Friday, December 5, 2014

Sennheiser SD Pro 2


 
We like the Sennheiser SD Pro 2 (two speakers) and Pro 1 (one speaker) microphones for professional clients that want both the freedom of a wireless headset and the ability to switch between accurate PC dictation and crystal clear phone calls, with the push of a button.
 
Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 13 Released
















Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 13 http://www.knowbrainer.com/NewStore/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=28 was released this morning and Nuance has decided to temporarily sell upgrades from Pro 11/12 at the lowest introductory price ever (normally 299.99 now 149.99). They have also extended this low pricing (normally 399.99 now 199.99) to Premium 11/12/13 to Professional 13 upgrades. This pricing is good through September 2014. If you missed our 16 page review you can read it here http://www.knowbrainer.com/index.cfm/wiki/dragon-naturallyspeaking-13-review


Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Review

The following review covers the ver. 13 editions of DNS Home, Premium, Pro and Legal. This review will be subject to revisions/updates as we continue working with the application, or in the event Nuance releases a service release patch. DMPE 3 (Dragon Medical 13) is not likely to be released until mid-2015. At that time we will create a separate review. Nuance has just rolled out Dragon 13. If you would like to read our detailed 16 page review, click the KnowBrainer NaturallySpeaking 13 Review

Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Samson AirLine Micro Camera - Wireless System with Dragon Medical


KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Perspective of the AirLine Micro - Camera Edition


The Samson Airline Micro Camera Edition is a new wrinkle on the Samson Airline Micro which is a popular small portable wireless microphone with one limitation; it includes a non-replaceable wireless microphone. The biggest advantage of the new Samson Airline Micro Camera is that it will allow you to convert any analog microphone (terminating in a standard 1/8 inch plug) into a wireless microphone. Our favorite microphones, to pair with the AirLine Micro are the FlexyMike SE and FlexyMike DE headsets because they're very lightweight and comfortable, as well as accurate. The Samson AirLine Micro Camera is a completely self-contained wireless unit which includes built-in rechargeable NiMH batteries in the transmitter and receiver. It has professional look and feel, is very small and doesn’t require an AC outlet. The transmitter includes a belt clip but it is so small, we prefer to drop it into any available pocket.

Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Installing Dragon Medical on Ultrabooks



 

 

 

 

 
A lot of laptops are coming without DVD drives these days, like the super-thin ultrabooks or Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 3. Apples Macbook Pro is another example of a highly popular machine with no DVD drive.

 


Ultra-thin laptops are great. They're light, super portable, and can handle almost any modern task you throw at them. They don't come with DVD drives inside, but the fact of the matter is that most of us rarely use disc drives these days. That said, there are still situations in which they can come in handy—like when you're trying to install Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Dragon Medical, ripping one of your own CDs, or when you want to watch a movie on your laptop. A Portable USB drive is the best way to do those things without an internal disc drive.

 


As far as purchasing your external DVD drive, your local electronics store such as Best Buy will have what you need in stock at a reasonable price. If you have a Mac, don't waste your money on Apple's $80 model. You can also get one for as cheap as $30 on Amazon or Newegg if you have time to wait. Once you acquire your unit simply plug it into your USB drive, pop in your copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Dragon Medical and you're ready to begin installation. As an added bonus you can also now rip CDs to iTunes, play DVDs, and even boot from the drive if you need to run Linux or reinstall Windows.




 

 
 
 
In the end, if you're going to purchase a computer with no disk drive (which makes perfectly good sense these days since online stores like iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix provide us with most of our media), you really should consider spending the extra $30 on an external USB DVD drive.
 
Tom Hamilton Nuance Gold Certified & BBB AccreditedKnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com support@knowbrainer.com

Friday, June 20, 2014

Speech Recognition News - New Microphone Released by Speechware Hitting US market 6/2014

 

Whether you're using speech recognition or planning on it you'll want to know about this microphone. The three most important things are accuracy, noise cancellation and comfort and the new SpeechWare FlexyMike Dual Ear Cardiod  brings them all to the table. This is not another microphone designed for a different purpose such as singing or whispering that happens to work with speech recognition, this microphone was designed for speech recognition including but not limited to Dragon Medical, Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Premium, Professional and Legal, Windows Speech Recognition and Siri.

