard Edition User’s Guide Release 10 IBM
Note Before using this information and the product it supports, be sure to read the information in Appendix B, “Notices” on page 105. First Edition (August 2003) This edition applies to version 1, release 10, modification 0 of IBM ViaVoice for Windows Standard Edition US/UK English (program number 5724-C96) and to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
Contents Welcome to ViaVoice . . . . . . . . . v US English and UK English are both described in this book . . . . . . . . vii Conventions in this book . . . . . . . viii Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system . 1 Installing the ViaVoice software . . . . . . 2 Setting up your microphone and audio system 6 Creating a voice model. . . . . . . . . 8 Analyzing your voice . . . . . . . . . 10 Analyzing your documents . . . . . . . 12 Troubleshooting setup problems . . . . . 13 Unable to install ViaVoice . . .
Time of day . . . . . . . . Dictating numbers in number mode . Spelling words in spell mode . . . Saying commands while dictating. . Inline dictation commands . . . "Scratch that" command . . . . Text-editing commands . . . . Bullet lists. . . . . . . . . Commands recognized as text . . Dictating e-mail user IDs and URLs . Saving your dictation . . . . . . Saving a speech session . . . . Saving your dictation as text . . Finding new words in your document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Welcome to ViaVoice IBM ViaVoice will change the way you use your computer. You can now dictate text and control your computer by voice. Imagine yourself sitting at your computer, composing a letter to a friend. Say "Dictate to SpeakPad". ViaVoice’s word processor opens, and you dictate the letter using normal speech. You can do this with ViaVoice—you talk, it types! The computer translates your words and phrases into actions that carry out commands or create text.
v Use SpeakPad, described in Chapter 4, to dictate your documents and letters. A word of advice: make sure you’ve gone through Chapter 2, mentioned above, before turning to this chapter. v Do you prefer using Microsoft® Word? Chapter 5 gives you the complete picture on dictating into Word 97, Word 2000, or Word 2002. v Your dictation is not finished until you have corrected the recognition errors in the text. Correcting these errors is one of the most important ways to help ViaVoice learn what you say.
US English and UK English are both described in this book This book contains information on using ViaVoice in both UK English and US English. You will select one of these languages to install on your computer. Make sure you use the appropriate information in this book for the installed language. Keep in mind that these languages have many differences, and each language version of ViaVoice is specifically tailored to understand what speakers of that language will probably say.
Conventions in this book Please note the following textual and graphical conventions used in this book. Commands and words that you say to your computer are shown in bold within double quotation marks. Say "Capitalize this". Say "What Can I Say for Desktop". NEWPARAGRAPH Some multiple-word commands are shown NEWLINE as joined words or hyphenated words. NO-SPACE Spelling a word is shown with a hyphen separating each letter in the word. Dictate "r-e-c-o-g-n-i-t-i-o-n".
Chapter 1. Setting up your speech system This chapter describes how to install ViaVoice on your computer and then set up your sound system. You should allow 30–45 minutes to complete the procedures in this chapter: v Install ViaVoice from the CD-ROM that comes in your package. v Set up your audio system. The User Wizard will assist you! v Record a story and let ViaVoice create a model of your voice.
Installing the ViaVoice software 1. Insert the ViaVoice CD in your CD-ROM drive to start the installation program. If it does not start automatically, do the following: a. Click Start > Run from the Windows taskbar. b. Type d:\setup (where d is your CD-ROM drive). c. Click OK. 2. Follow the instructions on the screen. During installation you will see the following windows. (This section does not show all windows you will see.
User Information—Type your name and company name, if appropriate. Click Next when you have finished. Chapter 1.
Installation Options—Select the Installation Options. To clear an option, click on the check mark in the box. Select to install ViaVoice support for Microsoft Word 97 or above. This option is only available if you have Microsoft Word 97 or above installed on your computer. This option includes support for dictation into Word and natural commands1 for Word. If you choose not to install this support now, you can install it later.
Setup Complete—This window indicates that you have successfully installed the software. Chapter 1.
Setting up your microphone and audio system Woodrow appears if you placed VoiceCenter in your StartUp folder. If Woodrow does not appear, start VoiceCenter by clicking Start > Programs > IBM ViaVoice VoiceCenter. Woodrow gives you a short presentation. (To skip this presentation, right-click on Woodrow and then select Hide.) Then, the Audio Setup Wizard starts to help you set up the microphone and audio system so you can get started with ViaVoice.
Audio Setup Wizard—This wizard presents several windows to help you set up your microphone. We recommend that you use the microphone that comes with ViaVoice until you are thoroughly comfortable with your speech system. 1. If you have not already done so, remove the microphone and its equipment from the package: v The microphone itself v One or more plugs and USB adapters2 v Warranty and other material from the manufacturer.
