|
CHECK IT OUT | |
| |||||||
 |
Temp: 65
|
| ||||||||||||||
| Home |  |
Archives | |
Obituaries | |
News | |
Sports | |
Business | |
Features | |
NWI.com |
|
| ||||||||||||||
| [PATH] TheTimesOnline.com | 9:14 AM, Thursday, July 11, 2002 |
| |
| DELIVERY | CONTACT US |
| HELP | ADVERTISE |
| CLASSIFIED DEPT. | |
| |
|
|
|
| |||||||||
Made in NWI |
Seeing what you say Custom Speech USA helps busy professionals with speech recognition software. BY CARMEN McCOLLUM Times Business Writer Posted on Tuesday, July 9, 2002
A Crown Point company has created computer software enabling consumers to better use off-the-shelf speech recognition software. Custom Speech USA, which recently began marketing its new speech recognition software, hopes its product will prevent some of the perils of the industry. The software has traditionally been used by the medical community, enabling users to talk to a computer so notes and other information can be transcribed quickly. However, some area medical professionals said the software causes more problems than it solves because there were too many mistakes which often had to be corrected manually, taking up valuable time. That's where Custom Speech USA plans to improve the market. Established in 1997, the software was five years in the development stage. It is designed to be used along with Dragon Naturally Speaking and IBM Via Voice, either together or separately.
Both companies offer consumers software development kits, allowing consumers to expand or change software to suit their needs. Custom Speech USA began marketing its software in late April. The company now has 15 full- and part-time employees, along with a host of resellers who travel across the world selling its software -- to be used along with the popular off-the-shelf speech recognition products. Ted Rosdil, business manager, said the software is targeted at a wide variety of professions. "Law firms, accounting firms, the medical community, business offices, manufacturers, anyone can use this software," he said. "It's not difficult to use. But busy professionals don't have time to correct the mistakes. The off-the-shelf products require doctors to act as their own typists and they don't have time to do that. This software makes IBM and Dragon products better." Chuck Runquist, a New Jersey-based independent technical consultant who formerly worked as a product manager with Lernout & Hauspie producers of Dragon Naturally Speaking, said he worked with the software development kits before he left the company in December. "There were a number of things that I had planned to change in Version 6, but when I talked to the people at Custom Speech, they were already providing some of those solutions on an independent basis," Runquist said. "This product will fill a much-needed niche," he said. "Many doctors and lawyers don't want to go through the complex process of registering their voice which is what the other products require. Custom USA has removed the tediousness of it. It allows anyone to edit, modify and produce accurate text." Rosdil said the company was just awarded a contract with the Los Angeles Coroner's office, and one of their software designers will be going there to install it. The software -- which also can be downloaded from the Internet -- sells for $549, and currently has a $99 rebate.
Carmen McCollum can be reached at carmenm@howpubs.com or (219) 933-3243.
|
