1. What is speech recognition software?
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Speech recognition software (aka voice recognition software) enables computers to interpret human speech and transcribe that speech to text, and vice versa. Speech recognition software can also power personal virtual assistants, facilitating voice commands that prompt specific actions. Speechnotes is completely free & comparable in its accuracy to Dragon Natuarlly Speaking. Many of you told us that in some ways, it even outperforms Dragon. We should mention though, that Speechnotes is an alternative to Dragon for dictation purposes only, not for voice controlling other software and not for voice-typing within other software. Nov 02, 2017 Looking for the best free Windows software for speech to text? The most-repeated paid recommendation is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS). But some might scoff at paying money for software. Fortunately, there are several great free programs out there like Google Docs Voice Typing (GDVT) and Windows Speech Recognition (WSR). Here is a list of the best free Speech to text converter Software for Windows.These software let you enter the text by speaking, which helps in increasing the typing speed. These software meet most of your needs, but a lot of it depends on your clarity of speech.
Sep 20, 2018 To add font packages manually, Select the Start button, and then select Settings Apps Apps & features Manage optional features. The following is a list of desktop font sets that are present in the most updated of Windows 10. Below you will also find list of fonts in each of the Feature On Demand (FOD) packages. Oct 20, 2017 Access 97 SR2, Office 2007, Office 2007 Professional Edition, Office 2010, Office 97 Small Business Edition SR2, Office 97 SR1a, Office Professional Edition 2003, Publisher 2000, Publisher 2007, Publisher 97, Publisher 98, TrueType Font Pack, Office 2000 Premium, PhotoDraw 2000, Picture It! 98, Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise, Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise, Windows 2000. In addition to these, you should also check out Microsoft's “Fonts and Products”, which lists fonts supplied not only with Microsoft’s products, but also included in UNIX, Mac OS X, & Adobe products. 168 rows This list only includes the typeface name and does not list each font in the family (bold, italic, etc.). In total, 93 typefaces are installed. AlternateGothic2 BT.
Speech recognition software (aka voice recognition software) enables computers to interpret human speech and transcribe that speech to text, and vice versa. Speech recognition software can also power personal virtual assistants, facilitating voice commands that prompt specific actions. Speech recognition software applications include interactive voice response (IVR) systems, which route incoming calls to the correct destination based on customer voice instructions.
2. The benefits of speech recognition software
- Faster documentation: According to a Stanford study, taking notes via dictation is three times faster than typing. Speech recognition solutions free up users to focus on important tasks rather than taking notes. As an example, medical practitioners can document patient visits/appointments without having to manually record each note. Customer service agents can document calls without typing, letting agents speed up the entire process of helping customers and improving overall customer service quality.
- Efficient note-taking: A common misconception around speech recognition solutions is that such tools are error-prone. However, as speech recognition systems approach near-human levels of accuracy, this concern has become virtually nonexistent. In fact, users now look at these solutions as a way to improve accuracy in their note-taking and documentation processes.
3. Typical features of speech recognition software
- Audio Capture: Record audio or import/upload audio files into the system.
- Automatic transcription: Transcribe voice messages and audio files.
- Multi-language: Recognize and support multiple languages/dialects.
- Speech-to-text analysis: Analyze, correct, and monitor speech for transcriptions or recordings.
- Text editor: Review transcribed text and make basic corrections (e.g., fix typos).
4. The cost of speech recognition software
Speech recognition software vendors offer a variety of pricing models based on factors such as duration of use, number of users, number of words, and audio duration.
Here are the most four common pricing models:
- Per user, per year/Per user, per month: Base plans start at around $39 per user, per year.
- Perpetual pricing (one-time license): Pricing for one-time licenses starts at around $100 per user.
- Per word: Pricing is usually around six cents per word.
- Per minute (audio): Some products also charge based on total duration of the audio being transcribed; this pricing is usually around eight cents per second.
*The pricing included in this table is for the entry-level/lowest priced offering found on vendor websites on September 12, 2018.