During these tests, the Audio Setup Wizard might display information windows or even start your Web browser to display a ViaVoice-related Web page. Use the information proposed by the wizard to solve any difficulty you might encounter during Audio Setup. ViaVoice needs these tests to be completed successfully to set up your system properly. If you have difficulty completing any test successfully in the Audio Setup Wizard, see “Troubleshooting setup problems” on page 13.
When you have finished reading this text aloud, ViaVoice displays the Analyzing My Voice window. Here you can choose what to do next. Record my voice This is the recommended choice. Recording your voice requires about 10 to 30 minutes and significantly increases the recognition accuracy of ViaVoice. I prefer to do this later If you select this option, the User Wizard presents the Analyze My Documents panel. (See “Analyzing your documents” on page 12 for details.
Analyzing your voice After selecting Record my voice and clicking Next, ViaVoice displays the Choosing a Story window. Select the story that you want to read aloud for analyzing your voice. If the story you want has two Parts, select Part 1 first. Read the story aloud using your normal speaking voice. When ViaVoice has enough recorded data, you will see the Story Finished window. Click Analyze to have ViaVoice create your voice model.
You see this window after clicking Analyze. Wait until ViaVoice has fully processed your recording before turning off your computer or working with other processing-intensive programs. Chapter 1.
Analyzing your documents You can get a head start on dictation by having ViaVoice analyze your existing document files. ViaVoice can analyze Word document files (DOC), Rich Text Format files (RTF), text files (TXT) and HTML document files (HTM, HTML). The User Wizard displays this window so that you can make these files available for analysis: When ViaVoice analyzes your files, it identifies words that are not in its base vocabulary.
Troubleshooting setup problems Before you can obtain satisfactory results with ViaVoice, you must install the ViaVoice software, set up your microphone and audio system properly and create a model of your voice. The procedures for doing these successfully were described above. If you are unable to solve a setup problem, look for it in this section and carry out the suggested corrective action.
different microphone, it must be one listed at http://www.scansoft.com/viavoice on the Internet. You can also see a list of supported microphones during Audio Setup. When setting up your microphone, select Other microphone as the type of microphone you are using, then click the Other microphones button to see the list of supported microphones. U Ensure that no special effects are set in Windows.
someone while the microphone is on, ViaVoice will capture your conversation and not recognize your words as part of the story. Hesitation noises like 'um' or 'uh', coughing and 'slips of the tongue' are picked up as words. U If a word can be pronounced more than one way—like 'thuh' and 'thee' for the word the—try both pronunciations. U Are you actually saying all words correctly? For example, do not misread this as the. Do not skip any words.
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Chapter 2. The magic of dictating with ViaVoice Congratulations! You have successfully set up your speech system and are now ready to practice dictation with SpeakPad, the speech-enabled word processor in ViaVoice. We should first establish a few guidelines to help you get started. v If you have not used speech recognition before, relax! Talking to your computer is fun and easy. Get a glass of water and follow along with us in this chapter.
Practice dictating 1. If VoiceCenter is not on your screen, start it by clicking Start > Programs > IBM ViaVoice VoiceCenter. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button on the far left side of the VoiceCenter, then select Dictate To and click SpeakPad. SpeakPad opens. The microphone button changes and turns green. Your microphone is on, and SpeakPad is ready to recognize your speech. 3. If you are using the US English version of ViaVoice, begin dictating the following text.
5. The text appears in the SpeakPad window. It should look like this: Congratulations, you have successfully dictated for the first time! This being your first dictation, your text probably contains some recognition errors. Your next step is to learn how to identify these errors, so please go to the next section. Chapter 2.
Finding recognition errors After dictating a paragraph or so of text, you should correct any recognition errors you find in it. Recognition errors are words that ViaVoice understood in error for the words you said. Several types of recognition errors can occur: Type of error A single word is recognized as some other word Examples You said a, but ViaVoice displayed the. You said their, but ViaVoice displayed there. Causes v You didn’t say the word clearly.
Correcting errors Correcting recognition errors is easy! Just go through these instructions and correct any errors you find in your practice dictation. See “Troubleshooting dictation problems” on page 24 if you have recurring problems while practicing. Try re-dictating your text before correction Before correcting the recognition errors, read your text to see if you’re happy with it. Ignore the errors for the time being.
When correcting errors, you should correct words to what you actually said, not to words you meant to say. If you find unwanted words because of a 'slip of the tongue' or because you did not speak clearly, delete them directly from SpeakPad, then put the cursor at the right location and dictate what you want. Removing inserted words 1. Turn on your microphone if it is off. 2. Open the Correction window by saying "Show Correction window" or by pressing F2.
