Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4160 in Software
• Brand: IBM
• Released on: 2003-02-14
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP

Customer Reviews

IBM ViaVoice
I tried their Chinese version in 1998 - wasn't impressed.

I thought that they should have achieved something "significant" since it has been 10 years. But somehow I didn't feel much difference on recognition accuracy in this version.
The dictation system requires the user to speak in a very standard accent, which means: you had better talk like BBC News or pretend to be Tony Blair if you want decent results. This isn't easy for me because I am not a native English speaker. Sometimes I do not pronounce words correctly of course this is not machine's fault - I checked my dictionary and found it was my mistake.

Also, if you are heavy type-writer like I am, you may not be comfortable with idea of "dictation" itself. It would need a while to get yourself used to it.

You may need a powerful machine. The manual says that a 400MHz machine will do well, but I don't think it's entirely true. My 1.4G Centrino runs like sea-turtle moving on beach when VoiceCentre is on.

The software is not as stable as I thought. It has crashed for a few times on my machine - even when I clicked the link for "Technical Support" in help file.

With all these problems, why I still give it a high mark?

Well, as a Software Engineer myself, I know how much effort is needed for such a system. From design perspective, it is still quite good. The noice-cancellation microphone and headset are excellent (it's NOT another 1-pound PC microphone!). The user manual is great, no typing error, which doesn't look like dictated:). The voice commands can free your hands. It automatically searches for actions in your applications. So you can enjoy the convenience with little hassle for configuration (though it takes a while to remember how to speak all those commands).
Easy correction is particularly important in an environment like voice recognition. The correction window is handy. You can make correction without typing - just with voice commands!

All in all, this is a great product which requires some training for both your buddy machine and you, but you would be rewarded - keep these in your mind when you pay for it. Or, if you are looking for a 90-quid software which can instantly work as perfectly as in your imagination, then forget about it:) Science is gold, but not diamond (yet).

LZ

Talk to the wall, cos the computer ain't listening
I am computer literate, with a 6-month old PC, running a clean and well maintained system including weekly downloads of virus software, automatic updates from good old Bill Gates, teach basic computer literacy and I have never had the difficulty with any programme that I had with ViaVoice.
I loaded the software, spent several sessions training it to recognise my voice and (at best) it was 50/50. It is very memory intensive (95 MB) and after a couple of days it locked out completely so I removed the whole programme, reloaded it and spent a couple more sessions retraining it. It lasted two more days, was still little beter than 50/50, locked out again and I gave up, unloaded it and sent it back.
The theory is brilliant and (when they get it working) it will save a lot of time, but its not there yet.
Give this one a miss for now.

IBM ViaVoice pro USB 10
I have been using IBM ViaVoice eight for several years and I have got on extremely well with this programme. I have now up graded my computer and I decided to try Dragon naturally Speaking 8 preferred. I found that this programme is extremely slow, poor recognition and would not work very well on the internet.
I have now bought IBM ViaVoice 10, it installed perfectly first time.
This programme is extremely fast, the writing is on the screen instantly. It worked in all programmed that I have and on the internet. I would go as far as to say this programme is brilliant. I would recommend, the more memory that you have on your computer, the better. I have one gigabyte of memory and Two gigabyte processor. After installing the programme, I said all the names of my family and address, it all came out perfectly. I would highly recommend this programme. I hope this is of some interest to you.