LONDON, 30 September 2014 -

BigHand, leader in voice productivity solutions for professionals, has launched a major enhancement to its server-side Speech Recognition module that allows professionals to work in more than one language seamlessly while continuing to improve their individual accuracy. BigHand’s new audio codec ‘Opus’ also improves speech-to-text accuracy via remote devices in addition to optimized audio resampling for smartphones.

BigHand Speech Recognition, which is powered by the Dragon SDK Server from Nuance, now supports multiple concurrent languages: Dutch, English, French and German. Compared to other out of the box desktop Speech Recognition solutions the BigHand software is compatible with all the major smartphone platforms, is compatible with terminal services and Citrix and the software can be seamlessly upgraded when required so professionals can always take advantage of the latest improvements in Speech Recognition technology. If required, the BigHand server-side system can also be integrated into document management systems when developed with the BigHand SDK.

Benefits of BigHand Speech Recognition

Multiple languages: BigHand speech recognition is now offering multi-lingual speech recognition support: Dutch, English, French and German which enables users to switch between multiple speech recognition language profiles. The software assists authors and secretary with spelling and grammar in non-native languages.

Individual profiles: BigHand’s Speech Recognition software will improve the accuracy of the individual profile while using the system. The profile, which will be built from the ground up, will recognize the author’s voice, frequent used words and sentences.

Workflow: when using speech recognition in combination with the BigHand workflow, the role of support staff will change so secretaries and assistants will have more time to liaise with clients and assist with more value-add tasks. This results in reduced production costs, increased productivity and efficiency and in turn happy customers.

Mobility: BigHand has optimized audio resampling for smartphone devices and a new audio-codec ‘Opus’ that improves remote device accuracy. In conjunction with the mobility module, BigHand Speech Recognition can be used while away from the office meaning that work can be completed on the spot, thereby greatly reducing turnaround time.

Out of hours transcription support: speech recognition can be very useful for authors who require ad-hoc transcription support on evenings or weekends. The server can return first draft documents to authors whenever and wherever they choose to work.

Security: by using BigHand speech recognition, dictations are processed and stored in a secure encrypted environment. Many of the other voice-to-text platforms cannot provide this security, which your clients may demand.

Dan Speed, Managing Director Europe, commented: “Multi-lingual language support has been developed directly from feedback from our legal customers in Europe whose lawyers work on a pan-European basis in multiple languages. Likewise, following feedback from our users about smartphone and speech recognition usage, our new Opus codec for remote devices and the audio optimizations for smartphones enable better speech-to-text recognition when professionals are mobile working. We are always seeking to move our technology forward in a manner that helps our clients become more productive and these improvements show BigHand remains at the forefront of voice productivity for professionals."