Need to Convert Speech to Text on PC (hard drive, transfer, how to)

[Dockside]

I have to do a series of telephone interviews. I'm looking at digital recorders, something like this Amazon.com: Sony ICD-PX720 Digital Voice Recorder with PC Compatible: Electronics

Is it possible to easily convert speech to text so I can just cut and paste the interviews into a Word document? Anyone use something like this?

[f_m]

Originally Posted by Dockside

I have to do a series of telephone interviews. I'm looking at digital recorders, something like this Amazon.com: Sony ICD-PX720 Digital Voice Recorder with PC Compatible: Electronics

Is it possible to easily convert speech to text so I can just cut and paste the interviews into a Word document? Anyone use something like this?

Dragon Systems (now Nuance)
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10

Also, Kurzweil, but I don't know where they sell their products (this was the technology originally used by Stevie Wonder).

[knoxgarden]

Read through this White Paper from Dragon on how to do it:
http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeak..._Reporting.pdf
Make sure you get one of the recorders they recommend.
It's not going to be close to word perfect when you're dealing with two people. The program has to "learn" a voice to transcribe it and having different voices will confuse it. It will do some of the work, but not all. I'd say 50%.
The digital recorder does not come with software to transform the voice to words. I've got an Olympus digital and it works well for interviews. Much clearer than a tape recorder. And you can transfer the voice data to your hard drive. But it's still voice data until you use a program like Naturally Speaking on it to convert it to words.

[Dockside]

Originally Posted by knoxgarden

It's not going to be close to word perfect when you're dealing with two people. The program has to "learn" a voice to transcribe it and having different voices will confuse it. It will do some of the work, but not all. I'd say 50%.
The digital recorder does not come with software to transform the voice to words. I've got an Olympus digital and it works well for interviews. Much clearer than a tape recorder. And you can transfer the voice data to your hard drive. But it's still voice data until you use a program like Naturally Speaking on it to convert it to words.

Good advice. I used Dragon several years ago and forgot about the "learning voice curve". Probably be quicker just to type fast.

Do you use your Olympus for telephone interviews? I'll be using a cordless phone with a digital recorder.

[knoxgarden]

I haven't used the Olympus for that. I've recorded phone conversations in the past with tape recorders using a device that connects to the phone line. Like this one:
Mini Recorder Control - RadioShack.com
Those worked very well. You can probably find one for a cordless if it has a place to plug in an outside microphone.

[Tek_Freek]

Have you considered hiring a transcriptionist to do the conversion? I have a number of clients that do this for doctors and court systems.

When I'm around and they start typing I am totally blown away at the speed. I think they charge per word?

[collinsl]

If you have XP, then you can download Speech SDK 5.1 to allow the OS to convert speech to text. I think this then interfaces with Word to place the text directly into the software.

If you have Vista or above, this functionality is built into Speech Recognition, found on the control panel.

[Tek_Freek]

I didn't realize the OP hadn't posted back. She repped me and said she hired a transcriptionist and that it was tax deductible.

Twofer!!