In this issue:

Announcements
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10
Version 10 Availability
Announcing WinScribe 3.8
Success Story
Tech Tools & Tips
Contact Us

Announcements

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10
First Impressions

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 10 has arrived. With it come the usual claims of improved accuracy - up to 20% - from Nuance, manufacturer of Dragon. While I haven't noticed huge accuracy upswings (but, I have to say, my profile is pretty great in Version 9) there does seem to be an increased response time between dictating and having the words appear on the page, allowing me to work faster.

Renee Griffith, our CEO, says "Overall, I'm very happy with version 10 and getting excellent recognition. Some of the new features like the Voice Shortcuts and Dragon Templates are really nice, as well."

Of course, in addition to always striving for better accuracy, Nuance has added many new features to further increase productivity and usability - and frankly make Dragon more fun to use.

Let's start with the fun... Voice Shortcuts:

• Voice Shortcuts for Desktop Search

  Desktop Search shortcuts allow you to search the Windows desktop using commands that are patterned on your natural speech-kind of 2001 HAL-like in 2008.

  For example, you can say: "search the computer for space odyssey" and NaturallySpeaking will find all files containing "space odyssey" in the filename.

  NOTE: The Desktop Search commands require that you have third-party indexing/search software installed, either Microsoft Vista Search or Google Desktop.

• Voice Shortcuts for Web Search

  Web Search shortcuts allow you to search the internet from your desktop or any place on your computer.

  You can say: "search web for best cocktails in San Francisco" and NaturallySpeaking will open your default browser and display the results of the search.

  Or say: "search YouTube for stupid people" and it will (hopefully, you won't find anything that looks familiar there).

• Voice Shortcuts for E-Mail & Calendar

  E-Mail and Calendar shortcuts allow you to control your e-mail program easily by voice. E-mail and Calendar shortcuts are only available in NaturallySpeaking Professional or higher. View the product Matrix for Dragon 10

  You can say: "send an e-mail to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton" and a new e-mail will appear addressed to Britney and Paris.

  NOTE: Britney and Paris must be in your contacts

  Or, say: "schedule a meeting with Dr. Phil" and a new appointment window appears with Dr. Phil listed as an attendee.

  NOTE: Dr. Phil must be in your contacts (but if Britney and Paris are there, I'm sure he's in there).

  NOTE 2: Calendar commands only work in Microsoft Outlook

Voice Shortcuts are useful and fun and move Dragon ever closer to taking over your space station. Our CEO, a 16-year user of Dragon, says that these are quite useful and productive, especially the web search commands.

NaturallySpeaking 10 has many new text formatting and editing features-whether to apply character formatting to or remove text, change the way numbers or common abbreviations are written, or alter the properties of individual words.

• Quick Formatting

  Quick Formatting allows you to quickly edit or revise text. Operations that used to take up to three commands can now be done with a single command. For example, to bold the words "Quick Formatting" at the beginning of this paragraph, formerly I would say:

  select quick formatting
  bold that
  move to bottom

  Now I simply say:

  bold quick formatting

  Quick Formatting commands allow you to perform the following actions on particular text with one command:

  To:	Say:
  Bold	bold quick formatting
  Italicize	italicize quick formatting
  Underline	underline quick formatting
  Delete	delete quick formatting
  Copy	copy quick formatting
  Cut	cut quick formatting

  
  

  One word of warning: It's awfully easy to have something misrecognized as one of these commands. Dictating something like "cap good morning", but having Dragon hear "cut good morning" and remove the words "good morning" from somewhere else in the document ... if you're not paying attention, words are just disappearing from your text!

• New Formatting Dialog Box

  Formatting has been pulled out of NaturallySpeaking's general Options and given its own dialog box. Now it's even easier to turn on or off different forms of automatic number and word formatting, such as dates, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses.

  For example, I might decide I always want numbers to be written as numerals-even if they're single-digit numbers. By setting this option, I no longer have to say: "I have numeral 9 cats" before the single-digit number nine to have Dragon write the number rather than the word. Isn't that right Mr. Frisky Pants? Yes it is-who's a good boy?

