Via Voice Support

Support for IBM ViaVoice Gold for Windows 95 and NT

Technical support: frequently asked questions.
Click on the question number to see the answer.

 

* indicates a new or updated question and answer since January 1998.
Section 1 - Installation and configuration
1.1   What releases of Microsoft's Word does ViaVoice Gold support and how much memory does my system require to run both ViaVoice Gold and a supported version of MS Word?
1.2   Does ViaVoice Gold support Windows NT?
1.3 * Can I install ViaVoice Gold over any of the previous versions of VoiceType or ViaVoice?
1.4 * When I move from a previous version of VoiceType or ViaVoice to ViaVoice Gold, is my personal data (enrollment, added words and statistics) migrated as well?
1.5   I have partitioned my harddrive. Can I install ViaVoice Gold on one partition and any other version of VoiceType or ViaVoice on my other partition?
1.6   I want to uninstall my previous version of VoiceType before I put ViaVoice Gold on my system. How do I delete the previous version?
1.7   How do I reinstall a previous VoiceType or ViaVoice version after I have installed ViaVoice Gold?
1.8   How can I uninstall and reinstall ViaVoice Gold without losing my user data (e.g. enrollments)?
1.9   I deleted the files and program folders through the Windows 95 Explorer, but the product is still on my system.
1.10   Will navigation macros I have created with VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x, Simply Speaking Gold and ViaVoice work under ViaVoice Gold?
1.11   Will additional vocabularies available with VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x, VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold and ViaVoice work with ViaVoice Gold?
1.12   When available, can more than one language of ViaVoice Gold be installed in the same system?
1.13 * I have a sound card that is not advertised as a 100% Sound Blaster compatible. Can I still use it for ViaVoice Gold?
Section 2 - User Wizard
2.1   What is the User Wizard?
Section 3 - Microphone Setup
3.1   What is Microphone Setup?
3.2   When should I run Microphone Setup?
3.3   The microphone in my copy of ViaVoice Gold is different from the one shown on the Microphone Setup.
3.4   Can any other microphones be used?
3.5 * New inexpensive ThinkPad adapter now available.
3.6   I didn't get a power adapter (black) with my microphone.
3.7 * Do I need to use the microphone adapters included with ViaVoice Gold?
3.8   Can I use the microphone that shipped with my computer (or the built-in microphone, if there is one)?
3.9   How often should I change the batteries in the microphone battery adapter?
3.10 * I have an Ensoniq Sound Card in my PC and I keep failing the test in Microphone Setup "I am Testing...".
3.11 * I have a Crystal sound card in my PC and when I run Microphone Setup, a "General Error" message is returned.
3.12 * If you have an FX sound card in your Acer PC...
3.13 * The Sound Galaxy 534 sound card in my PC appears to constantly be recording background noise.
3.14 * I have a Creative Labs Soundblaster 16 sound card and I am having a problem with microphone setup.
Section 4 - Enrollment
4.1 * What is enrollment and is it required?
4.2   How many sentences should I read for enrollment?
4.3   What if I do not speak with a native accent for the language version I have installed?
4.4   What shall I do if my screen turns dark while enrolling?
4.5  

FOR US ENGLISH ONLY

How can I create additional users and enrollments in version 4.3.0.0 of the US English edition?

Section 5 - General dictation and SpeakPad
5.1   What is the difference between isolated-word speech and continuous speech?
5.2   How does the system learn as I correct mistakes in SpeakPad?
5.3   Once I've dictated a document in SpeakPad, how do I transfer it to another application?
5.4   Is it possible to add an alternate pronunciation for an existing word in the vocabulary?
5.5   My recognition was good, but it now has deteriorated. Why?
5.6   How do I dictate numbers?
5.7   How can I improve my recognition performance with ViaVoice Gold?
5.8 * Can I save a voice session to a diskette or other removable cartridge like device such as an IOMega Zip** or Jazz Drive**?
5.9   I want to open a saved session but it does not react.
5.10   Can I have text in files read to me?
5.11   When reading the dictated text in SpeakPad, the volume is extremely low compared to the volume of correcting dictation error. How can I increase the volume?
5.12 * A Word Basic Error 53 appears every time I open Microsoft Word.
Section 6 - ViaVoice Gold Options
6.1   How do I change users if more than one user has enrolled?
6.2 * What is the Recognition Sensitivity used for under the ViaVoice Gold Options Voice page?
6.3   What is the Recognition Performance used for under the ViaVoice Gold Options Voice page?
6.4
  In addition to Continuous General Dictation, can I select any isolated dictation vocabulary, or any of the optional isolated vocabularies in the Vocabulary field, of the USER tab, of ViaVoice Options?
Section 7 - ViaVoice Gold Macros
7.1   What is the difference between Current and Always macros?
7.2   What's the difference between dictation macros and navigation/control macros?
7.3   What are Select Lists used for in What Can I Say macros?
7.4   When I am in navigation mode, and issue a command, the command appears to be recognized in VoiceCenter however, it does not execute.
Section 8 - ViaVoice Direct
8.1   I am having problems using ViaVoice Direct dictating into some application. The information displayed in the application I am using with ViaVoice Direct is not correct. What can be the problem?
8.2 * When I dictate directly into an application using ViaVoice Direct, the system does not perform as well as when I dictate into SpeakPad.
Section 9 - Vocabulary Expander
9.1   How can I quickly add words to my vocabulary and improve recognition?
9.2   When I analyze a text the system hangs.
Section 10 - Vocabulary Manager
10.1   How do I see my added words, and when would I want to delete a word?
Section 11 - Hardware and software requirements
11.1   What are the minimum hardware and software requirements?
Section 12 - Known limitations
12.1 * Are there any known limitations?

