Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM ViaVoice were popular and even competitors at one point. Having had the speech recognition edge on ViaVoice, it simply made more sense to go with Dragon. While ViaVoice priced more competitively, it wasn’t in the same ball park in terms of out-of-the-box accuracy and results. Both of these products were stocked at computer shops like Incredible Connection or Computer Mania.
As you already know, IBM’s product was discontinued. It lost the race to Dragon, which was quite simply superior and offered a broader range of product offerings and features. Dragon may have gone a bit too wide-ranging with their release… trying to offer a price tier and feature listing to meet any circumstance. At one point, there must have been at least 7 variations of the flagship Dragon Professional product with Premium, Legal, Medical, Teacher/Student, Home and Basics.
Some of these software products were available off the shelf, meaning you could pop to your local computer shop and literally pick one up. Nowadays, the way software is sold has changed but it’s rare for a typical computer store to stock speech recognition products. For starters, speech recognition software is still regarded as a fairly niche product. This is a misnomer, but many people still think of it as a way to enable people who are injured or disabled.
While these applications have obvious benefits, the software can enhance anyone’s productivity, work flow and computer use. Besides retail sales volume, another reason you won’t see speech recognition software box products scattered about is because the after sales support isn’t available. If someone tries to get Dragon working on their own, it can lead to returns without the necessary support.
It’s the reason we exist. Getting Dragon through HCD means that you will already be connected with the experts. We’re able to offer experience, which is often not up to scratch when it comes to generalist computer guys. They ordinarily are just speaking about what they’ve heard rather than from experience. HCD can help you pick the right microphone for your needs, advise you on which mics to avoid and beyond kitting you out with the right hardware and software… offer value-adding training and support.
Getting the right settings, having the software installed by our technicians and providing one-on-one training enables us to customise the software to your needs. We’ll help you get several steps along the way rather than be left to tinker around and figure things out on your own. We come across folks who never knew about us, who experience such fresh insight into products they’ve been using for years.
Getting the box off the shelf really is only 10% of the job. HCD ensures you can get the maximum value out of your purchase, leverage full productivity through our specialised training and give you peace of mind when it comes to fixing any glitches or software issues.