Speech Recognition using your iPhone or Android – Philips SpeechLive

Voice recognition, the ability for technology to convert spoken word to text, has been on most people who dictate letters and notes for a living’s list to look at. Why? Likely because either a) they pay a lot for transcription, either indirectly tying up a company employee for hours typing or financially by using an outsourced transcription typing service or b) because they have urgent dictation which needs to be turned around quickly.

The goto for the last 15+ years has been Dragon from Nuance. Expensive software that needs to be installed on a local PC and time invested in both training and learning how to use the software. That is an old fashioned business model, businesses now want a pay-as-you-go model, OpEx not CapEx. Step up Philips SpeechLive, the worlds leading cloud dictation and transcription solution.

With Philips SpeechLive and your iOS or Android smartphone you can dictate audio anywhere in the world at any time with the free Philips Voice Recorder App. Simply send your spoken audio to the SpeechLive cloud, hosted in Australia, and within seconds receive a transcript of your dictation. The transcription can be emailed to you (or your typist ready for proofreading and formatting) or collected, by you or your typist, from the SpeechLive website. The video below demonstrates the process:

Try SpeechLive FREE for 30-days

Philips offers a 30-day free trial of Philips SpeechLive so you can give dictating on your smartphone a try. The free trial is for up to 10 people and that includes both Authors (people dictating) and Typists. Dictate Australia is here to support you through the trial with help, advice and setup. Our advice is always free and friendly, just ask and we will help. Click the image below for our SpeechLive Trial FAQ which includes information on pricing post the 30-day trial:

SpeechLive Speech Recognition and the Impact on Transcription Typists

Automated voice to text is very accurate but no solution is 100% accurate. As you would have seen from our video some small mistakes were made in the transcript, a couple of words misspelled and some punctuation was missed when dictating. There will always be a role for transcription typists but the role is changing and with voice recognition technology doing the brunt of the manual work the transcriptionist role becomes more of a proofreader and formatter, fixing the mistakes, applying the punctuation and adding client-specific formatting. I’m sure most transcriptionists will agree that to transcribe audio is time-consuming, anything that speeds up for the process for the person dictating and reduces the manual labour on the typist is a win-win.

SpeechLive for Transcription Typists

If you are a transcription typist no doubt you are used to buying and installing transcription typing software on your computer. You might use Philips SpeechExec Pro Transcribe or Olympus ODMS R7 Transcription Module, maybe Express Scribe from NCH, whatever you use it likely involved installing software, buying licences and maybe even buying a foot pedal to use with your software. With SpeechLive a typist no longer needs software installed on a PC, the SpeechLive website has transcription built-in meaning you can transcribe on any computer, Mac or Windows, with a browser and an internet connection. Especially useful during these COVID-19 times when working from home or remotely is the new normal. Additionally, for audio playback via the SpeechLive website you can use hotkeys or plugin a transcription typing foot pedal like the Philips ACC2330.

You Decide What Happens With Your Dictation

When you dictate using the Philips Voice Recorder App and send to SpeechLive you actually have three options for your dictation audio. Any of the three options can be selected when you send your dictation from your phone giving you the versatility you need to get your audio transcribed.

• Have you ever had an urgent dictation that needs to be transcribed asap? The speech recognition service is perfect for that.
• Ever had a typist away on leave or off sick and your dictation is mounting up? The SpeechLive Transcription Service is perfect for that.

Here is the workflow:

• SpeechLive Speech Recognition Service – the automated voice to text option shown in the video above
• Your Assistant – i.e. you usual transcription typist, typing pool or your own outsourced transcription typing people
• SpeechLive Transcription Service – Philips own a transcription typing business with real people listening to and typing your audio