 

Answers to questions
Answers section 1 - Installation and configuration
1.1
What releases of Microsoft's Word does ViaVoice Gold support and how much memory does my system require to run both ViaVoice Gold and a supported version of MS Word?
MS Word release 6.0C (US English only), 7 and 8 are supported if running Windows** 95. MS Word release 6.0C is not supported under Windows NT**. Releases 7 and 8 are supported in Windows NT. The minimum specification for running ViaVoice Gold with Microsoft Word is 32MB under Windows 95 (or 48MB under Windows NT). However, like with any software, increasing the processor and/or the memory will improve the speed of decoding, but will not improve the recognition performance.
1.2 Does ViaVoice Gold support Windows NT?
Yes. It supports Windows NT 4.0. You must have administrator privileges during the installation of ViaVoice Gold under Windows NT.
1.3 Can I install ViaVoice Gold over any of the previous versions of VoiceType or ViaVoice?
Yes. It is possible to install ViaVoice Gold over
- VoiceType Simply Speaking 3.01, 3.02
- VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold 3.5
- ViaVoice 4.1
- all discrete and continuous runtimes.
For any other product, you have to uninstall the product first.

You can uninstall VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x using the uninstall tool which is part of the product. To uninstall VoiceType Dictation 1.32, use the ADD/REMOVE Programs from the Windows 95 Control Panel. You must reboot your system after uninstalling previous versions of VoiceType and prior to installing ViaVoice Gold. After this reboot, you may get a message that another version of VoiceType Dictation has been detected on your system, but you can proceed with the installation.

1.4 When I move from a previous version of VoiceType or ViaVoice to ViaVoice Gold, is my personal data (enrollment, added words and statistics) migrated as well?
- If you install ViaVoice Gold over of ViaVoice, all user data (added words, enrollments and statistics) will be migrated and available under ViaVoice Gold.
- If you install ViaVoice Gold over of VoiceType Simply Speaking or VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold, your added words will be migrated to ViaVoice Gold. Navigation macros will also be migrated when installing over Simply Speaking Gold. Your speaker models (enrollments) will be saved, but as these can not be used in ViaVoice Gold, you will need to do enroll again.
- If you install ViaVoice Gold on a system which had VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x installed previously, your personal data will not be migrated.
1.5 I have partitioned my harddrive. Can I install ViaVoice Gold on one partition and any other version of VoiceType or ViaVoice on my other partition?
ViaVoice Gold cannot coexist with other versions of VoiceType or ViaVoice on the same system because it uses common registry entries, the same speech engine, directory structure and program files. Unless you have two separate copies of the operating system (for example, two copies of Windows 95 each running in its own primary partition), you will not be able to run ViaVoice Gold and VoiceType or ViaVoice on the same computer.
1.6 I want to uninstall my previous version of VoiceType before I put ViaVoice Gold on my system. How do I delete the previous version?
IBM VoiceType Dictation version 3.0.x, VoiceType Simply Speaking versions 3.0.x, VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold and ViaVoice are equipped with an uninstall Program you can find in the tools folder of each of these products. You must run this uninstall program to successfully delete any entries that were made to the Windows 95 Registry. VoiceType Dictation version 1.32, and earlier versions, will have to be removed using the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel of Windows 95.
1.7 How do I reinstall a previous VoiceType or ViaVoice version after I have installed ViaVoice Gold?
VoiceType Simply Speaking, VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold and ViaVoice:
To reinstall Simply Speaking, Simply Speaking Gold or ViaVoice, uninstall ViaVoice Gold, shut down and restart your computer, and then reinstall Simply Speaking, Simply Speaking Gold or ViaVoice in the same directory. Your enrollments and other personal data will be restored.
VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x:
To reinstall VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x, uninstall ViaVoice Gold, then install VoiceType Dictation in its original directory (x:\ibmvtype).
1.8 How can I uninstall and reinstall ViaVoice Gold without losing my user data (e.g. enrollments)?
When you reinstall ViaVoice Gold, be sure to specify the same directory where ViaVoice Gold was installed previously. That way, you will not loose any user data or enrollments from the previous installation.
1.9 I deleted the files and program folders through the Windows 95 Explorer, but the product is still on my system.
You should not delete the files and program folders through the Explorer. Instead, you should use the uninstall program provided in the product. IBM VoiceType Dictation, VoiceType Simply Speaking, VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold, ViaVoice and ViaVoice Gold versions are equipped with an uninstall program. You must run this uninstall program to successfully delete any entries that were made to the Windows 95 Registry. VoiceType Dictation version 1.32, and earlier versions, will have to be removed using the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel of Windows 95. After uninstalling a version of VoiceType or ViaVoice, make sure you shut down and restart your system before installing any version of VoiceType or ViaVoice Gold.
1.10 Will navigation macros I have created with VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x, Simply Speaking Gold and ViaVoice work under ViaVoice Gold?
Only navigation Macros created with VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold 3.5 will be migrated during the installation of ViaVoice Gold.
1.11 Will additional vocabularies available with VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x, VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold and ViaVoice work with ViaVoice Gold?
No. ViaVoice Gold does not support vocabularies which have been created for VoiceType Dictation 3.0.x, VoiceType Simply Speaking Gold. Discrete vocabularies will only work with discrete applications which are based on our discrete technology. ViaVoice Gold is able to install continuous vocabularies.
1.12 When available, can more than one language of ViaVoice Gold be installed in the same system?
Yes, multiple languages can be installed. A user ID may have multiple languages under the same user ID. However, only one language may be active at a time.
1.13 I have a sound card that is not advertised as a 100% Sound Blaster compatible. Can I still use it for ViaVoice Gold?
ViaVoice Gold uses a powerful technology. If your sound card and PC do not meet the minimum requirements, ViaVoice Gold will not work adequately on your PC.

