Dictation software has come a long way since it was first released commercially in the early s. Back then, it was clunky, slow-going, and frustrating for those of us early adopters. Today's dictation technology is light years ahead. Plus, you'll have multiple languages to choose from and voice commands to further improve productivity.
In this article, I'll walk you through the different types of speech-to-text software, why you should give them a try, and provide tips on getting the best results. And, of course, I'll provide a detailed review of our top picks for the best dictation software. Apple Dictation for a free app for Apple devices. Windows 10 Speech Recognition for a free app for Windows users.
Dragon by Nuance for a customizable dictation app. Google Docs voice typing for dictating in Google Docs. Gboard for a free mobile dictation app. SpeechTexter for occasional use. As you search online for dictation software, keep in mind that it can include all different types of apps and services. The terms dictation software, speech-to-text, voice recognition, voice-to-text, and speech recognition can all mean a program that converts your voice to text on a screen in real-time.
But sometimes lumped into a search for these terms are products that provide something else entirely. For example, some products will transcribe audio files to text, but they do not transcribe your voice to text in real-time. Others market themselves as personal AI assistants performing all computer tasks using speech and may include a dictation component. And you may run across companies that provide transcription services—using humans to transcribe your voice files to text.
These are fine for scheduling meetings, playing music, and finding a place to eat, but they aren't designed to transcribe your articles, meetings, and other documents. For this review, we've focused on software, whether standalone or embedded in a device, meant for transcribing speech to text. Why would you want to do that? For starters, dictation software provides accessibility to those with disabilities—both physical and language-based—to access technologies and be more productive.
For example, if you're unable to use your hands, you can still operate a computer, create documents, and access the web with dictation technology. And those with chronic conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome can prevent the repetitive stresses that come with typing, simply by using their voice.
But as the technology has improved over the last 20 years and costs have come down, dictation software is now accessible to everyone as a tool to increase productivity almost instantly. Look no further than the changed working environment in the wake of COVID more working from home means more opportunity to do things like dictate emails.
Students can write papers and transcribe lectures into notes depending on the software's capabilities. And the casual user can dictate notes, a shopping list, a text, or a reminder while performing other tasks, making multi-tasking a reality.
Think: taking a walk while "writing" your next novel. All of our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. We spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category.
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It's amazing how far dictation software has come in the plus years since I first tried it. I wouldn't have recommended it back then for the casual user—it was too much work for too little reward.
But now, it's actually enjoyable to see your words skip across the screen like you're dictating to your own personal assistant. And with the use of artificial intelligence that recognizes your speech with more accuracy the more the apps are used, it's hard to go wrong—no matter the platform. For my tests, accuracy was the first element I looked at when deciding which software to choose.
This was followed by ease of use, including the availability of voice commands. For example, does the software require the user to say, "insert period" vs. The latter, while maybe less intuitive at first, soon becomes second nature and saves time in the long run.
Other considerations were the number of languages and dialects supported and the versatility of a given app e. Though dictation software is pretty good at recognizing different voices, it's not perfect. Here are some tips to make it work as best as possible. Speak naturally with caveats. Dictation apps learn your voice and speech patterns over time.
And if you're going to spend any time with them, you want to be comfortable. Speak naturally. When you dictate, you have to say each period, comma, question mark, and so forth. The software isn't smart enough to figure it out on its own. Learn a few commands. Take the time to learn a few simple commands, such as "new line" to enter a line break.
There are different commands for composing, editing, and operating your device. Commands may differ from app to app, so learn the ones that apply to the tool you choose. It also functions on Xbox OS. Because Cortana is a personal assistant, it can do many things. Create and manage to-do lists, set alarms and reminders and create calendar events. As for being a dictation tool to transcribe notes, Cortana works decently.
Watson's speech recognition software is made by IBM. This is the same artificial intelligence that once went on Jeopardy back in This software has very strong real-time speech recognition. But it goes beyond dictation. Watson can handle batches of audio files. You also have a lot of editing options for the transcriptions. You can add notes, speaker labels and word timestamps. Watson Speech to text has a free version.
You can also have transcriptions done at a price per minute rate. Website: Watson Speech to Text. Google Voice Typing is a very simple speech to text tool but also very powerful. You use it directly inside a Google Doc or Google Sheet. It keeps up fast with your speech and knows about 43 languages.
There are many voice commands for editing, correcting, and even moving the mouse cursor. The transcription is smart. It can understand the context of your speech very well.