Next steps after correction After correcting the recognition errors, remove the text from the SpeakPad dictation window and dictate the same practice text again. You should find that ViaVoice understands your words better. Should you continue to get recognition errors in your text, correct them following the guidelines above, then try dictating again. Dictate and correct the text, then try dictating it again, until you are satisfied with the results.
To learn more about SpeakPad and dictating, see Chapter 4, “Dictating into SpeakPad” on page 33, or see Chapter 5, “Dictating into Microsoft Word” on page 47 if you want to dictate in Word 97, Word 2000, or Word 2002. To learn more about Correction, see Chapter 6, “Correcting your dictation” on page 63.
At the User tab in the Voice model field you will see either 'US English' or 'UK English'. If you find that you are using the wrong language version, uninstall the program and install the correct language version. U When practicing, don’t say anything except the words in the text. Hesitation noises or comments spoken aloud to neighbours will appear in your text. U Are you speaking normally? Say the sentences in your normal speaking voice, not too fast, not too slowly.
U 26 Do not eat, drink or smoke while trying to dictate. If you have a bad cold or sore throat, consider practicing after your voice has returned to normal.
Chapter 3. Introducing VoiceCenter It’s worthwhile getting familiar with VoiceCenter, the control center of ViaVoice. This chapter describes how you use VoiceCenter to control your spoken interactions with your computer. If you chose to place VoiceCenter in your StartUp folder during installation, VoiceCenter starts when you start your computer. If you did not place it in your StartUp folder, you can start it from Start > Programs > IBM ViaVoice VoiceCenter.
VoiceCenter components The ViaVoice button gives you access to the ViaVoice menu, which is described in “ViaVoice menu” on page 30. To see the menu, click the button, or say "ViaVoice Menu" when the microphone is on. On Asleep Off The microphone is on. When it is on, speech is enabled, and you can use your voice to dictate and navigate. Click the microphone button or say "Microphone off" to turn the microphone off.
Click the Help button to access VoiceCenter help. Check the user-information area to make sure your own user name is selected before you start using ViaVoice. Each user has personal speech files—voice models, personal vocabulary, language and ViaVoice Options—which ViaVoice uses and updates while the user is dictating and correcting. To change the currently selected user name, see “Making a user name the current user” on page 85.
ViaVoice menu Say "ViaVoice menu", or click the ViaVoice button, to display the ViaVoice menu. From there, you can access all features and tools available from the menu or from sub-menus (shown below).
To create a document with your voice, select a dictation application from the Dictate To menu. Say "Dictate to SpeakPad" or "Dictate to Word" (if Word is on your computer and Microsoft Office support has been installed).
To customize ViaVoice, select ViaVoice Options from the User Options menu. Select VoiceCenter Options to change the appearance of VoiceCenter. See Chapter 9, “Customizing ViaVoice” on page 79 for more information. To start (or resume) recording for a voice model, manage your vocabulary or have ViaVoice analyze your documents, select the appropriate tool from the Tools menu. To view the commands you can use, say "What Can I Say", or select What Can I Say from the ViaVoice menu.
Chapter 4. Dictating into SpeakPad ViaVoice provides a speech-enabled word processor called SpeakPad into which you can dictate your documents. This chapter describes how to use SpeakPad to create documents by voice. If you have not already done so, please practice dictating into SpeakPad as described in Chapter 2, “The magic of dictating with ViaVoice” on page 17.
SpeakPad menus and buttons ViaVoice provides menu items and icons to support dictation into SpeakPad. Click Dictation, to access the Dictation menu. The following options are available: v Show Correction window — Opens the Correction window for correcting recognition errors in your dictation. v Hide Correction window — Hides the Correction window. v Playback — Allows you to hear your dictation. You can highlight up to 1,000 words for playback. This option is grayed if you have not highlighted text.
Say "Transfer", or click the Transfer button, to transfer SpeakPad text to the window you have already identified as the target window on your desktop. Transfer enables you to use SpeakPad as your main dictation word processor and easily transfer text to another word processor or other program that accepts text. Say "Show Correction window", or click the Correct button to display it. You can drag the Correction Window to any place on your desktop.
General hints and tips Keep these things in mind whenever you dictate: v Nearly everything you say into the microphone gets recognized as text or an action to carry out—a text format, a cursor movement or a file-save, file-close command. When your words are not recognized, you’ll see a message to this effect in the VoiceCenter status area. v Speak clearly in a natural way. ViaVoice translates your speech into text. There is no need to pause between words, but make natural pauses after a phrase or sentence.
Dictating numbers in the US English version of ViaVoice When dictating, say numbers as you naturally say them. ViaVoice formats numbers such as dates, money, time, and ordinal and cardinal numbers. For example, to dictate $589, simply say "five hundred eighty-nine dollars". Currency To get $350.10, say "three hundred and fifty dollars and ten cents". Dates To get July 9, 1997, say "July ninth nineteen ninety-seven", without punctuation. To get July 9th say "ninth July". Decimals To get 3.
