Wednesday, January 22, 2014

VXi VoxStar UC Bluetooth Headset Overview


Bluetooth Microphones are our last recommendation for speech recognition applications but after testing we have found the VXi VoxStar UC to be the best Bluetooth Mic to use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Medical. VXi VoxStar UC Bluetooth Headset Overview - If you would like to learn more visit http://www.knowbrainer.com or call 615-884-4558
 

Monday, January 20, 2014

VXi Envoy UC Review (With Speech Recognition)

We found the new VXi Envoy produced very reasonable accuracy at 98% but because of NaturallySpeaking accuracy gains and the doubled sampling rate of Ver. 11/12, many microphones, that we would normally consider inferior, now produce very reasonable accuracy. However, there is more to a good microphone than accuracy in a vacuum.

We tested the VXi Envoy UC dual speaker model because it includes high fidelity speakers. While that claim is technically true, we cannot recommend the stereo Envoy UC for anything that might approach serious music listening. Accuracy was acceptable and the unit works superbly with VoIP applications like Skype and Microsoft's Lync, which opens automatically when you press the telephone button. The built-in shielded USB soundcard is excellent and the unit even drops the speaker volume level by 50% when making or receiving a call. You can't argue about the price, style, versatility or manufacturer 2 year warrantee but from a speech recognition point of view, we cannot recommend it because the noise filtering was all but nonexistent. It appears that VXi tried to compensate by eliminating the upper midrange, as you can see from the following JPEG but from a practical point of view, it didn't work. The Envoy UC microphone element is so sensitive, that it can even pick up breathing although the optional windscreen helps. Accuracy also fell a bit below the VXi 
TalkPro UC1 microphone so for now, we will be recommending other VXi USB microphones including the USB1-3 and UC1-3 models.


Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
TheMicrophoneStore.com http://www.themicrophonestore.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Thursday, January 16, 2014

SpeechWare Microphones VS Buddy (Insync) Microphones


SpeechWare and Buddy or Insync are both well established microphone companies that specialize in computer microphones used with speech recognition applications. The above video is a head to head comparison of some of their most popular microphones.
Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
TheMicrophoneStore.com http://www.themicrophonestore.com
support@knowbrainer.com
 
 

Monday, January 13, 2014

Not giving up on Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Knowbrainer kept me from giving up on Dragon NaturallySpeaking

On December 28, 1996, while skiing on a mountain in Western
Maryland, I suffered a hemorrhagic brain stem stroke. I spent six and a half
weeks in hospitals followed by eight years of accomplishing nothing. Brain
damage left me with mental deficits and took away nearly all of my skill
sets. My body escaped unharmed, only affected by misguided signals coming
from my brain. However, I am left with Cerebellar ataxia, which causes the
left side of my body to be clumsy. Even my eyeball is adversely affected.

In 2004, as a form of therapy, I wanted to write a Journal. However,
I could do longer write with my hand; and lacked the hand eye coordination
necessary for typing. I purchased a product called Dragon NaturallySpeaking
that would allow me to speak into the computer. My first challenge was
created by my brain that would twist words before they reached my mouth.
After years of practice, I still have problems with missing syllables, but
major words sometimes come slow, but they come.

Nuance makes the best voice recognition product on the market.
Earlier versions were tricky and vulnerable to computer issues. Customer
support was short of excellent. They tried, but were not always able to solve
my problems. When version 12 rolled out most of my technical problems
disappeared. But, I would never have made it to version 12 without the
support of www.knowbrainer.com.

While googling support forums for voice recognition, I happened
across a post on a website called www.knowbrainer.com. What I found there
boggled my mind. It was a forum where thousands of voice recognition
users traded information. I found a resource destined to take my voice
recognition to a whole new level.

Often, forum users find their questions answered by Lunis Orcutt,
who owns the company. He focuses much of his time helping users navigate
through a maze of technical issues. His goal is to provide speech recognition
users with the information necessary to put together the optimum
supporting PC environment.

Knowbrainer successfully provides the information needed to unlock
the full potential of NaturallySpeaking products. They test and compare
compatible products and post reports on their website. They have become
the number one source of voice-recognition information in the world. The
forum and all their information is offered free of charge.

Knowbrainer, also hosts an online store, where you can find many
competitively priced products that have passed exhaustive tests. The
company also developed its own command software allowing handicapped
users to manage their computer by voice.

With the help of www.knowbrainer.com, I became a published author
in 2012. In April 2014, Glimpse of Sunlight, the first novel in the trilogy,
Jonathan Dickinson Odyssey (an historical thriller based on a true story), will
be published.

GE Gardiner| Novelist
www.GEGardiner.com
 www.JonathanDickinson.org

How to get the most out of Dragon (KnowBrainer Tweaks)

Since 1997, many of our customers have asked us to assist them in configuring their computers to work best with Dragon. We have come up with what we believe to be 4 essential Windows tips and 22 additional option changes for DMPE 2 and NaturallySpeaking; ranging from increasing Dragon's accuracy to disabling options that have been known to occasionally produce undesirable results. Because this question comes up so frequently, we thought it might be a good idea to make our KnowBrainerTweaks available to the public. Our recommended option changes, available through the previous hyperlink, are not necessarily endorsed by Microsoft or Nuance but we found them to be beneficial to many of our clients. No guarantees as your mileage may vary.


Tom Hamilton - KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com

Windows XP Won’t Be HIPAA Compliant April 8, 2014

From the EMR & HIPPA Forum:

As was announced by Microsoft a long time ago, support for Windows XP is ending on April 8, 2014. For most of us, we don’t think this is a big deal and are asking, “Do people still use Windows XP?” However, IT support people in healthcare realize the answer to that question is yes, and far too much.

With Microsoft choosing to end its support for Windows XP, I wondered what the HIPAA implications were for those who aren’t able to move off Windows XP before April 8. Is using Windows XP when it’s no longer supported a HIPAA violation? I reached out to Mac McMillan, CEO & Co-Founder of CynergisTek for the answer:

 http://www.emrandhipaa.com/emr-and-hipaa/2013/12/12/windows-xp-wont-be-hipaa-compliant-april-8-2014/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter