Copyright: ViaVoice (tm) Help 7.0 (c) 1998-1999  International Business Machines Corporation  All rights reserved.


Welcome to ViaVoice Options

You can customise ViaVoice to suit your needs and preferences. Select any of the following option areas for detailed instructions and information:

ViaVoice Tabs	Description
	Sets preferences for the euro symbol.
	Add, delete, backup, restore, change input device, vocabulary and topic types.
	Sets preferences for user Voice model options.


Changing the Formatting Options

1.	From ViaVoice Options, select the Formatting tab.

2.	Select euro symbol if you know your system supports the display of the euro symbol.
Otherwise, select the euro abbreviation (EUR).

3.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.

 Changes made in ViaVoice Options apply specifically to the user whose name appears in the User Name field. Select your User Name before saving any changes.


Changing the User Options

To customise the options on this page, follow the instructions.

1.	From the ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Select the appropriate User Name. The VoiceCentre is not available when performing User options. The following options are available:

Add a User	Backup A Users Speech Files
Delete a User	Restore a Users Speech Files
3.	Select the appropriate Input Device. Your Headset/Microphone is the default and Line-in device refers to a ViaVoice transcription recording device. Do not change the default Input Device to a Transcription device. The default should be the microphone, since it provides the best audio quality for dictation and navigation.

4.	Select the appropriate Voice Model. The following options are available:
 Add a Voice Model
 Delete a Voice Model
 Rename a Voice Model

5.	Select the appropriate Vocabulary.

6.	Select the desired Topics that you want active while dictating.

7.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options..

 Changes made in ViaVoice Options apply specifically to the user whose name appears in the User Name field. Select your User Name before saving any changes. If you have only one User Name, you will not be able to delete it until another user is created.


Changing the Voice Recognition Options

To customise the options on this page, follow the instructions.

1.	From the ViaVoice Options, select the Voice tab.

2.	Drag the Recognition sensitivity slider on or near the best setting for your computer. The recognition sensitivity setting affects only recognition while giving commands.

Best Guess	Normal	Exact Match
3.	Select the best Recognition performance setting:

Automatic	Accurate	Balanced	Fast
4.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options. You can click Default Settings to change the settings on the page back to the initial ViaVoice settings.

 Changes made in ViaVoice Options apply specifically to the user whose name appears in the User Name field. Select your User Name before saving any changes.


Go To Sleep

The computer will listen to all spoken words but will only recognise the Wake Up command. Once this command is given the microphone state will change to the On state and you may start giving commands or dictating.


Add a New User

Since no two people pronounce every word identically, it is important that each person create their own user file. You personal speech files collect your voice models, any documents that ViaVoice has analysed, the corrections you have made to dictations, and maintains all this information about how you speak. If someone else uses your User Name to dictate, it will alter your files and reduce the recognition accuracy. To add a user, follow the instructions.

1.	From ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Click the Add User button.

3.	Follow the User Wizard to add a new user to ViaVoice. After you finish, ViaVoice makes the new user the default user.

4.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.

 Your user name appears in the Current User section of the VoiceCentre.


Delete a User

You may delete a user at any time, but when you do, all of the collected data will be erased (unless you made a Backup of the user). To delete a user, follow the instructions.

 Make a Backup of your user files

1.	From ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	In the User Name box, select the appropriate user you want to delete. If there is only one user, you cannot delete it until you create another user and select it as the current user.

3.	Click Delete User button and click OK to confirm.

4.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.

 Changes made in ViaVoice Options apply specifically to the user whose name appears in the User Name field. Select your User Name before saving any changes.


Backup a User

You should backup your user file frequently, in case something happens to the file, just as you would backup any other computer file. If you are using ViaVoice on different machines, you should backup your user file. By restoring the same user file from one machine to another, your collected data is always being updated, which limits recognition errors. To backup a user, follow the instructions.

 Restoring a user file

1.	From ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Click the Backup User button.

3.	Type a Backup description for the file.

4.	Select the desired drive to save the backup file.

5.	Click the Backup button.

6.	Type a Backup description and select a drive, then click Backup.

7.	Click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.


Restore a User

If you have made a backup of your user files or if you have user files from a previous ViaVoice product, you can restore them at any time. This is the best way to transfer your collected data from one computer to another when using ViaVoice. To restore a user, follow the instructions.

 Make a backup of your user files

1.	From the ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Click the Restore User button.

3.	In the Drive box, select the appropriate drive that contains your backup user file.

4.	Click the Restore button, select the user to restore, and make the appropriate selections on the dialogues that appear.

5.	Click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.

 When you restore a user file, it replaces the current user file that may be present for the same person.


Voice Model

This refers to collected speech data, which is unique for each user. You should create one for each working environment with different levels of background noise.


Add a Voice Model

You can add multiple voice models to your current user file. You should create a Voice Model for working environments with different levels of background noise. Some of the most common Voice Model environments are:

Home (quiet surroundings)	Office (noisy surroundings)	Plane
Home (noisy surroundings)	Office (quiet surroundings)	Digital Recording
To add a voice model, follow the instructions.

1.	From the ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Select the appropriate User Name.

3.	Click the Add/Modify button.

4.	Follow the User Wizard instructions to Analyse your Voice.

5.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.

 Analysing your voice is the key to improving or having the highest level of accuracy possible. By creating a different Voice Model for each environment, you can achieve the best results.


Delete a Voice Model

You can remove the selected Voice Model from your computer for the current user. A prompt will appear to ensure that you want to delete it. ViaVoice will then enable the next available Voice Model for the same user. To delete a voice model, follow the instructions.

1.	From ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Select the appropriate User Name.

3.	Select the Voice Model you want to delete.

4.	Click the Delete button.

5.	Click Yes to confirm.

6.	Click Apply to save changes or click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.

 This option will not be available if there is only one Voice Model present. You must then use the delete a user option.

 Delete a User


Rename a Voice Model

You can remove the current Voice Model Name and replace it with a new one that you create. To rename a voice model, follow the instructions.

1.	From the ViaVoice Options, select the User tab.

2.	Select the appropriate User Name.

3.	Select the Voice Model you want to rename.

4.	Click the Rename button.

5.	Type a new Description and click OK.

6.	Click OK to save changes and close ViaVoice Options.


Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the different specialised vocabulary libraries that can be added depending on the main subject area of your dictation.


Topics

Topics refer to specialised add-on words that you can select to narrow the focus of your specialised vocabulary. You can select more than one topic but you should only select the ones you need for this session, such as Legal Topic.


Best Guess Sensitivity

Best guess sensitivity loosely matches the audio with the spelling of the words you add to your vocabulary. This setting works best in quiet environments and might result in future recognition errors of the words.


Normal Sensitivity

Normal sensitivity determines whether the match between the audio and the spelling of the words you add to your vocabulary are sufficient for future recognition of the words. This setting works best in an environment with normal levels of background noise and is the default setting.


Exact Match Sensitivity

Exact match sensitivity will be very critical of the match between the audio and the spelling of the words you add to your vocabulary. This setting works best for noisy environments.


Automatic Recognition Performance Setting

The automatic recognition performance setting lets ViaVoice automatically manage recognition performance. This is the default setting.


Accurate Recognition Performance Setting

The accurate recognition performance setting improves accuracy on computers with fast microprocessors (above minimum standards required to run ViaVoice), but the speed of performance might degrade.


Balanced Recognition Sensitivity Setting

The balanced recognition sensitivity setting improves performance on computers with neither fast nor slow microprocessors (compared to the minimum requirements).


Fast Recognition Sensitivity Setting

The fast recognition sensitivity setting improves speed of performance on computers with slow microprocessors (minimum requirements to run ViaVoice), but the recognition accuracy might degrade.


Source Window

Source Window refers to the current program window that is active (title bar is blue) and being used.


Select Microphone off to set the microphone to off and the computer will not recognise any spoken words until you turn the microphone on.


Select Go to sleep to place the microphone in a suspended state where the VoiceCentre responds only to the Wake Up command or click the microphone button.


Select Microphone on to have the microphone on and listening as soon as VoiceCentre starts.


Select Press to talk check box to turn on or off the ability to use a key or key combination to activate the microphone for a single command. You can use the default key, Scroll Lock or press another key.


The Press to talk field displays the hot key(s) needed to activate the microphone on or off option. If you press a single digit or character key, the Ctrl key is always preceding the hot key you select. For example, if you select M, you must press Ctrl+M to activate the microphone.


The Toggle Microphone check box allows you to select a hot key to toggle the microphone on or off.


The Toggle microphone field displays the hot key(s) needed to toggle the microphone on, off, or sleep modes. If you press a single digit or character key, the Ctrl key is always added to the hot key you select. For example, if you select M, you must press Ctrl+M to activate the microphone.


Closes the dialogue box and saves any changes that you have made.


Closes the dialogue box without saving any changes that you have made.


Saves all changes that you have made without closing the dialogue box.


Click this to display an overview of the dialogue box.


Command Sets are a list of words for each chosen environment that will perform a specific action once they are spoken. Select the program you want to have the dictation commands work with.


Select this if you want ViaVoice to require you to say Computer before all ViaVoice dictation commands.


Click Default Settings to return all options to the original settings.


Shows the names of the ViaVoice Users. Select the name of the user for the current session.


Click Add User to launch the user wizard to create a speech file for another person. Use the Add User function for each person dictating.


Click Delete User to delete the personal speech files of the current user displayed in the User Name box.


Click Backup User to back up the Voice Model for the current user displayed in the User Name box.


Click Restore User to restore the speech files for any user as selected from the backup files or a previous ViaVoice product, not only those of the current user. You do not have to close other speech applications unless you are restoring the files of the current user.


In the Input Device field, select any one of the following audio input devices:

•	Select Microphone if you have microphone connected to the microphone jack on your computer. This is the preferred default.

•	Select Line-in device if you have a ViaVoice supported recording device (other than a microphone) connected to the Line-in jack.

•	Select your Transcription device if you have one connected to your computer.


Shows the selected Voice Model. Select the Voice Model for the current user to use for the current session.


Click Add/Modify to add a new Voice Model to your current user profile. You may want to do this if you feel the computer is not recognising your voice and commands well enough. You may also create a Voice Model for different working environments.


Click Delete to remove the current Voice Model from your computer for the selected user. A prompt will appear to ensure that you want the selected Voice Model to be deleted. ViaVoice will then enable the next available Voice Model for the same user.


Click Rename to remove the current Voice Model Name and replace it with a new one that you create.


Shows the selected vocabulary. Select the vocabulary for the current user for the current session.


Click a topic from the list of available topics to select or deselect it (an asterisk will appear next to a topic if it is recommended).


Select euro symbol if you know your system supports the display of the euro symbol.
Otherwise, select the euro abbreviation (EUR).


Drag the slider toward Best guess to improve speech recognition in a quiet environment. Drag it toward Exact match for better recognition in a noisy environment.


Select Automatic to let ViaVoice automatically manage the recognition performance. This is the default setting.


Select Accurate to improve the accuracy on computers with fast microprocessors, but the speed of performance might degrade.


Select Balanced to improve performance on computers with neither fast nor slow microprocessors.


Select Fast to improve the speed of performance on computers with slow microprocessors (a computer that just meets the product's minimum requirements), but the recognition accuracy might degrade.


Select the Auto select text to enable the automatic selection of all the text in the SpeakPad for each transfer.


Select the Preserve all line breaks to enable placing a hard carriage return at the end of each line of text transferred from SpeakPad.


Click Cut to remove the text from SpeakPad when you transfer text.


Click Copy to copy text from SpeakPad when you transfer text. The original text remains in SpeakPad.


Click Paste to transfer the text as a block into the target window.


Click Key to transfer the text one keystroke at time into the target window. Select this option if your text contains special characters that perform an action when entered in the target application or if your target application does not support pasting from the clipboard.


Select the Auto start dictation checkbox to automatically start Direct Dictation for the current program.


Click Check spelling of added words to turn on or off the spell checking of words being added to your personal vocabulary when you correct using the Correction Window.


Click Playback on double-click to select or deselect the option to have ViaVoice playback dictated words when you double click on them in your dictated document.


Click Show correction window status area to show the status area at the bottom of the Correction window.


Click Automatically close correction window to enable the Correction window to close automatically after each correction. This will also cause the Correction Window to open near the word selected for correction.


Click Maximum number of alternate words to select the maximum number of alternative words to be displayed in the Correction window from the drop down list.


Inline Dictation Commands

Enables the on-the-fly formatting of your text as you type. For a detailed list of commands say What Can I Say for Inline Dictation.


Text Editing Commands

Samples of Text Editing Commands include delete, paste, and move right. For a detailed list of commands say What Can I Say for Text Editing.


Searches your document for any new words.


Stores your dictation data until enough data has been collected to analyse your voice to improve recognition.


Enter your new voice model description name.


Displays the current device used to record dictation.


Type a description to identify your backup.


Displays available local and network drives. Click the down arrow to see additional available drives and select the drive.


The Information field displays the amount of free disk space that is needed for this backup.


Select this button to begin backing up your speech information.


Select this button to cancel the backup.


Select this button to display help.


Lists the users whose backups are located on the selected drive. Select the user whose backups you want to restore.


Select this button to begin restoring the selected backup.


Select this button to cancel the restore.


Transcription

If you have installed the ViaVoice Transcription program, you can convert previously recorded speech data into text using SpeakPad or Microsoft Word. You can generate speech data by using audio devices, such as digital recorders, to record your dictation, transfer the speech data to your computer, and then use ViaVoice to transcribe the data.