To get 25/12/2000, say "Twenty-five SLASH twelve SLASH two-thousand". Decimals To get 3.7, say "three point seven". Ordinals To get 53rd, say "fifty-third". Long numbers To get 1200, say "twelve hundred". To get 13,111, say "thirteen thousand one hundred and eleven". To get 1147356, say "one one four seven three five six". If you want commas, say "one million one hundred and forty seven thousand three hundred and fifty six". Time of day To get 10:30am, say "ten thirty A M", without punctuation.
alphabet, shown on your Command Reference card, to spell words. The digits 0 to 9 and the special characters shown on the card may also be spoken in spell mode. To exit spell mode and continue with normal dictation, say "Return" or "Cancel". If you switch focus to another window, you will automatically exit spell mode. When the Correction window has focus, you do not need to say "Begin spell" to enter a word by spelling.
Text-editing commands You can select text and move the cursor using text-editing commands, such as: v Say "Next line" to move the cursor to the next line. v Say "Select ", where is the word or phrase to select. v Say "Select this" to select text at the cursor location. v Say "Scratch that" to delete the last dictated phrase. v Say "Undo this" to undo the last action. v Say "Copy this" and "Paste this" to copy selected text to or paste text from the clipboard.
When you deselect a command set, ViaVoice does not recognize the commands in that command set. ViaVoice will process those words only as dictation. Chapter 4.
Dictating e-mail user IDs and URLs If the e-mail user ID is composed of commonly used words (for example, Barbara_Jones@IBM.com), try dictating it like this: "Barbara UNDERSCORE Jones AT-SIGN ibm DOT com". If it contains unusual words or characters, like MyM8@xenia.net, say a combination of words and spelled letters, like this: "BEGIN SPELL Capital-M-y-Capital-M-8 AT-SIGN x-e-n-i-a DOT n-e-t".
Transferring your dictation to another application The transfer function is the easiest and quickest way to copy your dictated document from SpeakPad to another text-based application. To maximize your recognition accuracy, you should transfer your dictated document only after you have corrected the recognition errors in it, as described in Chapter 6, “Correcting your dictation” on page 63. To transfer text to another application: 1. Open the application to which you want to transfer your dictation.
Saving your dictation in SpeakPad Before saving your dictation, decide if you want it saved as a recorded speech session, which is your dictated text along with recorded audio of the dictated words, or saved simply as text. To maximize your recognition accuracy, correct errors in your dictated document before saving it.
Finding new words in your document ViaVoice analyzes your text for new words when you save a document in SpeakPad. When you close SpeakPad, ViaVoice displays a list of all new words found in your document. You may then elect to add them to your personal vocabulary so that they are recognized in future dictations. When you close your document, ViaVoice displays this window: 1. Select each word that you want to add to your personal vocabulary. A check mark appears next to each word you select. 2. Click Next.
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Chapter 5. Dictating into Microsoft Word This chapter describes how to use Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, or Word 2002 to create documents by voice. If you do not already have Word on your computer, install it before continuing with this chapter. Alternatively, go to Chapter 2, “The magic of dictating with ViaVoice” on page 17 and practice dictating using SpeakPad.
To disable Word support temporarily, hold down the Shift key while Word is starting. Otherwise, ViaVoice Word Support starts whenever you start Word. Try your first dictation into Word 1. Say "Dictate to Word". The Word document window is displayed and the microphone is turned on. 2. If you are using the US English version of ViaVoice, continue with step 3. If you are using the UK English version, go to step 4. 3.
5. The text appears in the Word document window. It should look like this: 6. Save this document and correct errors later, when you read Chapter 6, “Correcting your dictation” on page 63. When saving a document for correction later, always save the speech-session data when you are prompted to do so. Chapter 5.
ViaVoice menus and buttons in Word Select Dictate to > Word from the ViaVoice menu. You can begin dictating when the Word document window opens. ViaVoice provides additional menu items and icons as part of its dictation support. Click Dictation to access the Dictation menu. The following options are available: v Show Correction window — Opens the Correction window for correcting recognition errors in your dictation. v Playback — Allows you to hear your dictation.
Click Help, or say "Help", to display the Microsoft Word Help menu. IBM ViaVoice Dictation Help displays help on Word Dictation. Chapter 5.