 

 

 

The FlexyMike Dual Ear Cardioid – DEC, is a lightweight (about 25 g./0.9 oz.) stainless steel headset microphone designed specifically for accurate, noise cancelling and comfortable speech recognition dictation, and other Voice dependent applications. Manufactured in the style of a traditional headband, the frame is covered with injected rubber protectors that covers both ears for maximum working comfort. An extremely flexible gooseneck and cardioid microphone, enables the consistent positioning of the microphone capsule and superior recognition accuracy with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Special bundled Adapter for connection of the headset to iPhone/iPad/Android (CTIA recent models) Smartphones and Tablets. The cardioid capsule excels in delivering exceptional voice clarity with outstanding background noise rejection, making it especially suitable for mobile users and notebooks or tablets, especially when used with the SpeechMatic USB MultiAdapter for maximum performance.

 

 

To take full advantage of this microphone we strongly suggest adding a USB sound card.
 

Features:

  • Headband style / wearing style is behind the neck and over both ears.
  • Ultra Lightweight and most comfortable design for extended periods of dictation.
  • High noise rejection cardiod microphone capsule.
  • Rubber ear protectors / Flexible stay in place microphone boom.
  • Short 1.5 m shielded cable for notebooks, laptops, and tablets.
  • Long 2.5 m extension cable for Desktops.
  • Spare windshield.
  • Special iPhone / iPad / Android CTIA cable

Technical Specifications:

  • Back Electret Condenser Element
  • Unidirectional Cardioid Polar Pattern
  •  Frequency Range: 50Hz ~ 18,000Hz
  •  Sensitivity: -66dB ± 3dB (0dB=1V/µbar@1KHz)
  •  Impedance: 1.500Ω ± 30% @ 1KHz (RL:2.2K, DC:1.5V)
  •  Operating Voltage: 1V – 10V
  •  Connector: standard 3.5 mm mono gold-plate plug
  •  Agency Approvals: FCE, CE, BC, IC
Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Monday, May 19, 2014

Dragon Medical Practice Edition VS. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium / Professional







                  VS.







At least once a day, someone asks us what the differences are between DMPE 2 (Dragon Medical) and lower-priced versions of Dragon such as NaturallySpeaking Professional or even Premium. The price gap between DMPE 2 and Premium is significant but so is the accuracy and features. Click Dragon Medical vs NaturallySpeaking http://www.knowbrainer.com/index.cfm/wiki/comparing-dragon-medical-dmpe-2-to-dragon-professional-premium/ to see why Dragon Premium is a false economy for physicians.

Monday, April 21, 2014

AirLine Micro - Camera Edition for Dragon Medical


KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Perspective of the AirLine Micro - Camera Edition



The Samson Airline Micro Camera Edition is a new wrinkle on the Samson Airline Micro which is a popular small portable wireless microphone with one limitation; it includes a non-replaceable wireless microphone. The biggest advantage of the new Samson Airline Micro Camera is that it will allow you to convert any analog microphone (terminating in a standard 1/8 inch plug) into a wireless microphone. Our favorite microphones, to pair with the AirLine Micro are the FlexyMike SE and FlexyMike DE headsets because they're very lightweight and comfortable, as well as accurate. The Samson AirLine Micro Camera is a completely self-contained wireless unit which includes built-in rechargeable NiMH batteries in the transmitter and receiver. It has professional look and feel, is very small and doesn’t require an AC outlet. The transmitter includes a belt clip but it is so small, we prefer to drop it into any available pocket.

Tom Hamilton - KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com/
 KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums - http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum/index.cfm

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac

 
Now through the end of April every copy of Dragon Medical for Mac ships with a free Andrea WNC 1500 Wireless Microphone (MSRP $99.99). Break free from your chair while enjoying the most advanced Mac dictation product to date.
 

Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac http://www.knowbrainer.com/NewStore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=472&idcategory=#details is the ultimate speech recognition software. Medical professionals on the Mac platform have a fast and easy way to transcribe their appointment and medical record notes directly into the world's most popular EHR systems and other applications immediately, with virtually no spelling errors.
 
INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac lets clinicians dictate faster and more accurately than ever before. With up to 99% accuracy right out of the box, and more than 90 medical vocabularies to choose from, Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac's increased speed and accuracy lets clinicians spend more time with patients, improving both quality of care and patient satisfaction. Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac adapts to the user's voice and words used to deliver better recognition results over time, and can be personalized with custom vocabulary words and commands so that dictated text looks that way it should, every time. Add a more powerful correction interface and easy proofing tools such as Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac's Text-to-Speech feature, and medical documentation is more easily completed.

IMPROVE YOUR PRACTICE

Physicians who use Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac report that it significantly improves their enjoyment of practicing medicine. Using Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac results in higher levels of reimbursement than notes built by point-and-click EHR templates alone. More complete, accurate documentation improves coding effectiveness and provides richer detail per patient, giving clinicians greater confidence to code at higher levels than with an EHR system alone. And practice volume increases with faster, more accurate responses, which reduces time spent on documentation, allowing clinicians to see more patients and increase practice revenue and profitability. Finally, Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac helps clinicians use their time more effectively and get home in time for dinner, thus improving physician quality of life.

DRAGON SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE

As a clinician, having the correct vernacular for the way you practice is essential; Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac contains vocabularies covering more than 90 medical specialties and subspecialties, which ensures proper clinical documentation, and allows physicians to dictate in their own words, generating "once and done” documentation, which they can edit and review. Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac uses the most advanced speech recognition technology, a brand new speech engine, and sophisticated acoustic models and language models, so Dragon Dictate Medical for Mac understands the terminology used by medical professionals.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

VXi VoxStar UC Bluetooth Headset Overview


Bluetooth Microphones are our last recommendation for speech recognition applications but after testing we have found the VXi VoxStar UC to be the best Bluetooth Mic to use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Medical. VXi VoxStar UC Bluetooth Headset Overview - If you would like to learn more visit http://www.knowbrainer.com or call 615-884-4558
 

Monday, January 20, 2014

VXi Envoy UC Review (With Speech Recognition)

We found the new VXi Envoy produced very reasonable accuracy at 98% but because of NaturallySpeaking accuracy gains and the doubled sampling rate of Ver. 11/12, many microphones, that we would normally consider inferior, now produce very reasonable accuracy. However, there is more to a good microphone than accuracy in a vacuum.

We tested the VXi Envoy UC dual speaker model because it includes high fidelity speakers. While that claim is technically true, we cannot recommend the stereo Envoy UC for anything that might approach serious music listening. Accuracy was acceptable and the unit works superbly with VoIP applications like Skype and Microsoft's Lync, which opens automatically when you press the telephone button. The built-in shielded USB soundcard is excellent and the unit even drops the speaker volume level by 50% when making or receiving a call. You can't argue about the price, style, versatility or manufacturer 2 year warrantee but from a speech recognition point of view, we cannot recommend it because the noise filtering was all but nonexistent. It appears that VXi tried to compensate by eliminating the upper midrange, as you can see from the following JPEG but from a practical point of view, it didn't work. The Envoy UC microphone element is so sensitive, that it can even pick up breathing although the optional windscreen helps. Accuracy also fell a bit below the VXi 
TalkPro UC1 microphone so for now, we will be recommending other VXi USB microphones including the USB1-3 and UC1-3 models.


Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
TheMicrophoneStore.com http://www.themicrophonestore.com
support@knowbrainer.com

Thursday, January 16, 2014

SpeechWare Microphones VS Buddy (Insync) Microphones


SpeechWare and Buddy or Insync are both well established microphone companies that specialize in computer microphones used with speech recognition applications. The above video is a head to head comparison of some of their most popular microphones.
Tom Hamilton
Nuance Gold Certified & BBB Accredited
KnowBrainer Speech Recognition Forums http://www.knowbrainer.com/forums/forum
KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com
TheMicrophoneStore.com http://www.themicrophonestore.com
support@knowbrainer.com
 
 

Monday, January 13, 2014

Not giving up on Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Knowbrainer kept me from giving up on Dragon NaturallySpeaking

On December 28, 1996, while skiing on a mountain in Western
Maryland, I suffered a hemorrhagic brain stem stroke. I spent six and a half
weeks in hospitals followed by eight years of accomplishing nothing. Brain
damage left me with mental deficits and took away nearly all of my skill
sets. My body escaped unharmed, only affected by misguided signals coming
from my brain. However, I am left with Cerebellar ataxia, which causes the
left side of my body to be clumsy. Even my eyeball is adversely affected.

In 2004, as a form of therapy, I wanted to write a Journal. However,
I could do longer write with my hand; and lacked the hand eye coordination
necessary for typing. I purchased a product called Dragon NaturallySpeaking
that would allow me to speak into the computer. My first challenge was
created by my brain that would twist words before they reached my mouth.
After years of practice, I still have problems with missing syllables, but
major words sometimes come slow, but they come.

Nuance makes the best voice recognition product on the market.
Earlier versions were tricky and vulnerable to computer issues. Customer
support was short of excellent. They tried, but were not always able to solve
my problems. When version 12 rolled out most of my technical problems
disappeared. But, I would never have made it to version 12 without the
support of www.knowbrainer.com.

While googling support forums for voice recognition, I happened
across a post on a website called www.knowbrainer.com. What I found there
boggled my mind. It was a forum where thousands of voice recognition
users traded information. I found a resource destined to take my voice
recognition to a whole new level.

Often, forum users find their questions answered by Lunis Orcutt,
who owns the company. He focuses much of his time helping users navigate
through a maze of technical issues. His goal is to provide speech recognition
users with the information necessary to put together the optimum
supporting PC environment.

Knowbrainer successfully provides the information needed to unlock
the full potential of NaturallySpeaking products. They test and compare
compatible products and post reports on their website. They have become
the number one source of voice-recognition information in the world. The
forum and all their information is offered free of charge.

Knowbrainer, also hosts an online store, where you can find many
competitively priced products that have passed exhaustive tests. The
company also developed its own command software allowing handicapped
users to manage their computer by voice.

With the help of www.knowbrainer.com, I became a published author
in 2012. In April 2014, Glimpse of Sunlight, the first novel in the trilogy,
Jonathan Dickinson Odyssey (an historical thriller based on a true story), will
be published.

GE Gardiner| Novelist
www.GEGardiner.com
 www.JonathanDickinson.org

How to get the most out of Dragon / Dragon Medical (KnowBrainer Tweaks)

Since 1997, many of our customers have asked us to assist them in configuring their computers to work best with Dragon. We have come up with what we believe to be 4 essential Windows tips and 22 additional option changes for DMPE 2 and NaturallySpeaking; ranging from increasing Dragon's accuracy to disabling options that have been known to occasionally produce undesirable results. Because this question comes up so frequently, we thought it might be a good idea to make our KnowBrainerTweaks available to the public. Our recommended option changes, available through the previous hyperlink, are not necessarily endorsed by Microsoft or Nuance but we found them to be beneficial to many of our clients. No guarantees as your mileage may vary.

Tom Hamilton - KnowBrainer.com http://www.knowbrainer.com

Windows XP Won’t Be HIPAA Compliant April 8, 2014

From the EMR & HIPPA Forum:

As was announced by Microsoft a long time ago, support for Windows XP is ending on April 8, 2014. For most of us, we don’t think this is a big deal and are asking, “Do people still use Windows XP?” However, IT support people in healthcare realize the answer to that question is yes, and far too much.

With Microsoft choosing to end its support for Windows XP, I wondered what the HIPAA implications were for those who aren’t able to move off Windows XP before April 8. Is using Windows XP when it’s no longer supported a HIPAA violation? I reached out to Mac McMillan, CEO & Co-Founder of CynergisTek for the answer:

 http://www.emrandhipaa.com/emr-and-hipaa/2013/12/12/windows-xp-wont-be-hipaa-compliant-april-8-2014/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter