Free Dictation Software
Improvements in machine learning have propelled the quality of speech recognition to the level that it is quite usable, even for tasks that are a little out of the ordinary. We are increasingly being exposed to systems that can recognise commands and instructions, for example, with systems such as Apple Home Pod or Google Home Hub/Mini. Whereas these systems are being tuned for command/control application, the overall quality of speech recognition for other applications is only going to get better as each use provides more data to the suppliers to improve their systems.
In the case of our applications, free dictation software can be used to rapidly complete property inventory reports. Descriptions can be just spoken into a smartphone equipped with dictation software like Apple’s Siri or Google’s Genie. Instead of taking commands, the same dictation software allows descriptions as they are spoken to be automatically transcribed and entered into the section or item in the room being described. So, for example, you just have to press the microphone icon on the keyboard and instead of typing in the description, you speak it and the free dictation software converts it to text at the speed of the spoken voice. That is much quicker than typing!
There are some caveats, though. Currently access to free dictation software is only possible where a good internet connection is available. In time, with better algorithms, more processing power and increased storage, speech technology will become ‘embedded’ and able to work without a live internet connection.
