Transcription - Will it be Replaced by Voice Recognition Software?

Well maybe as a professional transcriptionist I could be considered biased, but this article indicates a number of reasons why transcription will not be replaced by voice recognition software, at least for the foreseeable future.

What is voice recognition software?

Voice recognition software (the best known example is probably Dragon Naturally Speaking by Nuance) is software that allows the operator to speak in the computer in order to give the computer commands (e.g. to save a file) or to dictate speech into the computer. Over the past ten years it has been hailed a number of times as the answer to fast and accurate dictation - but we're still waiting. The latest version of Dragon claims to be 99% accurate and three times faster than typing, so I recently purchased a copy to see. Dictation only? It is important to remember, especially if you are producing interviews rather than one-person dictation, that the software will only recognise the one voice it's trained in. If you try to record an interview into it, it will pick up your voice but not the interviewee's. It is possible to re-speak an interview - listen to the interview recording and speak the words of both interviewer and interviewee a few words after they're said. However, that's an art in itself, and even a trained court stenographer would struggle to listen to an interview straight through, with no pausing, and do this, so how much time does it really save? Why is this software not about to take over the world? A recent seminar given by a seller of digital dictation systems and associated voice recognition the presenter indicated that voice recognition would probably only work well for three in ten people. This is because the software has to be first trained to recognise your voice (a process which really does only take a few minutes) and then continuously corrected and trained to recognise words that it's either not familiar with or simply doesn't recognise from your speech patterns, which is an ongoing process and does take time.

I used this software first about five years ago and I have to say it's come on in leaps and bounds since then, but even the latest version can be a struggle! I purchased the latest version on the advice of a potential client who claimed that even re-speaking his interviews (listening to a recording and then speaking the words into the software as they were said) he could get an hour of recording down in 2.5 hours rather than the four hours per hour it usually takes to transcribe. He asked if I would be prepared to use a voice recognition program and re-speak his files for him at a rate that reflected the 2.5 hours per hour. I agreed to purchase the software as I'd been toying with the idea of doing so anyway, and do a trial tape for him. I said I wasn't prepared to agree to 2.5 hours per hour until I'd proved it to myself, and he accepted this.

Funnily enough, several months on, I'm still waiting for that trial tape. Having experimented with the software I find that re-speaking actually takes me ...guess how long - once the checking has all been done, about four hours per hour of recording!

I do use the software now and then, because on a busy week it saves the fingers and wrists, but what it doesn't save is time! When I'm transcribing I proofread as I type. Then just a quick skim through is required afterwards to make sure no errors have sneaked through. Using the software to dictate one can probably do this, and there may be a little time saved, but one cannot do this while re-speaking because one is concentrating on listening to the words being said and repeating them a few words after, while trying to continuously play the recording.

Also because the speech recognition software is not intelligent it often doesn't know which homonyms to use. This is something that has been vastly improved over the years, and in simple sentences it is often capable of working out whether to, two or too is required; or whether it's here or hear. However in a longer and more complex sentence it frequently struggles with this and very careful proofreading is required afterwards.

Also, when you're dictating you don't really want to also have to use the keyboard, so the software allows you to include commands for making words bold, underling them etc. However, you need to leave a small pause between the command and general dictation or the software just things the command is part of the words being dictated. That also slows things up, as compared to professional transcribe using keyboard shortcut keys for these commands. And re-speaking an interview is even worse because every time there's a change of speaker that needs to be indicated either with the name or initials and a tab, or the name and a new paragraph, so there are a number of commands involved around that.

To save time the latest version of Naturally Speaking will actually try to punctuate for you ... so you dictate and it puts the commas and full stops in the right places. That's the theory anyway. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't recommend it! Conclusion All in all I'd say Dragon 9, the latest version, is a very useful tool, but it will be some time before it's really ready to replace transcriptionists.