5. Considerations when purchasing speech recognition software
- Mobile app: The proliferation of smartphones has turned mobile devices into indispensable business assets. As in other markets, mobile applications have made their way into the speech recognition software space with apps that let users take notes while on the go. Users can also connect mobile devices to bluetooth headsets and headphones with a microphone to facilitate easy dictation. Businesses with mobile workforces should shortlist products that offer mobile app functionality.
- Industry-specific needs: To maximize any speech recognition solution, you should use a system with features that meet your industry needs. Some speech recognition products are better-suited for specific industries. For example, medical practices require voice recognition solutions that support medical terminologies. Buyers should evaluate products that fit their industry-specific needs—including reading user reviews—and shortlist accordingly.
- Total cost of ownership (TCO): As shown in the pricing section above, speech recognition solutions are available in a variety of pricing models. Since the myriad of options can make direct pricing comparison difficult, buyers should estimate their business’ needs by calculating their number of words, audio duration, and user number to determine the TCO. Buyers should then use this estimated TCO to shortlist products based on their actual budget.
6. Relevant speech recognition software trends
- Speech recognition will integrate with smart devices: The internet of things (IoT) is one area where speech recognition software holds immense promise. Speech recognition software that integrates with IoT mobile applications lets users control smart devices using voice instructions. As speech recognition solutions become more and more accurate while businesses continue to embrace the IoT, expect to see increased integration between the two within the next five years.
- Voice-based bots is the next big thing: Another area where speech recognition technology holds promise is chatbots. When integrated with speech recognition technology, chatbots can emulate human conversations in customer-facing communications by listening to customer queries, interpreting them, and making recommendations. In the same way businesses have started using chatbots, expect similar adoption of voice-based bots within the next five to seven years.
Sources
Products evaluated for pricing calculation were taken from Capterra’s product catalog (sorted by “most reviewed”). The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in Capterra’s directory that offer them.
The following sources were used for this document:
- Top 5 Tech Trends for Small Business, Capterra (Date accessed: September 12, 2018)
- Speech Is 3x Faster than Typing for English and Mandarin Text Entry on Mobile Devices, Stanford (Date accessed: September 13, 2018)
- Google’s speech recognition is now almost as accurate as humans, 9To5Google (Date accessed: September 13, 2018)
- The Past, Present, and Future of Speech Recognition Technology, The Startup (Date accessed: September 13, 2018)
Looking for the best free Windows software for speech to text? The most-repeated paid recommendation is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS). But some might scoff at paying money for software. Fortunately, there are several great free programs out there like Google Docs Voice Typing (GDVT) and Windows Speech Recognition (WSR).
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You might wonder how these two products compare against DNS — and whether or not DNS meets your needs. For this article, I’ve identified three kinds of users: those who need speech to text transcription for writing novels, those who need academic transcription, and those who write business documents, like memos. To this end, I tested three speech transcription programs (DNS, GDVT, and WSR).
Speech Transcription Setup
Before we head into the test, let’s first look at the recommended hardware and software setup.
Hardware and Software Requirements
Google Docs Voice Typing requires the Chrome Browser and a microphone. And it also needs a persistent internet connection (which isn’t mentioned in the requirements). Otherwise, this is probably the easiest method to get started with speech transcription.
DNS requires a processor made in 2001 or later, Windows 7 or later, and around 4GB of free storage. Its strictest requirement is 2GB of RAM. Here’s a complete list of DNS’s hardware requirements.
Windows Speech RecognitionEnable Speech-to-Text and Voice Control by Setting Up Speech Recognition in WindowsEnable Speech-to-Text and Voice Control by Setting Up Speech Recognition in WindowsSpeech Recognition remains more powerful than Cortana. It drives speech to text and voice control. This article will show you what Speech Recognition can do, how to set it up, train it, and use it.Read More, also known as Speech Platform Runtime (download WSR), costs nothing and requires only a Windows 7 or later operating system.
