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Control Microsoft Office with Your Voice
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 10:30 PM on June 2, 2008
Taking a tip from Adam's recent look at Controlling your Vista PC with Speech Recognition Macros, the Productivity Portfolio blog takes an in-depth look at the speech recognition features built into nearly every Microsoft Office release since 2002. With a decent microphone and a little training, you'll be able to dictate, issue commands, and hear your content read back to you. For those with arm and hand injuries or anyone looking to get comfortable with voice commands, it's a helpful post.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
GeForceATi
Posted 11:18 PM 2/6/08
I agree with Norcross, unless you're transcribing a really long letter or other document, the overall time you're gonna spend fixing the errors and other minor small things the software can't handle well, you're better off trying to improve your typing skills. This particular software might be different, but if it's like others I've used, you'll likely have to "train" it to better match your voice and that may be more hassle than it's worth.
GeForceATi
Norcross
Posted 11:04 PM 2/6/08
I've played around with these, but I've found them to be more hassle than they are worth. Maybe it's just me, but I spend more time looking and checking for errors that I save by not typing it in the first place.
The one place where this has worked well was in Microsoft OneNote, for jotting down quick reminders and whatnot. Synced to the phone, instant memory.
Norcross
Thomasmrph
Posted 10:57 PM 2/6/08
You better send the kids to sleep early to avoid background noises.
Thomasmrph
ww2db.com
Posted 11:40 PM 2/6/08
Secretly, this is probably a fantasy of sorts for all nerds.
Computer, show calendar. Read new email. Brew coffee. And what have you.
... but whether it is practical with technology available today is still yet to be seen.
@Thomasmrph: You're only thinking speech recognition. Think about speaker recognition, too. The computer should be able to identify who is speaking, not just what is being spoken.
ww2db.com
eclipse785
Posted 12:47 AM 3/6/08
I don't know,.. I recently put Microsoft's Voice Command on my Samsung Blackjack and I am truly impressed. Granted, I don't have a lot of experience with VR systems, but this one is pretty accurate and quick.
eclipse785
mc_spanky_mcgee
Posted 3:41 AM 3/6/08
On the article, they say "One confusing aspect of the Language bar is that it shows in programs where it doesn't work such as Firefox."
You can extend services to all programs. Right click on the language bar, select settings, and go to the advanced tab.
Now you can dictate to Firefox.
Wawaweewawa!
mc_spanky_mcgee