Quick Audio Streaming - Big Leaps in Streaming Audio

Audio streaming is a technology that has been long developed and invented. However, it was only recently that this technology has been gaining wide recognition from a lot of people because of the numerous sites that have been seen to have contained audio files on it. The embedding of audio files on a site is a development that has struck many net users. A lot of people have loved the idea and a lot of them have seen the potentials of audio streaming in generating more money for a site. To achieve that, enlisted items are being presented below:

o You may want to have a pre-recorded Welcome Note on your site using your own voice to make it a little personal. This gives an air of making your site a bit of having a personal touch. However, do not go overboard when recording your welcome note. It may end up to be irritating that entertaining.

o When advertising a product, it is more motivating if you add some personal testimonials of your old and new clients. You may want to ask these people to record their statement of testimonial for visitors to listen. With the fusion of sounds and personal experiences, the more your visitors will believe the testimonial.

o Limit your audio files. It is not a good practice that you sprinkle all audio files on every corner of the site. By putting too much audio files, you are expressing the notion of becoming too verbose about your site content.

"Adding Audio to Web Page" Tool - It is Finally Affordable!

"Adding Audio To Web Page" Tool is an online marketing solution that enables your Site to "Speak". We know one thing - plain content is just not enough. If you want to know more about this solution take 2 minutes to read this article.

Quick introduction

"Adding Audio To Web Page" Tool uses an advanced processor that automatically converts popular music/audio files to Web-Format. It takes no more than two minutes to get the job done. All you got to do is select the files, then pick a player-type, colors, size, and basically that is all. The minute it finishes processing you get a small code that you embed into your html page.

This encoding process transforms your original file into a 'streaming web audio' - it is transmitted to your visitors continuously with no need for them to download anything onto their hard drive. This kind of technology offers countless benefits; for example: recording messages by yourself with a built-in voice recorder or adding background music to your voice recordings.

Tip

Before you make your first steps while using this technology: try 'split-testing' with your recordings, see which recording performs the best. Focus on your exact needs - there are a lot of high-cost solutions over the internet, it is recommended to check the simple ones first - you'll quickly find out that it is sufficient in most cases.

Bottom line

Operating such easy-to-use "Adding Audio To Web Page" Tool takes no more than just few minutes, so it requires minimal effort to start exploring its benefits. Won't you be able to convey your messages better using real live words, than by using written text? Now is the time to take action - it is recommended to watch it in action in order for you to enjoy the benefits that it offers.

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Digital Transcription

In modern time people have very less time. People are caught up in a very fast moving world, first thing in the morning have you ever sat down at your desk and wrote about the things which you need to do for that day? I never finish my list by home time. For all businesses this is the same; getting jobs completed gets delayed because of not enough time. Having extra pair of hands would be so valuable in this present moving world. How to manage this? The service of a digital transcription company can be really handy for this.

Digital audio transcription is a process where the digital audio files are converted into transcripts for companies without the time of manpower to do the same. The service used by the companies can widely vary; from law to medical, insurance to construction, IT to media, it's a huge list. When you outsource your digital audio transcription to a professional transcription company your can really save time and you can concentrate on other things.

Certain types of files which are used in digital transcription process are mentioned below.

1). WAV - This is also known as WAVE files. It was one amongst the first audio file developed for use with the PC. WAV file can also be shrunk to 12th of its original size. Due to its very large size it created many problems so consequently it is not much used in the recent days.

2). MP3 - This is used in music as compressed WAV file. MP3 format can be recorded in many digital recorders.

3). WMA - Windows Media Audio files. With all Windows based PCs this file comes, these files were especially developed for Windows Media Player. These files are more compressed; it is even more compressed than an MP3.

There are many types of transcriptions which will come of these formats; they widely range from teleconferences to interviews and everything in between.

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How Audio Interviews Are a Big Money Maker That You Can Cash in On

Can you make money by cashing in on audio interviews? These are the real details on how this is accomplished.

When you are selling one on one that takes a lot of time. If I'm not using audio the way it's accomplished is simply by leverage. Doing audio interviews and distributing them on the Internet through your Web site is selling one on many. You only have to do it one time and after I finish an interview, I don't have to ever do the same one again and I can use it to sell my products or services or my credibility or create a package from it. I only have to do it once but it could be selling multiple people 24/7, anywhere in the world as long as they understand English. It's that leverage. That is what I've been able to do with a lot of my audio interviews.

One interview; I only did it once and it just plays over and over again to someone interested in cold calling. This is compared to someone working at cold-calling for 4-5 years. So that has been a good money interview.