Using natural commands You can say natural commands only if the particular command set is enabled for Microsoft Word. The natural commands for Word are enabled when you select the command set. Follow these instructions to enable the command set. 1. From the ViaVoice menu, select User Options. 2. Click ViaVoice Options, and select the Commands Sets tab. 3. Select the Word Natural Commands check box. If you plan to dictate in Word, also select the Word Dictation check box. 4.
v Say "What Can I Say for Natural Commands" to view examples of natural commands. v Place the cursor where you want the change to occur. Use your mouse or say a command, such as "Computer move the cursor to the top of the page" or "Computer select the first word". v Use continuous speech—do not pause or hesitate while saying the command.
between paragraphs in your document. Refer to Microsoft’s documentation for more information about paragraph spacing features in Word. When you say "New line" in Word, ViaVoice inserts a manual line break (equivalent to pressing SHIFT+ENTER). To see the paragraph markers and on the Microsoft Word Standard toolbar. manual line breaks, select v When saying a command, pause before the command, speak the command without pausing between command words and then pause after the command.
Dates To get July 9, 1997, say "July ninth nineteen ninety-seven", without punctuation. To get July 9th say "ninth July". Decimals To get 3.7, say "three point seven". Ordinals To get 53rd, say "fifty-third". Long numbers To get 1200, say "twelve hundred". To get 13,111, say "thirteen thousand one hundred and eleven". To get 1147356, say "eleven forty-seven thirty-five six" (in pairs or single digits). Time of day To get 10:30 am, say "ten thirty A M", without punctuation.
Long numbers To get 1200, say "twelve hundred". To get 13,111, say "thirteen thousand one hundred and eleven". To get 1147356, say "one one four seven three five six". If you want commas, say "one million one hundred and forty seven thousand three hundred and fifty six". Time of day To get 10:30am, say "ten thirty A M", without punctuation. To get 14:30, say "fourteen COLON NOSPACE thirty". To get 9 o’clock, say "nine o’clock".
When the Correction window has focus, you do not need to say "Begin spell" to enter a word by spelling. Saying commands while dictating You can say commands to navigate through the text of your dictation and work with your Word document. Pause briefly before and after you say a voice command. However, do not pause while you are saying the words of the command itself. If ViaVoice misrecognizes your command as text and types it on the screen, say "Scratch that", then say the command again.
v Say "Copy this" and "Paste this" to copy selected text to or paste text from the clipboard. Say "What Can I Say for Text Editing" to view other commands. Bullet lists Create an unordered list with "bullet" symbols by dictating words, phrases or sentences on their own lines, then highlight the text and say "Bullets". Commands recognized as text ViaVoice processes your words as dictation until you pause, and then it starts to listen for you to say a command.
When you deselect a command set, ViaVoice does not recognize the commands in that command set. ViaVoice will process those words only as dictation. Chapter 5.
Dictating e-mail user IDs and URLs If the e-mail user ID is composed of commonly used words (for example, Barbara_Jones@IBM.com), try dictating it like this: "Barbara UNDERSCORE Jones AT-SIGN ibm DOT com". If it contains unusual words or characters, like MyM8@xenia.net, say a combination of words and spelled letters, like this: "BEGIN SPELL Capital-M-y-Capital-M-8 AT-SIGN x-e-n-i-a DOT n-e-t".
Saving your dictation Before saving your dictation, decide if you want to save your dictation as a recorded speech session, which is your dictated text along with recorded audio of the dictated words, or simply as text. Although the speech-session data uses a large amount of storage on your disk—approximately 750 KB for every minute of dictation—you should save this data if you plan to continue dictating your document or, alternatively, want to correct and edit the document later.
Finding new words in your document ViaVoice analyzes your text for new words when you save a document in Word. When you close the document, ViaVoice displays a list of all new words in your document. You may then elect to add them to your personal vocabulary so that they are recognized in future dictations. When you close your document, ViaVoice displays this window: 1. Select each word that you want to add to your personal vocabulary. A check mark appears next to each word you select. 2. Click Next. 3.
Chapter 6. Correcting your dictation As you begin using ViaVoice, you might say words that are not in the vocabulary, or ViaVoice might simply not understand words that you say. These result in recognition errors—misrecognized words—in your dictated text. This chapter describes correction, the most important thing you can do to help ViaVoice understand the words you say when dictating. When you correct misrecognized words to the words you actually said, you provide ViaVoice with two important benefits.
Using the Correction window When the microphone is turned on, say "Show Correction window". You can use the Correction window to correct the misrecognized words while you are dictating text. Each time you use the Correction window, ViaVoice updates your personal voice model, which improves future recognition. The following are components found on the Correction window. v Alternate list — This list displays the possible replacement words for the selected text.
The following describes the buttons on the Correction window. Pinned/Unpinned Thumbtack — When it is pinned, the Thumbtack button keeps the Correction window in the same place during correction. When the button is unpinned, the Correction window "tracks" to the words being corrected. This button is available only when correcting in SpeakPad. The default setting is pinned. Play this — Click or say "Play this" to hear a recording of your dictation of the highlighted word or phrase.
