Voice recognition course starts Oct. 19

The Idaho State University business information program will offer an eight-week, one-credit course in voice recognition using Dragon Naturally Speaking version 7.5. The course will be held on Thursday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 5:50 p.m., beginning Oct. 19 and concluding Dec. 7.

The course is designed to teach participants how to "voice type" more than 100 words per minute with 98 percent (or better) accuracy. This is an excellent skill for those who have lots of papers to type and it will get them ready to use the speech tools included in the new Windows Vista operating system. Training manuals and headsets will be provided for use during the training.

Voice recognition software allows the user to input data into a computer merely by speaking. Data goes directly from speech to text without the tedium of using a keyboard. Documents can have a faster turnaround time, and transcription costs are reduced. Voice recognition is also helpful for those with certain disabilities.

For registration information, call the College of Technology Student Services Office at 282-2622.