At Logan Solutions, our focus has always been on healthcare and ensuring the successful implementation of speech and voice recognition software within hospitals and physician practices.
And by and large, mainstream media tends to tie this rapidly evolving technology to healthcare too. However, there are many other uses, most of which haven’t yet garnered much attention.
Today, let's take a look at three alternative, non-healthcare uses, as well as the professions and individuals who may benefit most from its adoption.
1. Students
Speech recognition software allows students, particularly those in secondary school and beyond, to finally find their unique voices.
For those who have difficulty expressing themselves through writing – perhaps they are slowed by grammatical or typing errors, for instance – the software offers an opportunity to bypass all of that.
Students can simply speak their thoughts and then listen to and verify the text as the software reads it back. They can conduct internet searches, compose and send emails, and collaborate with other students via IM — all by voice.
Graduate students find this type of software extremely helpful as it’s approximately three times faster than typing. And between a whirlwind of note-taking, plus writing research papers and possibly a thesis, the software dramatically eases this burden.
2. Teachers
Similar to students, teachers will also find advantages with speech recognition software.
With potentially hundreds of student assignments requiring their feedback each week, time-crunched teachers have figured out how the software can streamline this process.
In fact, Sydney, Australia-based Steve Collis, a French/English teacher at Northern Beaches Christian School and Head of Innovation at the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning, offers a glimpse at how the technology works for him:
“I use voice recognition mainly for the boring bits, e.g. writing teaching programs, giving feedback to numerous different students about the same task, emailing various people on a similar topic. [Voice recognition] lets me fly through it as quickly as I can talk, without getting tired fingers.
Take, for instance, essay marking. Students make the same mistakes over and over again – ‘start each paragraph with a topic sentence’ or ‘ensure you integrate quotes into your sentences rather than just putting them by themselves.’
I suppose you could use macros [voice commands] for this. And of course typing these comments is easier than handwriting them. Easier than all these, is voice recognition.”
3. Lawyers
Lawyers spend a tremendous amount of time both researching and writing.
From combing the web and legal journals to writing briefs and dissertations, lawyers are ideal users for this type of tech. And doing so can skyrocket their productivity too.
Since we tend to speak at about 120 words-per-minute (WPM) and the average person types at 40 WPM or less, the opportunity to triple productivity is a compelling reason for lawyers to get onboard.
Plus, editing and proofreading legal documents is simplified also with customizable options, like audio playback.
As Nuance, known for the popular Dragon Medical software, and other healthcare speech recognition providers begin to expand their range of products, it’s only a matter of time before additional groups and professions realize the benefits this technology offers.
Are there any other professions that would benefit from the implementation of speech/voice recognition software? Please join the conversation below.