 

Answers section 2 - User Wizard
2.1 What is the User Wizard?
The User Wizard is a tool that is designed to improve the out of the box experience. It will be opened by any program which creates a new user and also leads the user through Microphone Setup and Quick Training.

 

Answers section 3 - Microphone Setup
3.1 What is Microphone Setup?
Microphone Setup is a wizard, located in ViaVoice Gold Tools folder, that helps you connect the IBM ViaVoice microphone headset to your computer and helps you configure your audio settings. Microphone Setup does the following:
  - Shows you how to connect the microphone headset to your computer.
  - Tests your existing audio setup.
  - Adjusts the microphone volume.
  - Performs a speech recognition test.
    Setting up your microphone correctly is the single most important thing you can do to enhance the use of ViaVoice. Proper microphone set up, and correct audio settings are required to achieve the highest recognition accuracy.

 

3.2 When should I run Microphone Setup?
You should run Microphone Setup:
  - BEFORE you begin your first dictation session.
  - If your recognition accuracy has deteriorated.
  - If you've changed your sound card.
  - If you've changed your microphone.
  - If you've switched users.
3.3 The microphone in my copy of ViaVoice Gold is different from the one shown on the Microphone Setup.
The microphone shown in the Microphone Setup (the Andrea ANC-500) is one of the many microphones which works with ViaVoice Gold.
3.4 Can any other microphones be used?
You can use many microphones for speech recognition; however, not all microphones will produce satisfactory results. Several microphones have been tested and found to produce dictation accuracy consistent with the microphone included with the product. Please click
here to be linked to an up to date list of tested microphones.
3.5 New inexpensive ThinkPad adapter now available.
Some IBM Thinkpads can now use an inexpensive adapter to provide power to the microphone which does not require any batteries. This would replace the battery adapter that you are currently using. These adapters can be purchased from
Andrea Electronics. Please be aware that these adapters will work on all models of the following families of Thinkpads: 380, 385, 560, 760, 765 and 770.
3.6 I didn't get a power adapter (black) with my microphone.
Not all IBM ViaVoice Gold microphones require the power adapter (black). The NC-50u and NC-80u (also called NC-80) have the power adapter built-in to their tips. Therefore they are not supplied with a separate power adapter.
3.7 Do I need to use microphone adapters?
The Microphone Setup program gives you instructions on what microphone adapters to use, depending on the sound card it detects.
- Signal adapter (light gray): this adapter reduces the microphone signal. It is used with sound cards that require a weak microphone signal. The Microphone Setup will give you instructions if this adapter is required.
- Power adapter (black): if you have one of the ViaVoice Gold microphones Andrea NC-50 and ANC-500, you may require power. Most sound cards provide power to the microphone, but not all sound cards provide this power in the same way. This is why the power adapter (black) is necessary for some sound cards. For instance, the Sound Blaster(**) cards usually require the power adapter (black). However, the other ViaVoice Gold microphones (Andrea NC-50u and NC-80u) have the power adapter built in to their tips and is therefore not shipped as a separate item in your microphone package.
- Battery adapter: A few sound cards and some laptop computers (including the IBM ThinkPad range) do not provide microphone power. For those, you must use the battery adapter. If you require a battery adapter, please contact Andrea Electronics (information included with the headset). Try the microphone both with and without the black power adapter (if supplied with your microphone), following the instructions in the Microphone Setup program, before deciding to use the battery adapter. Don't forget to install two fresh AAA batteries in the correct orientation into the battery adapter before using it. Even if it seems that your sound card needs the battery adapter, you may not, in fact, need it. Some sound cards have the ability to provide microphone power, but this feature is disabled. To enable the feature, carefully read the documentation for your sound card; you might need to set a jumper or run a setup utility. If you do not have documentation for your card, contact your computer or sound card manufacturer and ask if and how your particular sound card can provide power to microphones so that you can avoid using the battery adapter and having to buy batteries. Note: to increase the life of the batteries, unplug the microphone from the battery adapter when you are not using it.
3.8 Can I use the microphone that shipped with my computer (or the built-in microphone, if there is one)?
We recommend using the microphone supplied with your ViaVoice Gold product. This microphone has noise canceling capabilities and was specifically designed for speech recognition. However, if you have another microphone for your computer, you can use it to make sure that the computer's sound system works before you plug in the microphone for ViaVoice Gold. For this pretest, make a test recording of your voice in the Windows Sound Recorder. Again, use this microphone only for testing the sound system -- not for ViaVoice Gold speech recognition.
When plugging the ViaVoice Gold microphone into your computer, do not use the microphone-in jack on the side of the monitor. Instead, make sure that you plug the microphone directly into your sound card's microphone-in jack. This will help avoid getting any interference from your monitor through the microphone.
3.9 How often should I change the batteries in the microphone battery adapter?
The microphone draws power from the battery adapter even when the microphone is off. To increase the life of the batteries, unplug the microphone from the battery adapter when you are not using it. If you are using ViaVoice on a daily basis, you should change the batteries every month or so.
3.10 I have an Ensoniq sound card in my PC and I keep failing the test in Microphone Setup "I am Testing...".
Updating to the latest drivers for the Ensoniq sound card often resolves this problem. However, if you still have problems after downloading the latest drivers, the error may be due to the microphone input being set too high.
3.11 I have a Crystal sound card in my PC and when I run Microphone Setup, a "General Error" message is returned.
Updating to the newest drivers almost always resolves this failure.
3.12 If you have an FX sound card in your Acer PC...
Make sure you disable the wavetable and special effects such as 3D and Reverb.
Note: Removing or disabling components in this manner may affect the functionality or performance of your sound card and other software.
3.13 The Sound Galaxy 534 sound card in my PC appears to constantly be recording background noise.
Removing PB Fast Media and FM Thunk from the Startup Folder and disabling the wavetable usually resolves this problem.
Note: Removing or disabling components in this manner may affect the functionality or performance of your sound card and other software.
3.14 I have a Creative Labs Soundblaster 16 sound card and I am having a problem with microphone setup.
If your Soundblaster 16 has Auto Gain Control (AGC), you should make sure the box is checked. Please refer to the ViaVoice README for complete instructions on how to do this.
Note: Removing or disabling components in this manner may affect the functionality or performance of your sound card and other software.

