Triple Your Law Firm's Productivity

Nuance has announced a new promotion designed specifically to help law firms move forward with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. We're glad to hear it! The attorneys we've worked with so far have really seen improvements of efficiency and turnaround. And their secretaries are pleased to be typing less!

How fast is Dragon 10 in transcribing? If you use it to dictate directly into your computer, Dragon can easily keep up with the fastest dictators. Most average about 160 words per minute – certainly faster than you can type!

Dragon 10 NaturallySpeaking Legal helps in formatting legal jargon and citations. And, for those who prefer to use a handheld digital recorder, Dragon Legal allows your secretary to transcribe and format your dictation in half the time!

Nuance has some videos to help you see Dragon in action:

• Increased productivity for a litigator
• Making a difference for a typical attorney
• More productivity has never been easier

So, what's the promotion?

Right now, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Legal has been reduced from the MSRP of $1,199 to only $990. And before you ask: yes, there are specials for multiple copies:

• 5 User license of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Legal: $3,370 (a savings of $2,600 off MSRP)
• 10 User license: $6,500 (save $5,490)
• 20 User license: $12,000 (save $11,980)

To order multi-license bundles, call 866-408-1383. These specials are not available on-line.

Oh, one more thing: these specials expire June 30, 2009. Their rules, not ours!

The Philips SpeechMike Control For Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Philips has come out with brand new software for their popular SpeechMikes. The device allows users to dictate into their computer, listen back to recordings and even control functions with buttons on the device.
Now Philips has released the Device Control Center. This software allows the SpeechMike to perform simple and complex functions within many different programs on your PC. The most impressive are those pertaining to Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. The advantages the SpeechMike control gives you for operation in this program is incredible. And the best part about it is it's free! Click here to download the Philips Device Control Center. Scroll down and click on the CD Driver Utility v2.4. Once you download it, this is what it looks like:

In this case, I am using a SpeechMike Classic plus. This model has 4 function buttons allowing users to control several operations with a single device.

Say I am dictating into Dragon NaturallySpeaking. If I wanted to open "Word Pad" I could designate a function button to do so. Click the "..." to the right of the button you want to use. In the pop-up window click "Add" to assign a new action. You can designate the button to be a "hot key", to insert boilerplate text, start an application, perform a command in Dragon or to 'click' on something as a mouse does.

While using Dragon, the EOL (end of letter) button will highlight previous words one-by-one as you click the button. The rewind and fast-forward buttons not only control the audio playback of your dictation, but it will also move the cursor in the desired direction making it easier than ever to edit or correct your dictation. You never have to touch your mouse or keyboard. When moving the slide-switch up to record, you are also turning on the microphone in Dragon and turning it off when you stop.

In addition to the function buttons performing unique actions when you click them, they can also be configured to perform multiple functions by combining them with the SHIFT and COMMAND keys on the SpeechMike, as well. By pressing SHIFT+F1, you can perform a completely different action as pressing F1 by itself.

So, as you can see there are many possible functions executable by the Philips SpeechMike, and it is only a matter of assigning the buttons to your preference. Start programs, insert text, draft an e-mail, navigate in an EMR system, perform complex commands all at the touch of a button. This is one of the most robust utility drivers we have seen from Philips and they are offering it to their customers absolutely free. If you are interested in obtaining the ultimate desktop dictation system or want to improve your efficiency with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the Philips SpeechMike is the ultimate tool on the market today.

Dragon 10 Released

Nuance has now announced Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, the new version of the highly successful speech recognition application for the PC. We've beginning to put it through its paces now, and so far it's living up to the hype.

Nuance is making some slight product positioning adjustments we're just beginning to understand. We haven't heard specifically about the low-end "Standard" version that's usually offered in office supply outlets, but the Preferred , shipping today, remains the first true entry-class offering for professionals. While not nearly as full featured as the preferred version, it does allow for the use of a variety of input devices, including bluetooth headsets and handheld recorders.

The Professional version, shipping on August 13th, remains very similar in scope, but it will not work with Electronic Medical Records systems; Nuance is reserving that feature for the upcoming Dragon Medical 10. Gone also from the Professional version is the ability to do "third-party" editing: the processing of voice files by a transcriptionist using Dragon and the speaker's user profile. This functionality is being reserved for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Legal, shipping in Mid-September.

We're not sure why, but it appears that the term "NaturallySpeaking" is being excised from the medical version; it will now be known only as Dragon Medical 10. Personally, we wish they would drop the NaturallySpeaking from all the products. People know them as Dragon and it's short and sweet, as well. The NaturallySpeaking is a hold-over from an earlier name for the engine that allows users to speak naturally when dictating. Today, that is assumed.

The new products promise to be 20% more accurate out of the box. They're also faster to respond. Some of that, of course, is due to today's faster computers, but from our initial looks, the claim appears on the money.

We have create a page with a more complete breakdown of the improvements and changes. There are also links to order the latest versions.

Oh, and there's a new logo, too. Looks cleaner and better.

One other note, if you will pardon the brief lapse in humility. Based on our success as a Nuance reseller, we have qualified as a Gold Certified Partner. That means we've reached the higher echelon of dealers in the country.