Speech Technology - June 2008 - (Page 24) THE Essential Guide for “We are not in the Windows market. We will never get into it.” on the Mac platform, but its president, Andy Braverman, says there is no reason to believe that Mac owners couldn’t use them. The technology is housed on a device (called a Pod) that connects to a computer, networked server, or Web FTP site through the USB port, which is common to both the Mac and PC. Though it’s listed as supporting the Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Vista operating systems, “you shouldn’t have issues with it on a Mac,” Braverman says. “All recordings are done through the Pod, so it should be hardware-independent, plug-and-play technology.” Even Phillips Speech Processing, the company that lost out when MacSpeech went with Nuance for its Dictate product, has left the door open for Mac-ready products. “We don’t have anything right now, but I’ve heard that there are plans in that area,” a sales leader at the company’s Atlanta office said. For MacSpeech, the exact opposite is true. “We are not in the Windows market. We will never get into it,” Taylor says. Going Mobile Instead of the Mac, many dictation software vendors are turning their immediate attention to the mobile space, particularly as issues of accuracy related to mobile devices’ limited memory, processing power, and sharing of information between devices and networks disappear. Greater mobile dictation offerings will further unshackle users from their PCs. Though still largely limited to dictating email and text messages—as is the case with Nuance’s VoiceControl application that is now preloaded on a number of mobile devices—and voicemail-to-text offerings like those from SpinVox, SimulScribe, and CallWave, many have high hopes that mobile dictation software will soon accommodate much larger files. And when it does, Virginia Beach, Va.-based Vianix will be there. The company’s Managed Audio Sound Compression (MASC) offering compresses audio files for easier storage and transfer. MASC reduces the size of voice files by 10 to 20 times and delivers them with up to 300 percent faster processing speeds, similar to the way that programs like WinZip compress data files. “We will play big in the mobile space, especially on smartphones,” says Bernard Brafman, vice president of sales and marketing at Vianix. Brafman notes that interest for MASC has steadily been building among dictation software providers, mobile service providers, and mobile equipment manufacturers. Nuance already provides MASC technology in its Dictaphone dictation products. Dolbey, a maker of medical dictation and transcription products, has included MASC in its Fusion Mobile product since its launch in May 2006 to respond to a growing demand among the medical community for dictation software that could run on PDAs. That mobility is key to Apptec’s DigiTel system, according to Braverman. “It gives users flexibility that wasn’t there before,” he says. “Dictation was tied into a desktop computer at the office. Now, you can move it from one machine to another.” But not everyone is convinced that mobile dictation is a good idea. McKesson’s Rose says his company has no interest in the mobile market and calls it a “verywell-founded truth that in informationrich environments, things very much correlate with screen space. “To put dictation on such a small screen, it becomes unreadable,” he states. “Most users would be better served with a large screen so they can see a lot of information without a lot of effort.” MacSpeech has also avoided the mobile market, but for a much different reason. “If we did something with mobile, more than likely it would be around an Apple product like the iPhone,” Taylor explains. “But for now we’re focused on [the Mac] desktop.” But regardless of where he uses Dictate, Fletcher is relieved to finally have some options without having to dump his Mac. “As a user, I’m glad. For me, anything brings a far better experience.” —Additional reporting by Lauren Shopp Maximizing Your Customer Relationships By Barton J. Goldenberg 384 pp/softbound/$39.95 ISBN 978-0-910965-80-4 “Vital real-time business advice for the customer-centric organization.” —Stan Davis, co-author, The Art of Business and Blur Ask for CRM in Real Time in Your Local Bookstore or Order Direct From the Publisher www.infotoday.com 24 | Speech Technology JUNE 2008 www.speechtechmag.com http://www.infotoday.com http://www.speechtechmag.com
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