 

Answers section 4 - Enrollment
4.1 What is enrollment and is it required?
Enrollment is the process of teaching ViaVoice Gold your voice so your speech can be recognized with greater accuracy. Although enrollment is not required (you can simply start using ViaVoice Gold right out of the box), doing either the short or full enrollment will help improve your recognition accuracy.
The enrollment should not be confused with the short speech recognition task in the User Wizard where each user must speak 4 or 5 words. The enrollment process consists in reading a minimum of 50 sentences in the US English version of ViaVoice Gold.
4.2 How many sentences should I read for enrollment?
Although you can start using IBM ViaVoice Gold right out of the box, we recommend that you do the short enrollment to improve recognition accuracy. The short enrollment requires that you read 50 sentences (for the US English version, this might be different for the other language versions). After reading the 50 sentences, you will be prompted to select Train. Unless you have a heavy accent, the short 50 sentence enrollment should suffice. If you decide not to train and continue reading beyond the 50 sentences, you must then complete the full enrollment of 265 sentences before you can process this enrollment. For this reason, we suggest that you choose to train after reading 50 sentences. You still have the option to do the full enrollment by going back and reading the remaining sentences later.
Even after you have processed your enrollment, IBM ViaVoice continues to update your personal language model helping to improve your recognition performance. Whenever you use the Correct Error function to correct recognition mistakes, IBM ViaVoice Gold will learn the usage of the corrected word in the same context to its language context and will give this word higher rank next time this word is spoken. Essentially, doing word correction allows ViaVoice Gold to learn from its mistakes and recognize the corrected word next time you speak it.
4.3 What if I do not speak with a native accent for the language version I have installed?
If you do not have a native accent for that language, or if you have a strong regional accent, and are frequently getting "red" words while reading the enrollment sentences, decrease the recognition sensitivity as follows:
  - Click "Options" in the Enrollment panel.
  - Move the slider to the left in the "Match word to sound" section by clicking the "Approximate" arrow 3 to 5 times.
  - Click "OK", then click "Yes".
    However, do not forget that most times problems with "red" words occur because of incorrect positioning of the microphone. Make sure that your microphone is positioned and adjusted properly by running Microphone Setup before you start the Enrollment.
4.4 What shall I do if my screen turns dark while enrolling
As the enrollment does not necessitate you to move your mouse or type anything, your screensaver might become active. Please disable it while enrolling.
4.5 FOR US ENGLISH ONLY

How can I create additional users and enrollments in version 4.3.0.0 of the US English edition?
If you are using ViaVoice Gold US ENGLISH version 4.3.0.0, you should download a fix to resolve problems with using the "Create" button to create additional user IDs or the "New" button to create additional enrollments. Testing found that using these functions on version 4.3.0.0 will result in the loss of user data.
Get more information now.

NOTE: All other versions (UK English, French, German, Spanish, Italian) are NOT affected by this problem.

  If you do not download the fix, but you want to create additional user IDs, do not use the "Create" or "New" buttons in Enrollment; please follow the procedure outlined in the paragraphs below.

Adding New Users:
To add new users to your ViaVoice Gold System, please use the Add User... button in IBM ViaVoice Options. This can be found under: Start->Programs->IBM ViaVoice->Tools->ViaVoice Options.
The Add User... button is under the User tab. There are other ways to add users to the system, but IBM recommends that you use the IBM ViaVoice Options path to add new users.

Creating New Enrollments:
On version 4.3.0.0, you should have only one enrollment per user (as creating multiple enrollments under the same user name will erase the previous user data). Therefore, if you want to create a new enrollment, you should add a new user and a new enrollment under that user name. Follow the instructions above to add a new user.

