Newsgroups: comp.speech
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!daphne
From: daphne@netcom.com (Daphne Gould)
Subject: Re: DragonDictate vs. Kolvox LawTalk & OfficeTalk
Message-ID: <daphneD4pI0C.1JA@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <snorton.9.0010B06D@sentex.net>
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 10:48:12 GMT
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Sender: daphne@netcom10.netcom.com

In article <snorton.9.0010B06D@sentex.net>,
Sean Norton <snorton@sentex.net> wrote:
>This question is directed at JOEL GOULD or any associate of DragonDictate...
>
>I am interested in finding out more information concerning the primary 
>differences between DragonDictate products, and Kolvox Communications 
>LawTalk & OfficeTalk products. I understand that Kolvox uses the Dragon engine 
>to run its DOS-based voice recognition software. Does this imply also that the 
>software interface between the two products is very similar or do these 
>products use a completely different interface? I also understand that Kolvox 
>has developed these aforementioned programs to service specific markets; it 
>has included a relevant and additional vocabulary and macros to better service 
>these markets. I guess my main question then is whether the added vocab. and 
>macros constitutes the main difference?
>
>Any relevant and specific information would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Cheers,
>Sean.

Sean,

I should start by saying that I am not an expert on the LawTalk or 
Voice Companion products from Kolvox Communications although I have seen 
them and talked with Kolvox.

In my understanding, the primary additional functionality that Kolvox 
provides is a set of macros plus interface code which makes voice a more 
powerful tool when using WordPerfect.  DragonDictate is a customizable 
product which allows arbitrary keystroke sequences to be assigned to 
voice commands.  Kolvox has built upon this functionality to provice a 
set of power voice commands which make it easier to generate (legal) 
documents.

I do not know about any vocabulary words they may add.

Although I am impressed by the work that Kolvox has done (they have done 
a very nice job of making their grammars easy to remember and use), I should 
point out that the current versions of WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows shipping on 
CD include a copy of DragonDictate Talk->To (*) which includes a set of 
around 600 macros for WordPerfect similar to the Kolvox products.  Also, 
Dragon has announced its own specialized legal vocabulary called 
DragonLaw which contains new dictation words and a new language model 
optimized for legal dictation.  (Although I do not know the shipping 
status of DragonLaw.)

(* DragonDictate Talk->To is the same as DragonDictate for Windows except 
that dictation has been disabled.  You can upgrade from this product to 
the full DragonDictate for Windows if you want.)

In conclusion, Kolvox is a value added reseller.  They have taken the 
speech recognition product and added some additional power to it in the 
form of macros and vocabulary.  The primary dictation interface remains 
the same, however.  You should get a demo of the Kolvox product and 
decide for yourself whether their additional functionality is worth the 
additional price.

Joel Gould
Dragon Systems
joelg@dragonsys.com