Correcting by voice The following describes how to correct a misrecognized word in a dictated document in the SpeakPad window. 1. Select the word or phrase to correct by saying "Correct ". In this example, say "Correct learned". (If the wrong occurrence of the word or phrase is selected, say "Try Again", and ViaVoice selects the next occurrence.) If you want to hear what you actually said for the word or phrase, say "Play this". 2.
3. If re-dictating the word or phrase did not work, say "Scratch that" to get the original text back. Then, click the word-display field in the Correction window, and type the word or phrase you actually said. If the word is the first word of a sentence, you do not have to capitalize it—ViaVoice does that for you automatically. Then say "Correct", or press Enter, to accept it. ViaVoice inserts the correction into your dictated text and returns focus to the dictation window.
v If the correct words are not in the list of alternate words, try dictating the word or phrase again. If this works, then you can continue proofreading. v If dictating the word does not work, say "Scratch that" to get the original text back. Click in the word-display field in the Correction window and type the correct spelling. Say "Correct", or press Enter, to accept it.
Delegated correction If someone has delegated correction of a previously saved, dictated speech session to you, you can retype, re-dictate, add dictation or use the Correction window and your voice to correct text. You can even save the speech session and continue correction later. Just make sure that you do all of this under your own user name so that the author’s personal speech files do not become corrupted.
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Chapter 7. What Can I Say This chapter describes the What Can I Say window. This window lists the commands you can say to do routine computer tasks you once did with keyboard and mouse. The What Can I Say window shows commands that are available. There are two reasons why you might want to see the What Can I Say window: v To view the commands, including those that are not readily apparent on the desktop, that you can say. v To train a command so that ViaVoice can recognize it.
Views Commands are displayed in the What Can I Say window in groups called views. v All Commands — This view lists commands that you can see and also those that are not readily visible. For example, menu names are not listed in the other views, but you find them in the All Commands view. To see the All Commands view, say "What Can I Say for All Commands" from wherever you happen to be. In the field above the list, you may enter a word to search for a voice command.
Interacting with What Can I Say You can navigate the What Can I Say window by saying commands or by using the mouse or keyboard. The What Can I Say window must be active when saying commands. Mouse Keyboard Use the scroll bar and arrows on the right Use the Up and Down arrow keys on side of the window. your keyboard. Expanding or collapsing a view To expand (see everything under) or collapse (hide everything under) a heading, click the toggle.
To access the All Commands view, say "How Do I Say". Typically, you would say this when What Can I Say is not the active program (the program you are now using). From What Can I Say, say "Return to program" to switch to the previous program. Creating notes for What Can I Say You can create your own notes for each view. The notes are saved when you close What Can I Say. When you write notes in a view, the notes are associated only with the program that had focus when you wrote the notes.
Training a command Whenever ViaVoice has trouble recognizing your pronunciation of a command, you can train the command in What Can I Say. Training means recording a pronunciation of the command. This teaches ViaVoice how you pronounce a command, thus improving recognition accuracy. Some commands have pronunciations that ViaVoice does not know. You can easily identify these by the red X next to them in a view. If you want to say these commands, you must train them.
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Chapter 8. Using the Internet This chapter describes how to navigate the Internet with your voice. You need to ensure that the following prerequisites are met before trying the procedures in this chapter: v You have a connection to the Internet, either by means of an established account with a service provider or through a connection at work. To work with America Online (AOL), you must be registered as an AOL user. v Internet Explorer Version 4.
78 You say You get "Forward" Moves forward to the next page, if you have moved back previously "Home" Loads your home (default) page ViaVoice for Windows Standard Edition
Chapter 9. Customizing ViaVoice This chapter describes how you can tailor ViaVoice for your particular needs and do routine tasks. Use VoiceCenter Options and ViaVoice Options, available from the ViaVoice menu, to perform these tasks. Most of the voice commands in this chapter work only if you have installed ViaVoice on Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, or Windows XP Home Edition. When a command is not recognized, select the desired button or menu item with your mouse.
In this view, a command-history box appears when you say a command. You can move this box to other locations on the desktop by dragging and dropping it. Agent view — In this view, VoiceCenter is represented by the agent Brocklee to let you know the status of the microphone. You can change Brocklee to some other agent if others are installed on your computer. However, not all agent characters support the animations required to show microphone states.
Changing the microphone’s startup state Set the behavior of the microphone at the At Startup tab in ViaVoice Options. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button, and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the At Startup tab if it is not already on top. 4. Select the options you want to change on this tab. Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options. 5.
Creating additional voice models If you dictate with more than one microphone or in locations with different background noise and acoustics, you should create a voice model with each type of microphone in each location. Here is how to create a voice model: 1. Display the VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button, and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the User tab if that tab is not already on top. 4.