  Sorry... anyway, now automatic formatting for abbreviations, contractions and Social Security numbers can easily be turned on or off.

  

Functionality, better recognition for a wider range of people and marketing have also been taken into account.

• Dragon Templates with Voice Fields

  A new addition to Dragon's Text and Graphics commands is the ability to insert variable "voice" fields into the commands. This allows you to later dictate or type variable information into the simple template the command creates.

  For a full explanation of Dragon Templates with Voice Fields, see the Tech Tip below.

• Regional Accents Support

  Following a significant data collection effort, research and possibly some stereotyping, Dragon 10 incorporates new acoustic models for better coverage of regional and non-native accents.

  So now users from Texarkana to Punjab will have better recognition right out of the box.

• Persuading Medical Professionals to Purchase the Medical Version Rather Than Pro or Preferred

  Nuance came up with a subtle way of encouraging medical professionals to move away from Dragon Pro or Preferred 10 and treat themselves to Dragon Medical 10.

  In Pro or Preferred, the microphone will simply turn off in many EMR programs. Or on websites about EMR programs. Or in e-mails you might compose using a word containing an EMR program name in the subject line. You can't turn it back on, you can't use dictation box. You can get out your checkbook and upgrade to Medical.

  Don't worry, this feature shouldn't affect most NaturallySpeaking users-just those of you with pricey degreed abbreviations after your names.

• But Wait, There's More...

  Other great new Version 10 features include:

  Improved Tutorials
  Improved Office 2007 Commands
  Improved Mozilla Firefox Commands
  Improved Word Properties in Vocabulary Editor
  Support for More Dictation Devices
  0g Trans Fat

And finally, Nuance updated the look of the NaturallySpeaking application and logo.

Sadly, the friendly little Dragon desktop icon has been replaced by some kind of flamey lotus flower, zygote sort of thing. 

Oh well, I guess if I want to see a Dragon, I'll just have to say: "search the web for dragons."

- Written by Page Filson, Director of eLearn Training

Version 10 Availability and Pricing
But I want it now ...

There have been a number of delays with the shipping of version 10, so a summary is probably in order. Here's the latest information, though given the issues with past dates, we would not regard these as set in stone. But here's what we have:

And for the upgrades:

* Special upgrade price ends September 30, 2008 for Pro and Legal upgrades
** Special upgrade price ends September 15, 2008 for Medical upgrade

As always, make sure your computer meets the specifications for the new version:

And, of course, if you have any questions, call us:

1-877-493-7497

Announcing WinScribe Version 3.8
New Features, New Capabilities

We'd like to announce the release of the latest version of WinScribe, version 3.8. Zephyr-TEC strongly recommends users to upgrade in order to take advantage of the new features and improvements you will see:

• WinScribe Workflow Extended Functionality

  We have extended our workflow functionality to define a more complex authoring process:

  Rules can be defined that route jobs according to typist(s) logged in availability and time of day schedules, e.g. day shift/night shift scenarios. Alarms can be defined to re-route jobs on elapsed time counters, e.g. no typing started in <duration> and/or typing not completed in <duration> following start.

  Email alerts can be created as alerts to the rule and alarm expiration.

• Digital Portable Support over Citrix/Terminal Services

  When a terminal Services or Citrix session to the server has been established on a client machine, and the WinScribe Author, WinScribe Internet Author, or WinScribe Internet Typist is running in this session, audio files found on digital portables connected to the client machine will automatically be transferred off the digital portable to the Terminal Services or Citrix Server.

• Licensing is Consolidated on the License Server

  With v3.8, all product licensing is coordinated through the License Server.

  The following license types have been modified and will now be issued as license files:

  • Typists
  • Phone Ports
  • Exporter Hours

  The System Code/Registration Code process will no longer exist beginning with v3.8. The System Code will still be needed when upgrading a v3.7 or earlier site to v3.8, however. Please supply the site's current System Code when requesting upgrade licenses.

