IBM LAUNCHES VIAVOICE PRO ENTERPRISE EDITIONNew Edition of IBM's Award-winning ViaVoice, Geared Toward Corporate Use Networked Environment18 July 2001 --IBM today announced ViaVoice Pro Enterprise Edition speech recognition software for UK-accented English. With features that are geared toward corporate use of voice recognition software, this edition is tailored to meet the needs of corporate and enterprise customers who want to deploy speech recognition on PCs or in a networked environment. Built on IBM's award-winning series of continuous speech recognition products, users can dictate naturally into most text applications, easily launch into and surf the Web using simple commands such as 'surf' or 'back', and navigate their PC - all using their voice. ViaVoice also allows users to set up single word short-cuts that allow users to insert whole paragraphs of text, as well as tell the difference between synonyms, such as to, too and two. In addition, specialist IBM Business Partners can provide expert advice to implement a speech solution tailored to individual companies. Recent, IBM-commissioned research found that companies could be losing up to 10 per cent of employee working time each day due to poor keyboard skills**. ViaVoice Pro Enterprise Edition can allow users to create text up to 53* per cent faster than manual typing, providing an alternative for the UK PC users who have not been trained to touch type. The issue was identified in a special IBM survey into typing speeds, conducted by ICM Research. ViaVoice Pro Enterprise Edition also features:
Steve Hawes, Speech Consultant for St. Paul International Insurance Systems - supplied by SRC (the Speech recognition Company), said: "ViaVoice has significantly streamlined our document workflow. Our users are delighted and are now able to produce documents much faster and with much greater accuracy - spelling mistakes are now a thing of the past and we’ve generally seen a 50% increase in their working productivity." Added Duncan Ross, head of voice systems, Europe at IBM, "We believe that voice will transform the way humans interact with technology. The first place to effect this transformation is by making the personal computer more user-friendly and productive. Via Voice Pro Enterprise Edition is specifically designed for the corporate user, with features for easy deployment in a networked environment. To aid corporate users further, IBM's business partners who specialise in voice can also tailor solutions to specific customer needs, as well as provide training and software personalisation." IBM's research** showed that nearly two thirds (58 per cent) of PC-based professionals surveyed work at a keyboard for over two hours every day, while a fifth (21 per cent) of PC users tested spend over five hours every day using their keyboards. A total of nine per cent also admitting to passing over seven hours at a keyboard each day. Taking these figures, a typical PC-based professional spending three hours a day using the keyboard could be losing nearly an hour a day in lost productivity, compared with a ViaVoice user, who can create text up to 53 per cent faster than typing. Based on a typical eight-hour working day, this could represent a loss of up to 10 per cent of working time per day for a typical UK employee. IBM's research also revealed that just 26 per cent of all respondents were trained to touch type. The other three-quarters of the sample tested fitted into four main groups of 'keyboard culprits' (see details below). A third (33 per cent) of respondents confessed they could only key out their documents at under 15 words per minute. The second group where average typists, with 37 per cent of respondents tapping along at between 15-25 words per minute. A fifth of respondents claimed to be able to word process at a fast speed, with 22 per cent of recipients managing the rate of between 25-50 words per minute. Only 7 per cent stressed they were excellent typists belonging to an elite group of keyboard maestros who could top 50 words per minute. Typist typologies in the UKThe one figured wonder Chopsticks The able typist The keyboard maestro
Availability and Pricing About IBM Voice Systems: Notes to the editor: For Further Information: OR Matt Ward/Lena Ahmed For IBM
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