3. Click the User tab if that tab is not already on top. 4. Select the vocabulary you want from the Vocabulary drop-down list. (You can have only one vocabulary selected.) 5. To activate a topic, select it from the Topics list, if it is available. 6. Click Apply to save changes, or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options. To deactivate a topic, return to the User tab, deselect the topic, then click Apply.
Changing the active vocabulary to improve performance (UK English version only) The UK English version of ViaVoice comes with two base vocabularies, one suitable for low-end computers, and one for high-end computers. The high-end vocabulary is more accurate but slower than the low-end vocabulary. Both vocabularies contain the same words. When you installed ViaVoice, the installation program determined your computer processor’s speed and the amount of RAM memory available.
Alternatively, if Continuous General Dictation - Maximum Accuracy (requires 96 MB RAM) is activated, change to the 'Fast' vocabulary when you want ViaVoice to recognize your words more quickly. Adding a user Follow these instructions to add a new user name. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button, and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the User tab if that tab is not already on top. 4. Click Add user.
5. Click Apply to save changes, or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options. Backing up and restoring user data If you use more than one computer, you might want to copy your personal speech files from one computer to another. You do this by backing up your user data on one computer and then restoring the data on the other computer. If you plan to back up your user data on diskettes, you should have several formatted diskettes on hand. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop.
Deleting a user name or voice model To delete a user name or a voice model, do the following: 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the User tab if that tab is not already on top. 4. Select the user name you want from the drop-down list. 5. To delete a voice model, select it from the drop-down list. The selected user must have more than one voice model. Click Delete.
5. In the Transfer Options box, select the options you want when transferring text from SpeakPad. v Auto select text causes all text in SpeakPad to be selected automatically for transfer v Preserve all line breaks places a carriage return at the end of each line of text being transferred. 6. 7. 8. 9. 88 v Cut removes the transferred text from the SpeakPad document window. Copy maintains the text in the SpeakPad document window after transfer.
Changing the appearance of the Correction window You can set your personal preferences for how the Correction window appears whenever you correct your dictated documents. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the Correction tab if it is not already on top. 4. Select the options you want to change on this tab.
Enabling command sets You can enable command sets, so that you can speak the commands in them, or disable them to provide more accurate recognition for just the commands you use. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the Command Sets tab if it is not already on top. 4. Select the options you want to change on this tab.
Setting Text-To-Speech options You can select a voice for the ViaVoice agent to use when he is reading text to you. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the Text-To-Speech tab if it is not already on top. 4. Select a voice from the drop-down list. 5. Type some text in the Demo text field. (You can enter up to 80 characters.) 6.
Adjusting recognition sensitivity You may adjust sensitivity settings for recognition to obtain better accuracy, depending on the speed of your computer and the background noise in your location. Usually you do not need to adjust these settings. 1. Display VoiceCenter if it is not already on your desktop. 2. Click the ViaVoice menu button and select User Options > ViaVoice Options. ViaVoice Options is displayed. 3. Click the Voice tab if it is not already on top. 4.
Chapter 10. Creating macros This chapter describes macros, shortcut commands that you may create for inserting text quickly into your documents. v A dictation macro is a command associated with a block of text that you define. When you say the command during a dictation, the associated block of text is inserted into your dictation. If you use the same text in many dictations, a dictation macro for that text makes it easier to place the text into your dictation.
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Chapter 11. Getting help Wherever you are in ViaVoice, you can get online help specific to your current task, menu or dictation application. You can also use Information Central to learn the basics or to get general information. Besides online help, you can also view this User’s Guide and the Command Reference. Information Central Information Central is the information launch pad in ViaVoice. Whenever you need information about ViaVoice, think Information Central.
To see the Command Reference from Information Central, click the Product Support ticket and select Command Reference Card (PDF format). You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document online. v IBM ViaVoice Home Page. Go directly to this Internet home page from Information Central. Or, type http://www.scansoft.com/viavoice in your Web browser. Getting context-sensitive help Use the Question mark or the What’s This to get help for a specific button, selection or field in a program that you are using.
How do I troubleshoot a problem? ViaVoice is a highly accurate speech-recognition product. Sometimes, however, problems can occur that cause your recognition accuracy to be less than it should be. If you find that ViaVoice is not recognizing your words, please follow these suggestions to determine the problem and correct it. Readme Be sure to view the Readme file for the latest information about ViaVoice.
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Appendix A. Frequently used commands in dictation This appendix describes the commands you can use to place punctuation and symbols in your text. Formatting and spacing If a formatting command is misrecognized during your dictation and you do not see it among the alternate words, type the command in the Correction window exactly as shown below.
Symbols and characters in dictation Some symbols and characters have special actions associated with them. These actions are noted in the following table. Joins to digits means that the character is appended to a preceding or following digit without an intervening space. Joins right means that the character is appended to the next word without an intervening space.
To get: Say: Action: + Plus sign Joins left and right £ Pound sign (UK English) Joins right ) Right bracket (UK English) Joins left ) Right parenthesis (UK English) Joins left s’ S apostrophe Joins left ’ Single quote Joins left and right / Slash Joins left and right * Star No special action ~ Tilde No special action _ Underscore Joins left and right Symbols and characters in number mode To get: Say: * Asterisk x By ) Close parenthesis (US English) Close bracket (UK E
To get: Say: + Plus . Point £ Pound sign (UK English) / Slash * Star * Times Symbols and characters in spell mode To get: 102 Say: & Ampersand * Asterisk @ At-sign ‘ Back quote (US English) Back single quote (UK English) \ Back slash x By ^ Caret } Close brace Close curly brace ) Close bracket ] Close square bracket : Colon , Comma - Dash / Divided by $ Dollar sign .
To get: Say: > Greater than - Hyphen < Less than - Minus # Number sign Pound sign (US English) { Open brace Open curly brace ( Open bracket [ Open square bracket % Percent sign + Plus . Point £ Pound sign (UK English) ? Question mark ; Semicolon ’ Single quote / Slash * Star ~ Tilde x Times _ Underscore | Vertical bar Appendix A.
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Appendix B. Notices This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom. IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used.
be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.
Other attributions Some of the artwork in this publication is based on clip art from CorelDRAW 7 by Corel Corporation. Appendix B.
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Glossary active. (1) Describes an application, dialog or window that currently has focus on the desktop. (2) Describes the vocabulary, displayed in the Vocabulary field in ViaVoice Options, which is currently in use for dictation and command and control. alternate word. One or more words displayed in the Correction window that sound like the word selected from a dictation. Attention word. A word spoken by the user to alert ViaVoice that the next words spoken will be a command.
particular acoustic setting, which ViaVoice uses to recognize the words the user says. word. In ViaVoice, one or more characters having a single pronunciation. The pronounced as 'thuh' and the pronounced as 'thee' are two words.
Index Special characters 73 4 registering 4 A accuracy activating a vocabulary to improve 84 factors influencing 14, 23, 24 of commands 40, 58 of recognition 10 recognition of commands 90 recognition sensitivity 92 updating voice model 87 acoustics 25 adding words to personal vocabulary Analyze My Documents 24 by correcting words 23 dictation option 87 finding new words in dictation 45, 62 Adobe Acrobat Reader how to view documentation with 95 installing 4 all commands view 72 al
Correction window (continued) add words as phrase 64 auto-play 64 components 64 format word button 65 how to set options 89 how to use 64 number of alternate words 89 play this button 65 thumbtack 65 currency dictating in SpeakPad 37 dictating in Word 54, 55 customizing ViaVoice 79 D dates dictating in SpeakPad 37 dictating in Word 54, 55 delaying correction 68 delegating correction 69 delete command 39, 57 desktop view 72 device driver 13 dictation command recognized as text 40, 58 command to start 31 cor
microphone (continued) button on VoiceCenter 28 certified for ViaVoice 14 do’s and don’ts 14 startup state 81 Microsoft Internet Explorer 77 Microsoft Word 47 command to start 31, 47 dictating into 47 Dictation menu 50 documents 12 enable natural commands 48 enable program support 48 improving recognition of commands 54, 88 installing support 4 natural commands 52 number mode 56 paragraph mark 52 spell mode 56 migrating from another speech product 1 mistakes, types of recognition 20 moving dictation to anot
SpeakPad (continued) number mode 38 numbers, dictating 37 spell mode 38 transferring dictation to another application 43, 88 speech session saving 44, 61 used for delayed correction 68 used for delegated correction 69 spell mode in SpeakPad 38 in Word dictation 56 symbols and characters 102 Startup VoiceCenter 27 status area in VoiceCenter 28 style Analyze My Documents 24 effect on recognition 23 surfing the Web 77 switching on the microphone 28 symbols in dictation 100 in number mode 101 in spell mode 102
VPS file 44 W Web address command to surf 77 dictating 42, 60 ViaVoice Home page 97 ViaVoice microphones 14 Web document 12 What Can I Say window 71 < >in commands 73 all commands view 72 commands for navigating 73 desktop view 72 dictation view 72 expanding or collapsing 73 favorites view 72 natural commands view 72 note 74 printing 74 text editing view 72 untrained view 72 view 72 VoiceCenter view 72 Windows audio settings 14 settings for ViaVoice 14 Sound Recorder 14 Word 47 command to start 31, 47 dic
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