Microphone Considerations
I use a dynamic microphone (best microphone for podcastingThe Best Mic for PodcastingThe Best Mic for PodcastingStarting a new podcast? You're going to need a good microphone! Here are your options for the best mic for podcasting.Read More) and a relatively fast Intel Core i7 processor. While a high-quality microphone is desired, it isn’t required. Even so, your results will improve with better sound quality and reduced background noise.
The lowest-priced microphone that I would recommend for high-quality recording is the Audio-Technica ATR-2100. However, the accuracy difference between $5 microphone and a $200 device is pretty minimal.
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On the other hand, the minimum requirements for Microsoft Speech are pretty much any remotely modern computer (most computers made in the last ten years) and a microphone. If you own a laptop or tablet made in the last five years, it should have what you need by default.
Configuring Speech Transcription Programs
Here’s how to use Google Voice Typing:
Here’s how to get started with Windows Speech Recognition:
And, finally, here’s how to get started with Dragon Naturally Speaking:
Test Methodology
I want to find the best free Windows-based speech to text application. Because different consumers may need a different product, I’ve devised a simple test. I read three different passages from texts without copyright: one from Charles Darwin’s On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties. One from H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulu. The last hails from Jerry Brown’s 2017 State of the Union speech. My methodology is by no means perfect, but it does give an impression of each voice recognition suite’s accuracies.
Fiction Writing Sample (From H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulu)
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”
Business Writing Sample (Jerry Brown’s 2017 State of the Union speech)
“It is customary on an occasion like this to lay out a specific agenda for the year ahead. Six times before from this rostrum, I have done that, and in some detail. And, as I reread those proposals set forth in previous State of the State speeches, I was amazed to see how much we have accomplished together.”
Academic Writing Sample (Charles Darwin’s On the Tendency of the Species to Form Varieties)
“Now when a variety of such an animal occurs, having increased power or capacity in any organ or sense, such increase is totally useless, is never called into action, and may even exist without the animal ever becoming aware of it. In the wild animal, on the contrary, all its faculties and power being brought into full action for the necessities of existence, any increase becomes immediately available, is strengthened by exercise, and must even slightly modify the food, the habits, and the whole economy of the race.”
3 Voice Transcription Suites Tested
It’s surprising how free voice recognitionThe Best List-Making Apps for Voice CommandsThe Best List-Making Apps for Voice CommandsMany free productivity tools support voice to text for lists. We'll show you the best list-making apps with voice recognition and commands you must try.Read More tests performed against paid software. But at the end of the day, the most accurate app is Dragon Naturally Speaking. However, both Google Voice Typing and Windows Speech Recognition cost nothing and deliver over 90 percent accuracy. But each has its own strengths and weaknesses and you might prefer one over the other.
H.P. Lovecraft (Fiction Writing Test)
Lovecraft loved writing in long, unbroken, parenthetically dense prose. While all three suites do a great job of accurately transcribing Lovecraft’s vocalized text, DNS comes out ahead of its competitors. It includes both capitalization and punctuation (which is completely insane).
DNS: DNS only dropped a single word from the text. Overall, it scored 107 correct out of 108 words. It nailed several long, non-stop sentences as well.
WSR: Windows did a very good job — but not amazing — of transcribing Lovecraft. It got around 97 of around 108 words correct. While that falls short of both GDVT and DNS, it’s still good for a free speech to text program that doesn’t require online access.
GDVT: I’m not sure what happened because Google nailed the transcription for the other excerpts. GDVT only achieved 103 right out of 108, dropping two words and mistranscribing three. It even once spelled out “semicolon” instead of inserting the correct punctuation. It also capitalized certain words, turning them into proper nouns (but I won’t penalize them since it’s accuracy and not capitalization that matters).
I’m pretty sure that if I reread the document a second time, it wouldn’t have any errors.
Charles Darwin (Scientific or Academic Writing Test)
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Darwin writes in, like Lovecraft, long sentences loaded with parenthetical information. However, his use of language is very clear and he uses almost no jargon, which differs from nearly incomprehensible science writing today.
DNS: Darwin’s text comes out near perfect in Dragon Naturally Speaking. DNS misspelled only one word (“into”) and otherwise completely nailed the test with 87 words right out of 88.
Super mario 64 rom. WSR: Microsoft did a great job, matching 82 out of 88 words. It made some relatively bizarre errors, though, like spelling “sense” as “cents”.
GDVT: Google did great on Darwin’s excerpt. GDVT only fouled up two words, out of 88. Overall, for a free application, you can’t find a more accurate alternative.
Jerry Brown State of the State Address 2016 (Business Writing Test)
Brown’s speech doesn’t use a lot of complicated sentences or vocabulary (aside from the word “rostrum”). Overall, most of the transcription services performed amazingly. More or less, if you need a service that handles simple sentences and limited vocabulary, any one of these works great.
DNS: DNS nailed Brown’s State of the State Address. While it dropped a period, otherwise, it got every word perfectly. Note, though, that political speeches oftentimes lack the sort of complex language that you might see in fiction or academia. A memo or speech is direct and to the point. That’s something a speech recognition client shouldn’t have any problems handling.
WSR: Windows Speech Recognition did a great job — although not as great as DNS or Google — at transcribing Brown’s speech. It scored 55 out of 58 words. It even recognized the word “rostrum,” which I didn’t even know was a word, nor did I know how to pronounce it. Apparently, either I got it right or speech recognition technology can even catch mispronunciations.
GDVT: Google’s transcription software absolutely nailed the transcription, with 100 percent accuracy. It even managed to correctly capitalize “State of the State”, without needing user input. It did oddly use the number, rather than the spelling, for the word “six”. Which resulted in a stylistic error.
Are Free Transcription Services Worth Using?
There is a difference between Dragon Naturally Speaking, Google Voice Typing, and Microsoft’s Windows Speech Recognition. Dragon is more accurate than its competitors. However, the best free program in terms of accuracy is — by a narrow margin — Google’s Voice Typing. While both Microsoft’s and Google’s transcription services compare less-than-favorably against DNS, they do not cost $30.
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Contrasting the two free services against each other, Google offers better voice recognition accuracy, punctuation, and case, it requires an internet connection. Google also captures a lot that you don’t intend, like punctuation and capitalization.
However, if you want a free transcription program that you don’t need an internet connection to use, Windows Speech Recognition fits the bill. It’s by no means bad and offers 90 percent of what Dragon Naturally Speaking offers. Give it a shot if you haven’t already.
For more, take a look at ways to make your computer read documents to you5 Ways to Make Your Computer Read Documents to You5 Ways to Make Your Computer Read Documents to YouCan you make your computer read aloud to you? Of course! Try these text-to-speech methods and tools on your PC.Read More. And for help with your Android phone, check out the best speech-to-text Android apps7 Best Android Dictation Apps for Easy Speech-to-Text7 Best Android Dictation Apps for Easy Speech-to-TextLooking for the best speech-to-text apps for Android? These Android dictation apps let you take notes and more.Read More.
What’s your favorite transcription service? Please let us know in the comments!
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- Thank you for this article! You did the research for me and made my choice easier. I appreciate it.
- Nice article. You did miss one error by GDVT in the Jerry Brown speech. The word 'from' is missing in the 2nd sentence (or maybe it was inadvertently not spoken?)
- Try the free office dictate add in for word and outlook. Better than windows default one and free. Also msft. Check garage site.Finally, Translator live feature, though not initially built for this does the best job. Hyyp://translate. It
- office (365) Dictate is a free add in, but you must have Microsoft Office 365 which is NOT free. It's only free if you're a student. You can do a free 30 day trial with a credit card, but you'll get charged unless you remember to cancel it in time. I contacted Microsoft asking if any discounts or free versions to the disabled. I was told no. I told them to voice my request that it should be.