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| CALL TOLL-FREE 1- 866-359-7137 (In NJ, 908-359-7137) (for tech support, 908- 359-5182) |
VoxScripta
| TIPS FOR USING DRAGON SUCCESSFULLY |
Sometimes it's surprising to find that people go out and spend a lot of money on software, then don't do the things that will
make it work well. Here are a few tips from the support calls we've gotten that are likely to improve your experience with
Dragon.
1. You have a manual. Take a look at it. It shows you how to improve your accuracy. The manual is a little on the lean
side, we'll admit, but there is a full user guide in PDF format ON the Dragon CD. You can browse to it and print it out if you
like, or just keep it for reference.
2. Make sure you've chosen the right microphone setup in the New User Wizard. The default setting is "Microphone
plugged into the mic-in jack," and if you're using the microphone that came with your software, this is correct. But if you've
purchased a USB microphone (a Philips SpeechMike, say), or even just added a USB adaptor to your plug-in mic, you're not
using the mic-in jack anymore. If you're just starting out, be sure to drop the "Dictation Source" droplist on the first screen of
the New User Wizard and choose "USB microphone." If you're switching over after having already completed the New User
Wizard, you have to click the "Source" button in the "Open User" dialog (under "NaturallySpeaking") and choose "New."
Select "USB microphone" from the dropdown list. Do the same thing for any other new dictation source you add.
When you're dictating, the source you're actually using will show up after your name on the Extended Tool Bar. If you're
using a USB adaptor and the Extended Tool Bar says "Mary (Mic-In)," you're likely to have problems. It's as if you told Dragon
you'd be talking into the front door of the house, so Dragon goes there and presses its ear up to the front door, and
meanwhile you've decided to talk in the back door upstairs.
3. MAKE CORRECTIONS ! ! ! This is one of the two biggest things you can do to improve accuracy. Dragon has a rather
average picture of your voice following enrollment - you have to teach it the idiosyncrasies. If you don't correct
misrecognitions, it will be making the same mistakes six months from now that it's making on the first day. Making corrections
does not mean taking your mouse and crossing out something and typing in the right word. It means saying "Correct <word>"
and using either the Spell dialog or the Correction menu. Doing this improves the software: Dragon is "smart" software, and
if you correct it when it gets things wrong, it gets better and better. If you don't, it won't. Just resign yourself to making a lot of
them for the first week or two, and if you do, you won't have to correct too much after that.
4. Add words to your vocabulary. Dragon only knows the words in its vocabulary. IF you have checked the option that
says "Add corrections to vocabulary," correcting/spelling an individual word (a name, say) will insert that word into your
vocabulary. If you have not, it won't. And it won't understand it in the future no matter how many times you spell it or train it.
So if your partner's name is an unusual one, and you'll be using it a lot, add it to the vocabulary. The downside to the
automatic addition is that your vocabulary can fill up with a lot of words you might not necessarily want to save - and for every
one it adds, it boots another one out the back door.
5. Run electronic documents YOU have written through the vocabulary builder. If you go to the Accuracy Center
and choose "Add words from documents," you will be given the opportunity to have Dragon analyze your documents, pull
words out that it finds that are not in the vocabulary, analyze your writing style. It's a quick and dirty way to add words -- but
look the list of proposed additions over, and don't add commonplace words that are only on the list because they are
capitalized as the result of having been found in a heading, or words that are typos. The more important thing is that Dragon
will analyze the way you write -- the frequency with which you use certain words, for example, and the context in which you use
them. For this reason, it's important to choose only documents that YOU have written -- not your officemate. The analysis is
a little like card-counting in blackjack: it sort of stacks the deck in favor of recognizing that pattern when it confronts it again.
It's a small thing to do that many people skip, which is a shame because it's remarkably effective.
make it work well. Here are a few tips from the support calls we've gotten that are likely to improve your experience with
Dragon.
1. You have a manual. Take a look at it. It shows you how to improve your accuracy. The manual is a little on the lean
side, we'll admit, but there is a full user guide in PDF format ON the Dragon CD. You can browse to it and print it out if you
like, or just keep it for reference.
2. Make sure you've chosen the right microphone setup in the New User Wizard. The default setting is "Microphone
plugged into the mic-in jack," and if you're using the microphone that came with your software, this is correct. But if you've
purchased a USB microphone (a Philips SpeechMike, say), or even just added a USB adaptor to your plug-in mic, you're not
using the mic-in jack anymore. If you're just starting out, be sure to drop the "Dictation Source" droplist on the first screen of
the New User Wizard and choose "USB microphone." If you're switching over after having already completed the New User
Wizard, you have to click the "Source" button in the "Open User" dialog (under "NaturallySpeaking") and choose "New."
Select "USB microphone" from the dropdown list. Do the same thing for any other new dictation source you add.
When you're dictating, the source you're actually using will show up after your name on the Extended Tool Bar. If you're
using a USB adaptor and the Extended Tool Bar says "Mary (Mic-In)," you're likely to have problems. It's as if you told Dragon
you'd be talking into the front door of the house, so Dragon goes there and presses its ear up to the front door, and
meanwhile you've decided to talk in the back door upstairs.
3. MAKE CORRECTIONS ! ! ! This is one of the two biggest things you can do to improve accuracy. Dragon has a rather
average picture of your voice following enrollment - you have to teach it the idiosyncrasies. If you don't correct
misrecognitions, it will be making the same mistakes six months from now that it's making on the first day. Making corrections
does not mean taking your mouse and crossing out something and typing in the right word. It means saying "Correct <word>"
and using either the Spell dialog or the Correction menu. Doing this improves the software: Dragon is "smart" software, and
if you correct it when it gets things wrong, it gets better and better. If you don't, it won't. Just resign yourself to making a lot of
them for the first week or two, and if you do, you won't have to correct too much after that.
4. Add words to your vocabulary. Dragon only knows the words in its vocabulary. IF you have checked the option that
says "Add corrections to vocabulary," correcting/spelling an individual word (a name, say) will insert that word into your
vocabulary. If you have not, it won't. And it won't understand it in the future no matter how many times you spell it or train it.
So if your partner's name is an unusual one, and you'll be using it a lot, add it to the vocabulary. The downside to the
automatic addition is that your vocabulary can fill up with a lot of words you might not necessarily want to save - and for every
one it adds, it boots another one out the back door.
5. Run electronic documents YOU have written through the vocabulary builder. If you go to the Accuracy Center
and choose "Add words from documents," you will be given the opportunity to have Dragon analyze your documents, pull
words out that it finds that are not in the vocabulary, analyze your writing style. It's a quick and dirty way to add words -- but
look the list of proposed additions over, and don't add commonplace words that are only on the list because they are
capitalized as the result of having been found in a heading, or words that are typos. The more important thing is that Dragon
will analyze the way you write -- the frequency with which you use certain words, for example, and the context in which you use
them. For this reason, it's important to choose only documents that YOU have written -- not your officemate. The analysis is
a little like card-counting in blackjack: it sort of stacks the deck in favor of recognizing that pattern when it confronts it again.
It's a small thing to do that many people skip, which is a shame because it's remarkably effective.