Website: Google Voice Typing. For a company looking to leverage the best speech recognition app, Dragon Pro or Otter are worthy options. Ultimately, you need to know how you will be using voice recognition technology. Do you want it trained solely on your voice, or to handle different speakers, perhaps in different languages? Is it for dictation, voice commands, or do you need a personal virtual assistant?
There are several choices for the best voice recognition software for Windows Windows Speech Recognition comes free to use with Windows and works well for dictation and voice commands. Dragon Naturallyspeaking is one of the best speech-to-text transcription tools for Windows Speechnotes is a great free speech-to-text platform that can run on Windows.
All that is required is to use the Google Chrome browser. You can use your built-in-microphone to dictate speech directly to the website. Transcription happens in real-time. It is quite accurate, even if you talk quickly. ListNote is an app by Khymaera. ListNote is one of the best apps for speech-to-text.
ListNote also makes it easy to edit transcriptions. You can also share transcriptions via SMS or email. To convert voice recordings to text, you need a speech-to-text app.
This is dictation software that you can speak directly into, and it transcribes your speech in real-time. Or you can upload audio files, and this software will convert the voices speaking into text.
Some speech-to-text platforms can even identify different speakers. It also allows you to dictate speech, and it will transcribe it in real-time.
There are basic formatting voice commands you can also use with Siri. For those with iPhones and iPads, Siri is a great tool for transcribing audio on the go. A voice recognition system is software that recognizes when people are using their voices to interact with it.
It can be speaker-dependent, meaning it learns the voice and speaking style of one main user, like on a mobile device. Or speaker-independent, where it can handle multiple speakers. Thank you for subscribing. You will receive an email confirmation shortly. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear.
This site does not include all CRM companies or all available Vendors. Please view our advertising policy page for more information. Digital Tools. In addition to reading words aloud, this free text-to-speech software can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including MP3 and WAV.
For lengthy documents, you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customize the pronunciation of words to your liking.
With all these features to make life easier when reading text on a screen isn't an option, Balabolka is best free text-to-speech software around. The NaturalReader Online Reader is a free text-to-speech tool that can be used in a couple of ways.
The first option is to load documents into its library and have them read aloud from there. This is a neat way to manage multiple files, and the number of supported file types is impressive, including ebook formats. There's also OCR, which enables you to load up a photo or scan of text, and have it read to you. The second option takes the form of a floating toolbar. In this mode, you can highlight text in any application and use the toolbar controls to start and customize text-to-speech.
This means you can very easily use the feature in your web browser, word processor and a range of other programs. There's also a built-in browser to convert web content to speech more easily. As the name suggests, Panopreter Basic delivers free text-to-speech conversion without frills. It accepts plain and rich text files, web pages and Microsoft Word documents as input, and exports the resulting sound in both WAV and MP3 format the two files are saved in the same location, with the same name.
The default settings work well for quick tasks, but spend a little time exploring Panopreter Basic's Settings menu and you'll find options to change the language, destination of saved audio files, and set custom interface colors. The software can even play a piece of music once it's finished reading — a nice touch you won't find in other free text-to-speech software. If you need something more advanced, a premium version of Panopreter is available to buy, which offers several additional features including toolbars for Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer, the ability to highlight the section of text currently being read, and extra voices.
Developed by the University of Edinburgh, WordTalk is a toolbar add-on for Word that brings customizable text-to-speech to Microsoft Word. It works with all editions of Word and is accessible via the toolbar or ribbon, depending on which version you're using. The toolbar itself is certainly not the most attractive you'll ever see, appearing to have been designed by a child.
Nor are all of the buttons' functions very clear, but thankfully there's a help file on hand to help. The ability to just read aloud individual words, sentences or paragraphs is a particularly nice touch. You also have the option of saving narrations, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts that allow for quick and easy access to frequently used options.
Despite its basic looks, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has more to offer than you might first think. It can be used to demonstrate the different spectral properties of elements of speech.
It can also calculate an LPC spectrum, autocorrelation and cepstrum analyses, and can display the signal as a waveform or as a spectrogram. It automatically finds formant and fundamental frequency values. With ESynth you can create signals by adding together individual sinusoidal waveforms sinewaves and study the resulting waveform and spectrum.
You can also perform an analysis of an input waveform, to see how a given sound can be represented in terms of a sum of sinewaves. You can generate simple signals such as sinewaves, pulses, pulse trains, sawtooth and noise; you can pass them though systems such as an amplifier, a resonator, a low-pass, high-pass or band-pass filter, or a vocal tract model.
You can observe the effect on the input and output waveforms and the input and output spectra. Now includes extensive tutorial!
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