TalkingPoint

Posted: 08/03/2007
Question: How can I get Support for TalkingPoint?
Answer: Talking Point comes with three months maintenance from the install date via our website. Access to the support area of the website requires you to login and enter your password.

The website provides downloadable updates, and a support database covering Improvements, FAQs, Current Problems, Fixed Problems, Trouble Shooting, and Suggestions. It also provides downloadable updates for the products.

Maintained Users also get full access to the TalkingPoint Knowledge Base on this website plus access to a Support Ticket System; to access this click here; note that you need to be signed in to access any of the support systems. The login information is on the license that is issued with the software.

If you are within this three month period (or have a maintenance contract) and do not have login information, please contact support@talkingpoint.uk.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and your LicenseID and Password for logging in will be sent to you. These will expire three months after your installation unless you take out a maintenance contract.

To take out a maintenance contract contact your dealer or GHG sales via e-mail at sales@ghg.uk.com Thise-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you are outside this three month period and do not wish to take a maintenance contract.then you should consult the Trouble Shooting Guide which is installed with the product in the C:\Program Files\GHG\Documentation folder.

Talking Point makes voice recognition work in practice.

Posted: 08/03/2007
Question: What does Support for TalkingPoint provide?
Answer: GHG offers a comprehensive support program for its range of TalkingPoint Products.

If you are not benefiting from a current maintenance contract for your TalkingPoint Products you will not be able to see or access our support system on this site. Contact GHG or one of its authorised dealers to sign-up today.

Maintained TalkingPoint Users get all updates and improvements for the TalkingPoint modules they have licensed and maintained, free of additional charge.

Maintained Users also get full access to the TalkingPoint Support Database on this website:

The Support Database includes:

• 1. Product update downloads
• 2. Product Documentation downloads
• 3. Frequently asked questions
• 4. Product Improvements listed by version
• 5. Current and Fixed Problems
• 6. Trouble Shooting Guides to help with installation and configuration issues
• 7. User forum where users are able to view/submit questions/comments
• 8. Support request submission by the support ticket system on the TalkingPoint Website.

In addition GHG can provide telephone support and remote support using Webex Meeting Centre. These additional support options are chargeable by the hour. They depend upon the availablity of GHG staff and cannot be guaranteed to be available at any particular time.

For further details please contact GHG Software Developments

Posted: 16/03/2007
Question: What is TalkingPoint SmartMike?

Answer: SmartMike is a combination of Philips SpeechMike hardware with a support program. This combination makes the use of Speech Recognition with TalkingPoint even easier and more productive.

The SpeechMike includes a roller ball mouse which together with Speech Recognition allows easy full control of the computer while relaxing away from the keyboard. It also includes a set of buttons and a scroll wheel.

Flexible microphone control is provided by the top button on the back. Control is either by Press to Talk or Click to Talk. With Press to Talk, the button is pressed and held and the microphone is turned on. As soon as the button is released the microphone is turned off. With Click to Talk one click turns the microphone on, and a second click turns it off again. Either of these methods can be used at any time, it is not necessary to choose one method to use. This flexibility is further enhanced because SmartMike will turn the microphone off in circumstances where the speech engine would normally wait until it has finished processing incoming sound, which is often very inconvenient. The delay before the microphone is turned off is configurable.

The other buttons on the SpeechMike are used by Smart Mike to make other frequently used functions easily accessible. One button shows the speech engine correction box. Two other buttons provide word selection to right or left, which is further enhanced by the use of another button to position the cursor at the end of the selection. Yet another button allows the selection to be deleted. All these facilities improve productivity in any application where text is created.

On a personal note, I would hate to be without my SmartMike when using my laptop on a train, a plane or in a car, where use of a mouse is almost impossible, and the only alternative is the laptop mouse pad, which I find extremely slow and imprecise by comparison.

Posted: 16/03/2007
Question: What is TalkingPoint SoundRecorder?

Answer: SoundRecorder is a sound recording product designed to streamline the use of Digital Dictation in a professional organisation. It can provide single click recordings which are immediately saved to a network for transcription by secretarial staff. Transcription can be by manual typing, where SoundRecorder replaces old fashioned tape systems, or by automatic SpeechToText where batch SpeechRecognition assists the secretary by converting the sound file to text, leaving only correction and finishing off to be done.

The author simply selects a worktype and records. Selecting the worktype automatically selects a default destination for the sound file on the network and assigns a default priority for the worktype. Destination and Priority are easy to change if circumstances dictate.

The recorder supports overwriting and insertion into the file. Overwriting of large sections is protected by a warning so that it cannot be done accidentally. The system prevents the saving of very small files so that the author does not accidentally save an empty file giving secretarial staff more work and causing confusion.

Facilities are available to save a recording as a Draft for later editing, and for recalling a file previously completed back as a Draft for editing.

The user can review a file previously submitted, or one which is currently being transcribed by a transcriptionist. This allows an author to respond to a phone request for clarification without needing to be with the transcriptionist.

The system is highly configurable so that Users, Destinations, Priorites and Work Types are completely flexible.

Each Work Type can be configured to ask the user to input specific information, such as Patient Name and Patient Number in a clinic, or Client Name and Matter in a legal practice. These fields can also include automatic fields such as Date, Time and an Incrementing number to ensure that unique file names are produced. These facilities can also be used in some situations so that the author need not enter any information, simply press the New File button and record.

The system can be controlled by Mouse, Keyboard or specialist input devices such as the Philips Speech Mike or foot pedals where hands free use is required.

Hands Free use is also supported by a high visibility option so that the user can see what is happening and what the file name is even when working at a distance from the computer display.

The system is designed to allow integration with third party software. This integration can be accomplished in a variety of ways from complete integration with the co-operation of the third party software supplier to a simple scripted integration acquiring information to be attached to the sound recording by reading from the third party product.

Posted: 16/03/2007
Question: What is TalkingPoint SpeechToText?

Answer: SpeechToText is a speech recognition product designed to streamline the use of Digital Dictation in a professional organisation. Sound recordings from TalkingPoint SoundRecorder or a Digital Recorder are saved to a network for transcription by secretarial staff. Automatic SpeechToText provides batch SpeechRecognition. This assists the secretary by converting the sound file to text, leaving only correction and finishing off to be done.

Once the text is corrected there are facilities for automatically placing the finished text into a word document.

The system also supports pre-defined variables. This allows the author to specify the name and value of the variable by voice (e.g. Client Name). These variables are then automatically entered into named fields in the word document. This can streamline workflows such as Clinic Reports or Building Surveys. The author specifies the variables and they are automatically filled in in the resulting form.

The process works in batch, automatically loading the correct voice files for each author's dictation. Correction by the secretary is also used to improve the author's voice files so that recognition accuracy improves over time. Facilities are also provided for batch processing of previous reports to improve recognition by updating the context statistics for the author's voice files.