• System Infrastructure Changes

  Our support for various Operating System configuration has been extended to include:

  • All WinScribe .NET applications are converted to use .Net 2.0
  • All WinScribe products can be installed on Microsoft Windows Vista laptops
  • All WinScribe products can be installed on Microsoft Windows Server 2008
  • WinScribe Operates on 64-bit Windows OS in a 32-bit emulation mode
    • Note: Nuance product does not operate in a 64-bit environment
  • WinScribe operates on  VMWare and Microsoft Virtual PC/Server
    • Note: Many hardware manufacturers device drivers are not supported in these environments.
  
  
• New Support and Old Fixes

  WinScribe v3.8 rolls up all product patches previously produced for earlier versions.

  WinScribe v3.8 also supports:

  • New Citrix ICA Client 10.2
  • New Olympus DS-5000 and DS5000ID portable recording device
  
  
• WinScribe Mobility

  WinScribe Mobility includes the current BlackBerry release, the current Pocket Author release, and the new Nokia N95 application.

  The mobile phone support has specifically been tested against the Nokia N95, however, there are a number of phones in the Nokia range that will also operate. These phones are not directly supported by WinScribe, however.

  The mobile phone application for Nokia is identical in look to the BlackBerry application and includes Insert/Overwrite functionality.

  Pocket Author is for Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic. Note: Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard is not supported due to devices not supporting touch screen functionality. Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional is not supported as it has not been tested against these type of devices, however, it is likely to operate correctly.

If you're ready to upgrade, call us or send e-mail to order your upgrade CDs. There is a media cost of $25 (plus shipping & tax) for the CDs. Online or onsite installation assistance is also available - call us for details.

1-877-493-7497

Success Story
New User Gains Productivity and Alleviates Pain!

Steve Alesch is a training consultant for a major oil company. After developing tendinitis in both wrists, he found it increasingly painful and difficult to complete his job duties. Because his company is proactive, he was able to receive Dragon NaturallySpeaking software and Zephyr-TEC training to help alleviate his RSI.

Steve is a brand-new user of NaturallySpeaking. Here in his own words, he shares his experiences so far with Dragon...

I'm a new user to Dragon NaturallySpeaking.  I'm using it right now to compose this message.  I'm having a good experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.  It seems pretty intuitive and it's really saving me pain in my wrists.  The only thing that I'm not used to is using my voice so much!  The manual recommended building up gradually but I started on day one doing 8 straight hours!  Boy, my voice was really tired after that.

I'm using it right now for Microsoft Outlook primarily.  I didn't realize how much I use Microsoft Outlook.  I'm actually finding it faster to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking with this application.  I'm starting to learn how to use it with Internet Explorer.  I particularly enjoy using it for scrolling up or down.  I like the Zephyr-TEC job aid that came with the software because most of my questions are answered with that tool.

Of course, there are times when it's frustrating.  But it's mainly because I don't know all the commands yet.  It's been about three weeks so far... give me a few more weeks and I'll master this!

If you would like to share your own NaturallySpeaking experiences for future newsletters, please e-mail your story to: pfilson@zephyr-tec.com

Tech Tools & Tips
Dragon Templates with Voice Fields

Dragon Templates with Voice Fields are Text and Graphics commands with variable fields allowing users to later dictate or type variable information into the simple template the command creates.

EXAMPLE

A command named: Meeting Scheduled that inserts the following text:

On the morning of [default value] please attend a meeting with your child's guidance counselor, [Ms. Jones].

The first variable: [default value] can be any date, so the default value is NOT pre-filled.

The second variable: [Ms. Jones] can be the counselor that's most likely to be assigned to the student and is pre-filled as the default text.

• Click on the Variable button to insert the [default value] variable in the Content field.
• To pre-fill a variable in the template, replace "default value" with the desired text.

To navigate between variable fields in the document, say:

With the variable selected, dictate or type the correct information.

To remove the delimiting characters and leave the pre-filled default text, say:

clear variable delimiters

Ta dah!