Answers section 5 - General dictation and SpeakPad
5.1 What is the difference between isolated-word speech and continuous speech?
Isolated-word speech is speaking with small pauses between your words. Continuous speech allows you to speak without pauses between your words, however you should speak at a moderate pace and pronounce each word clearly. It is important not to run your words together. You should use the Quick Trainer to learn how to speak when dictating with IBM ViaVoice Gold.
5.2 How does the system learn as I correct mistakes in SpeakPad?
As soon as you correct a word, the correction is saved in memory and is available during your dictation session. Once you close your SpeakPad dictation session, the correction is saved to disk and your speech data is updated with the correct pronunciation of a new word and the context usage of the misrecognized word.
5.3 Once I've dictated a document in SpeakPad, how do I transfer it to another application?
After you have completed a dictation session in SpeakPad and corrected any errors, you can transfer the text to any application which accepts text input (e.g. a word processor). With the left mouse button, click the Transfer icon in the icon toolbar (this will transfer the text automatically to the last application that you used) or click and drag the icon with your mouse pointer to the opened application window where you want to transfer the dictated text. The formatting of the document in SpeakPad WILL NOT be preserved in the other application. You should format the text after transferring it.
5.4 Is it possible to add an alternate pronunciation for an existing word in the vocabulary?
No. It is not possible to insert an alternate pronunciation for a word in the dictation vocabulary. You can only create a macro for this word and train it with this alternate pronunciation. However, if the system detects that you've corrected a word more than twice, a pop-up message will appear and you will be asked to provide a new pronunciation. This new pronunciation will be stored along with the old pronunciation.
5.5 My recognition was good, but it now has deteriorated. Why?
Several factors could account for this problem:
  - The microphone settings might have been changed either manually or by some other sound application. Please run Microphone Setup. This will readjust your microphone settings so that ViaVoice Gold will work correctly.
  - You might not be using your own speaker model. Make sure you use the correct user name that contains your own personal language model. You can use the IBM ViaVoice Gold Options, in the Control Panel, to check and change users. Never let an anyone else dictate with your user name.
  - You might be positioning your microphone incorrectly. The microphone boom should be angled toward the corner of your mouth (not up or down) so that the flat part on the microphone element under the foam faces the corner of your mouth. The Microphone Setup Wizard illustrates the correct positioning of the microphone.
  - Make sure that you are not breathing directly into the microphone mouthpiece or speaking too loudly when dictating. Also, make sure the foam microphone wind screen is attached and in place.
  - The batteries in your battery adapter may be running low. If you are using the battery adapter, try using fresh batteries.
5.6 How do I dictate numbers?
There are two ways you can dictate numbers:
1. To dictate numbers, like a social security number, you should break them up into two digits at a time. For instance, to dictate the following social security number, 521-44-9655, say fifty-two one hyphen forty-four hyphen ninety-six fifty-five. Initially, the numbers will have spaces in between them, but once ViaVoice Gold understands the context of this number, by saying another word, it will glue these digits back together.

2. To dictate numbers as digits (0-9) rather than allow ViaVoice Gold to spell out the numbers, say begin numbers. Begin Numbers mode gives you higher recognition accuracy since you are restricting the vocabulary to numbers only. Please note, that this voice command will not be acted upon until you check the 'Enable "Begin numbers" box' under Dictation Options in the Dictation menu of SpeakPad. To end numbers mode and resume dictation, say Resume Dictation. Saying Change that while in numbers mode after a digit has been spoken, will delete the digit. You cannot use the correct error pop-up menu for digits dictated in numbers mode, so we advise making your corrections before returning to dictation mode.

5.7 How can I improve my recognition performance with ViaVoice Gold?
ViaVoice Gold is speaker independent, so you can use SpeakPad to dictate without first training it to recognize your voice (enrollment). Let's assume that you are using the US English version of ViaVoice Gold. If you have set up your microphone correctly, and if you have a native US English accent, you should get more than 90% recognition accuracy for words in the ViaVoice Gold vocabulary without enrolling. To gauge your true recognition accuracy, dictate a few paragraphs, say, from a business letter, skipping words, such as names, that are not likely to be in the vocabulary. After you finish dictating, you might find that there are a number of misrecognized words in your text. If you find your recognition performance is lower than 90%, then we recommend going through enrollment. Refer to the enrollment section in the on-line help and in these frequently asked questions for further information.

Here are some tips on how to improve your recognition performance:

- Do the correction in the normal reading direction: do it from left to right and down.
- Use speech correction to correct a word that ViaVoice Gold misrecognizes and teach it how to display the word. Speech correction adjusts your personal speech files so that ViaVoice Gold remembers the correction each time you say the word. There are several methods for error correction using ViaVoice Gold. Please reference your "How Do You Dictate and Correct Errors" in the on-line help.
- ViaVoice Gold is a continuous speech program. However, you will still need to ensure that you dictate at a moderate rate of speed and pronounce your words clearly. Do not run your words together.
- It is important to speak in a normal tone of voice. If the audio level is low (not reaching the green in the microphone input level), move the microphone closer to the side of your mouth, or rerun the Microphone Setup program to readjust your microphone settings.
- The microphone position is very important for good recognition accuracy. Be sure that the microphone boom bends toward your mouth. The microphone should be about 20 mm (3/4 inch) away from your face. It should be a little to the side of your mouth so that you do not breathe into it.
- If you have enrolled, use the same microphone and sound card that you used for enrollment when you dictate. Although you can move your speech data to another computer, your accuracy will never be as good as on the system you used to enroll. So if you switch computers, sound card, or microphone, and you want the highest possible dictation accuracy, rerun Microphone Setup and re-enroll on the new system!
- If your system has at least a Pentium 200MHz processor, then you can increase recognition accuracy by setting recognition performance to "accurate" under ViaVoice Gold Options on the Voice page. Refer to the ViaVoice Gold Options section in these Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
- If you want to interrupt your dictation, for example in order to answer the phone or talk to someone, first stop your dictation by saying "Stop-Dictation" or by clicking Stop Dictation in the Dictation menu.

5.8 Can I save a voice session to a diskette or other removable cartridge like device such as an IOMega Zip or Jazz Drive?
One minute of dictation equals approximately 1MB of disk space, because ViaVoice Gold saves your original dictation audio. A two page document could be as large as 30 - 40 MB of disk space. Therefore, you will be limited not only on the size of the document you want to save but also how many documents you could save as a result of the size. Since these files are so large, they can take a long time to save, especially if you are using a parallel drive. We recommend that you save the file to your harddrive and then use a file copy command to copy them to your removable drive.
5.9 I want to open a saved session but it does not react.
A speech session contains a lot of information. Therefore it might take some time to open it. If you have to save very long sessions we would recommend to use SpeakPad rather then Word.
5.10 Can I have text in files read to me?
Yes, ViaVoice Gold (US and UK English, German and French versions only) has a text to speech option, ViaVoice Outloud. Dictate some text or open a file using SpeakPad, then select "Reading" on the toolbar, and finally select "Begin Reading". All of the text in the file will be read back. To have portions of text read instead of the complete file, highlight the portion you want read and then select "Begin Reading". The first time you do this, the IBM Text to Speech icon will appear on the right of the Taskbar. Right mouse click on the IBM Text to Speech icon and select Help to find out how you can use IBM Text to Speech.
Note: when using ViaVoice Gold on NT4.0, ViaVoice Outloud is only available to users who have administrator access.
5.11 When reading the dictated text in SpeakPad, the volume is extremely low compared to the volume of correcting dictation error. How can I increase the volume ?
Select Dictation and then Dictation Options from the SpeakPad menu and click on the audio tab. Move the slider to change the output volume level. Or you can use the Audio Mixer (by running the Volume Control applet in the Accessories/Multimedia folder) to increase the playback volume.
5.12 A Word Basic Error 53 appears every time I open Microsoft Word.
If this error occurs, copy the NORMALB.DOT file into the MSOFFICE\TEMPLATES folder (Word 7.0 & Word 8.0) and rename the file to NORMAL.DOT. After that, you will need to update the Microsoft Office Registry entry to point to the current templates drive and folder for Microsoft Office. Refer to the online reference for more help on how to correct this error and other problems you may encounter with Microsoft Word.

Answers section 6 - ViaVoice Gold Options
6.1 How do I change users if more than one user has enrolled?
Start IBM ViaVoice Gold Options located in the Tools folder within the IBM ViaVoice Gold program folder. You must click the User tab and select a new user from the drop down menu. If you have multiple enrollments for the same user (for example, one for a noisy environment and one for a quieter environment), or multiple languages installed, you can switch enrollments and languages from this menu as well. You can make these changes by clicking on "OK".
Note: If any speech applications are active, you will be prompted to close them before the changes take effect.
6.2 What is the Recognition Sensitivity used for under the ViaVoice Gold Options Voice page?
The recognition sensitivity slider does not affect the recognition for dictation. However, it is used to relax or tighten the acceptance of the pronunciation of words read during enrollment, and when you control your PC by voice with command words. If the pronunciation doesn't match the expected pronunciation of the word read during enrollment, ViaVoice Gold will reject the sentence by highlighting this sentence in red. ViaVoice Gold will be more likely to reject sentences when this slider is moved closer towards "Exact Match". If during enrollment you get a lot of red sentences, you can move the slider closer to "Best Guess". This will help reduce the number of red words. This is particularly important for people with heavy accents. This setting is the same as the Match Word to Sound setting under Options in Enrollment.
6.3 What is the Recognition Performance used for under the ViaVoice Gold Options Voice page?
The Recognition Performance setting is used to increase performance or accuracy depending upon your system. In general, if your system has a lower speed Pentium processor (166MHz, for example), we recommend that you set the recognition performance to "fast" or "balanced". This will speed up recognition processing at the slight expense of accuracy. If your system has a higher speed Pentium processor (200MHz, for example), you should set the recognition performance to "accurate". This will improve recognition accuracy with a small degradation of speed.
6.4 In addition to Continuous General Dictation, can I select any isolated dictation vocabulary, or any of the optional isolated vocabularies in the Vocabulary field of the User tab of ViaVoice Options?
No. Continuous General Dictation and Navigation are the only supported vocabularies in ViaVoice Gold.

Answers section 7 - ViaVoice Gold Macros
7.1 What is the difference between Current and Always macros?
- Always macros are always available when IBM VoiceCenter is running independently of the active application. These macros are commands that send a series of keystrokes to the active application or highlighted object. You specify these keystrokes by recording (capturing) them. The Always macros you create are added to the Always page in the "What Can I Say?" Window.
- Current macros are commands that carry out a series of actions in a single application program. These macros are named "current" because they apply only to the application window that was active when the macro was created. You specify these actions by recording (capturing) the actual keystrokes and mouse clicks within the application's windows. Current macros you create are added to the Current page in the "What Can I Say?" window whenever the application has focus. When you say a macro command, VoiceCenter sends the keystrokes and mouse clicks in the captured sequence to the application.
7.2 What's the difference between dictation macros and navigation/control macros?
Dictation macros are used to substitute frequently used text for a short expression during dictation, e.g. "business address" could print off the details of your office address. Navigation/control macros are voice-command shortcuts for working with applications and objects on your Windows desktop, e.g. "show calendar" to open the Lotus Organizer diary.

Note: The on-line help gives further information and tips on creating dictation macros as well as navigation/control macros.

The Dictation Macro Editor allows you to create dictation macros and voice templates which are only active during dictation sessions. Note that although dictation macros are active in all methods of dictation, voice templates are only active in SpeakPad.
The navigation and control macros, shown in the "What Can I Say?" window, are not available during dictation. The IBM VoiceCenter must be running to activate the "What Can I Say?" command and control macros. ViaVoice Gold comes with predefined macros for commonly used applications, as well as the mini-applications and accessories provided by Windows. You can create additional command and control macros. For example, you could create a macro in which you select the style, font and type size for a document in a word processor.

7.3 What are Select Lists used for in What Can I Say macros?
Macro select lists add useful function to command and control macros. For example, you can use macro lists in the "What Can I Say?" window to create a macro for typing telephone numbers or even currency into a document. To create an always macro for typing currency:

Say or click Macro and the Macro window appears.
Say or click Capture.
Say or click Lists.
Select $ and cents and then click on OK.
Say or click Done.
Insert the word value before the macro list, <$ and cents> in the voice command field then click on OK.
Train the macro named value and click on Done.

The macro named value <$ and cents> just created should now appear under Customized Always Macros in the What Can I Always Say window.
Now, if you open an application like Wordpad and say in a continuous phrase (without pausing between the words), value two hundred three dollars and forty two cents, 203.42 should display in your active application.
The $ and cents list is identical to the Amounts list, except that it also includes the words dollars and cents. The digits list provides numeric values with high recognition accuracy where the values are spoken as separate digits. For example: for 17.32, say one seven point three two.
If you click on the + sign before the macro list name, it will show you an example and list the available words for this macro.

7.4 When I am in navigation mode, and issue a command, the command appears to be recognized in VoiceCenter however, it does not execute.
Some commands are not available for use at all times with all applications. For example, if you are in SpeakPad and you have not dictated any text yet and you issue the command "Begin Correction", the command is recognized in the VoiceCenter, however, no action will take place as there is no text to correct.

Answers section 8 - ViaVoice Direct
8.1 I am having problems using ViaVoice Direct dictating into some application. The information displayed in the application I am using with ViaVoice Direct is not correct. What can be the problem?
If ViaVoice Direct is working correctly with other applications, but is doing strange things in one specific application, try disabling infirm word display by removing the check mark from "Show Infirm Words" in ViaVoice Options, under the Dictation tab. During dictation, infirm words are tentatively recognized by ViaVoice as possibly fitting the context of the dictation. If "Show Infirm Words" is enabled, the infirm word is displayed in reverse video (highlighted), and may change as the dictation progresses, depending on the context of the words following the infirm word. With some applications the process of highlighting and modifying the infirm words may cause problems to that application.
8.2 When I dictate directly into an application using ViaVoice Direct, the system does not perform as well as when I dictate into SpeakPad.
Because SpeakPad is controlled by the speech engine in ViaVoice Gold, you may notice that the words appear in SpeakPad faster than when dictating using ViaVoice Direct. However, the accuracy of the dictated text is the same in both methods of dictation.

Answers section 9 - Vocabulary Expander
9.1 How can I quickly add words to my vocabulary and improve recognition?
By using Vocabulary Expander, you can analyze text and add words to your current Added Words List. Vocabulary Expander also helps ViaVoice Gold learn your dictation patterns, and updates your personal language model via the "Words in Context" dialog. This helps improve dictation accuracy. To analyze text you can open a file which has previously been created (in text or MS Word 7 format), copy text from the clipboard, or create text in the Vocabulary Expander by using your keyboard. Vocabulary Expander will be able to analyze the text, allow you to select words you wish to add, and train the words you added. Most of the words you will add will be in ViaVoice Gold's 260,000 word pronunciation/spelling dictionary and therefore, you will not be prompted to provide a pronunciation for them.
9.2 When I analyze text the system hangs.
Your System probably does not hang. Analyzing text is a very intense procedure. Please be patient until the system has finished the process.

Answers section 10 - Vocabulary Manager
10.1 How do I see my added words, and when would I want to delete a word?
The Vocabulary Manager utility is used to display words that were added to your personal added word list. On occasion, a word will be added to your personal added word list that will take the place of an already existing word. For example, if the word "comma" was inadvertently added during word correction, the word "comma" might appear instead of the punctuation mark ",". In your added word list, you can delete the word "comma" and the punctuation mark should again appear during dictation. You might also want to delete misspelled words and words such as proper names that you know you will not use again.

Answers section 11 - Hardware and software requirements
11.1 What are the minimum hardware and software requirements?
To run IBM ViaVoice Gold, you must be running Windows 95(**) or Windows NT 4.0(**) and have at least the following hardware:
  - Pentium(**) 155MMX, Pentium 166MHz, or equivalent AMD-K6 MMX Enhanced Processor (**).
  - 32MB of memory for Windows 95 / 48MB of memory for NT 4.0. These memory requirements include running Microsoft Word. However, like with any software, increasing the processor and/or the memory will improve the speed of decoding, but will not improve the recognition performance.
  - 125+MB of available (non-compressed) hard file space.
  - Creative Labs(**) Sound Blaster 16 (or 100% compatible) or Mwave(*) sound card.
  - CD-ROM Drive.
Refer to our list of systems tested with ViaVoice Gold for additional information.

 

Answers section 12 - Known limitations
12.1 Are there any known limitations?
Following are known limitations:
    - A user must use the same application for retrieving deferred or delegated dictation as was used for saving it. For example, if SpeakPad was used to save a dictation, then you must use SpeakPad to retrieve and make corrections to that dictation.
    - In the French, German, US and UK English versions, when using the "Text to Speech" function, the volume is lower compared to the volume when correcting dictation errors. Please note that ViaVoice Outloud (the text to speech function) is found under SpeakPad as 'Begin Reading' as specified in the online help. If you have VoiceCenter up, you can also say 'Begin Reading' to read any text from any active window. Also note that you must have administrator privileges to use ViaVoice Outloud when running ViaVoice Gold on NT4.0.
    - If "Check Grammar as You Type" option in Word 97 is selected, dictated word correction does not work. You can temporarily remove the grammar checking by right-clicking the underlined words and clicking Ignore Sentence
    - Microsoft Word 6.0c and Word 7.0 (Office 95) might not work after you install Word 97 in the same system and then install Dictation Support for it.
    - The Quick Trainer in the User Wizard is difficult to read with the display properties set to Large Fonts. To change to small fonts, click Start/Control Panel/Display and make sure that the font size is set to small fonts.
    - You must have administrator privileges to install ViaVoice Gold on Windows NT 4.0. You must also have administrator privileges to use ViaVoice Outloud (text-to-speech) and MS Word support.
    - Problems with ViaVoice Gold and Anti-Virus Software. If you receive errros such as SMAPI RC = 215, SMAPI = -4 in Microphone Setup Wizard, general error in Dictation Trainer, no playback in SpeakPad, or errors using ViaVoice Gold options, make sure that you are not running any antivirus software (e.g. IBM Antivirus for Windows 95 or NT, or Norton Antivirus) during the installation of ViaVoice Gold.

If you run IBM Antivirus for Windows 95 or NT, make sure you disable the "Check files when accessed" field in System Shield setup before installing ViaVoice Gold.

    - On Windows NT, do not use an Audio Description on saved dictation sessions. You must answer "No" to the question "Would you like to record an audio description for this session?" when saving a dictation session.
    - If Word support is not working, please update your printer drivers. Uninstall Word support and reinstall it afterwards.
    - Direct Dictation to Word 6.0c is not supported under Windows NT. You can use SpeakPad to dictate, then transfer your dictated text into Word 6.0c.
    - If you get square brackets around words when dictating in Word, please disable the view of bookmarks in the menu. To do this open the tools menu click Options select the View tab and uncheck the checkbox "Bookmarks".
    - Bookmarks - Do not use direct dictation into Word if you want to use bookmarks. If you once save without saving the dictation session, all your bookmarks will be deleted. If you require the use of bookmarks, dictate into SpeakPad and do the formatting in Word.
    - Do not use VoiceCenter to navigate the User Wizard. As the User Wizard and the Microphone Setup tool try to determine and set the audio parameters for your system, using VoiceCenter to navigate either of these program may cause problems. Therefore, close the VoiceCenter before starting User Wizard or Microphone Setup.
    - Navigation problem with error correction in SpeakPad. Sometimes the 'Correct Error' item in the Dictation menu becomes disabled (grayed out), and the voice command 'Correct Error' does not work. This may happen after issuing 'By Line' commands (i.e. 'Forward to Period' or 'Backward to Period'). To recover from this situation, double-click on a word you want to correct.
    - When using an IBM ThinkPad, you must Stop Dictation before you enter suspend mode.
    - I have an MWAVE adapter and have just upgraded my software from 29.8 to 33.6. ViaVoice no longer works since I have upgraded my modem software.
The 33.6 modem software uses a lot of resources and may keep the modem on all of the time. This will prevent ViaVoice from being able to use audio and therefore, ViaVoice will not be able to run. You should use the 29.8 modem software for MWAVE with VoiceType.
    - Recently there has been a trend towards lower end, inexpensive consumer like PC's. One of these cost cutting methods is the elimination of L2 cache. L2 cache is used to buffer data into the main CPU (processor) to insure optimum system performance. This is also referred to as Pipeline Burst Cache or Processor Cache.

Systems without L2 cache will run slower with CPU/floating point calculation intensive applications such as speech recognition and other multimedia programs which may result in performance problems. Some systems have sockets where customers can add L2 cache by purchasing this feature separately.

Customers who experience performance problems should contact their place of purchase or system manufacturers for information on adding cache to optimize their systems to run these applications.

NOTE: If these Frequently Asked Questions did not help solve your problem, please refer the on-line help, Readme file, the CD booklet and other documentation in ViaVoice Gold.
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS TECHNICAL SUPPORT WEB SITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. You assume the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of the information contained herein.

 

(*) IBM ®, Mwave ®, Aptiva ®, ThinkPad ® and VoiceType ® are IBM registered trademarks.

(**) Microsoft ®, Windows ®, and NT ®, are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

(**) All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

 

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