John Carlton interview has generated income through affiliate sales. Ted Nicholas has generated sales. HMA interviews, its not just one interview I've got about 12, 13 interviews on my Web site which educate and promote people on how to become a marketing consultant and I only had to do those interviews one time.

The Art Hamel interviews. That interview sold a lot of product or that combination of interviews, not just one interview. I probably have 12, 13 hours of interviews with him. My consulting interviews where I'm consulting with people online that promote a product called Audio Marketing Secrets that has been valuable to me. The Eugene Schwartz audio, Money Man Interview which is an interview with an expert on corporate financing. My interviews on barter to sell my secret loop hole barter product. Even Alex Mendosian teleseminar.

So you can't deny that audio interviews work or that they sell products and services because they do and I'm doing it every day and I'm doing it while I'm sleeping 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it's all automatic. I guess that's some of the proof elements that it really does work. I'm so convinced on it because I know it's true. But usually there is not a day that I don't sell something that's been sold automatically.

I just had a sell come in before writing this article on a product with an expert named Ken Ellsworth on persuasion, which is an automatic product. The Web site is like a little, automatic vending machine, a little money vending machine. It's like a collection of infomercials all in one place. Not all of them are selling and some are just pure content but there are a lot of interviews in there that are designed to sell something or to step in front of the demand of a prospect of someone who wants something.

Sometimes it's not even the interview it's the marketing. You may be able to have a terrible interview, really poor interview and still sell something because the market is super hungry. That is the most important thing is your market. But a well produced interview will sell more than a terrible one no matter who is in front of it. So you want to do it right from the first time.

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Audio Streaming - How to Succeed - Part 3

HTTP Live Streaming

This is a system based on HTTP and incorporates media streaming and a communications protocol. It was first implemented by the Apple Corporation when they established their QuickTime X and iPhone software systems.

The way the live streaming system operates is to convert the data stream into a number of small HTTP based files. Each file is then downloaded, which in turn loads one small segment of the data stream. As soon as the stream is played, the client has the option of selecting a particular stream from a variety of alternative streams containing the same data but which has been encoded at different data rates. In this way, the streaming session is able to adapt itself to the prevailing rate of data transmission. When the streaming session begins, the system downloads a playlist which contains the data from the various sub-streams that are available.

Since the requests for data require only standard HTTP transactions, then HTTP Live Streaming is able to traverse any firewall or proxy server which themselves allow standard HTTP traffic to travel through.

Terms

HTTP - Also known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is an application-level protocol. There are two principal versions, viz. HTTP/1.0 which uses a separate connection for each document, and HTTP/1.1 that is able to reuse the same connection in order to download, for example, images of the previous page. As a result, HTTP/1.1 could be faster of the two versions since time is taken to set up such connections.

HTTP is a request/response standard used in client-server computing. The client is an application, such as a web browser, on the computer that is used by an end-user. On the other hand, the server is an application running on the computer hosting the web site. The client submits HTTP requests.

Protocol - With reference to computing, the term protocol refers to a series of rules which are applied to computers in order that they are able to communicate with each other when transmitting across a network. It is, in fact, a standard that maintains or brings about firstly the connection, then the communication and finally the transfer of data between computers. Protocols may apply to hardware, or software, or even a combination of the two. In a sense, a protocol specifies how a hardware connection performs.

Streaming Media - This refers to multimedia that are continually received by, and also presented to, the user of the data. At the same time, it is being delivered to the user by a provider of streaming data. The term streaming media refers to the method of delivery of the medium rather than to the nature of the medium itself. It is inferred that the distribution is over telecommunications networks since nearly all of the other delivery systems are either specifically streaming, such as radio and television, or they are characterised as non-streaming, such as books, video cassettes, and audio CDs. Internet television is an excellent example of what may be designated as a commonly streamed media.

Multimedia - It refers to the nature of the media used and content required that uses a combination of different forms of content. Media, in its broadest sense, utilises only established forms of material which may be either printed or hand-produced. On the other hand, Multimedia makes use of a combination of text, audio, motionless images, animation, video, and interactivity forms of content.

Audio Streaming - How To Succeed

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