Using a dictation software will make your work easy and comfortable when you are in a hurry or in an important meeting. The best thing about using such software is that you don’t need to hire someone to type when you take notes during your meetings.
With the help of such software, you can record any content and save this content when it is ready to be edited and then send it to someone or edit it alone and then delete unwanted areas and words and send the rest of the content again.
Otter (Best voice recognition app for startups)
Otter is a very professional tool for transcribing speech and conversations. It’s great for meetings and conferences. It’s all done on the cloud and works well on mobile devices and iPads.
You can record any conversation right from your smartphone or laptop. You get real-time transcriptions of the text. You can then edit the text. It lets you add speaker notes, images, video files and audio files. The transcriptions are also fully searchable. It’s also easy to share and collaborate on transcriptions with teams.
There’s a free version of Otter with 600 minutes of transcriptions per month. The premium plans go for $8.33 and $20 per user per month when billed annually.
Otter is best for:
- One-person business
- Startups
- SMEs
- Dictation
- Transcription services
- Meetings
- Conferences
- Team collaboration
Website: Otter.ai
Speechnotes (Best free speech to text app)
Speechnotes is built using Google’s speech recognition technology. One thing about Speechnotes is that it is completely online. No downloading is required. But you’ll always need an internet connection.
Anyone can learn Speechnotes in seconds. You visit the site, activate your microphone and start dictating. The transcription works in real-time. It is decent but not nearly 99% accurate. There are also many voice commands to edit the text, which you use by holding down ‘enter’ and speaking.
Though this is free, you can get a premium version from the Google Chrome web store. It costs $9.99 and works as an extension in Chrome.
Speechnotes is best for:
- Free version
- One-person business
- Startups
- Speech to text
- Chrome extension
Website: Speechnotes
Speechmatics
Speechmatics is a speech recognition software company out of the UK. It’s a highly professional platform with many voice technology features. For Speechmatics prices, you have to request a quote from the vendor.
The speech to text dictation of Speechmatics is very accurate. It recognizes over 30 different languages. There’s advanced punctuation help, and custom dictionaries. Speechmatics can also identify and label different speakers. Aside from dictation, Speechmatics offers a lot of voice control tools. It can control apps and devices with voice commands.
Speechmatics is best for:
- Startups
- Small businesses
- Large businesses
- Voice commands
- Transcription
Website: Speechmatics
Apple Dictation
Apple Dictation comes in many forms. It can use Siri servers for speech to text. You must be online to use it. This is decent for short note dictation. It can only handle 30 seconds of speech at a time.
Apple Dictation also has a voice-to-text feature that works without an internet connection. This helps you do more than dictation. It controls basic commands on your Mac computer. It is a bit limiting because it won’t work with just any web app, but mainly Apple products.
Apple Dictation is best for:
- One-person business
- Startups
- Dictation
- macOS
- iOS devices
Website: Apple Dictation
Cortana
Cortana is Microsoft’s personal virtual assistant. It works inside Microsoft 365. There’s also a Chrome extension and mobile apps for iOS and Android. It also functions on Xbox OS.
Cortana handles several languages like English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish. Because Cortana is a personal assistant, it can do many things. Create and manage to-do lists, set alarms and reminders and create calendar events. As for being a dictation tool to transcribe notes, Cortana works decently.
Cortana is best for:
- Startups
- SMEs
- Personal assistant
- Dictation
Website: Cortana
Watson Speech to Text
Watson’s speech recognition software is made by IBM. This is the same artificial intelligence that once went on Jeopardy back in 2011.
This software has very strong real-time speech recognition. But it goes beyond dictation. Watson can handle batches of audio files. You also have a lot of editing options for the transcriptions. You can add notes, speaker labels and word timestamps.
Watson Speech to text has a free version. You can also have transcriptions done at a price per minute rate. There are many tiers and the lowest one is $0.02/minute.
Watson Speech to Text is best for:
- SMBs
- Large businesses
- Voice dictation
- Transcription services
- Speech recognition technology
Website: Watson Speech to Text
Google Voice Typing
Google Voice Typing is a very simple speech to text tool but also very powerful. You use it directly inside a Google Doc or Google Sheet. It keeps up fast with your speech and knows about 43 languages.
There are many voice commands for editing, correcting, and even moving the mouse cursor. The transcription is smart. It can understand the context of your speech very well.
Google Voice Typing is best for:
- One-person business
- Writers
- Startups
- Dictation
Website: Google Voice Typing
Google Docs Voice Typing
Most writers rely on Google Docs everyday, so if you need a free yet powerful dictation tool, consider using Google’s Voice Typing tool. Not only does it let you type with your voice on Google Docs, but you can also leverage over 100 voice commands to edit and format your document in almost every way possible, like making bullet points, italicizing or bolding text, and moving your cursor to different parts of your document.
To use Voice Typing on Google Docs, all you have to do is click on “Tools”, “Voice Typing”, and let Google access your laptop’s microphone.
Available On: The Internet
Price: Free
Dragon Professional Individual
As the most popular dictation software in its space, Dragon Professional Individual allows you to do the majority of your job without even touching a keyboard.
By leveraging its Deep Learning technology that adapts to your specific voice, jargon, and work environment, you can create and edit documents with 99% accuracy, quickly and accurately transcribe recordings into text, and use voice commands to control your computer’s actions on programs and web browsers, like sending an email or creating a report.
Dragon also integrates with Microsoft Office, iWork, and other popular business applications, so you can do hands-free work without leaving your favorite programs.
Available On: Mac and Windows
Price: $300
Braina Pro
Braina Pro is more than speech recognition software — it’s a personal virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence. Other than its ability to dictate over 100 languages, Braina Pro can automate various computer tasks, set alarms and reminders, give you updates on current events, serve as dictionary and thesaurus, play songs and videos, read eBooks out loud, search files on folders on your computer, and more.
Braina Pro also supports most laptops’ built in microphones and has a mobile app, so you can work headset free and away from your computer.
Available On: Windows
Price: $239
Watson Speech to Text
Watson’s speech recognition software is made by IBM. This is the same artificial intelligence that once went on Jeopardy back in 2011.
This software has very strong real-time speech recognition. But it goes beyond dictation. Watson can handle batches of audio files. You also have a lot of editing options for the transcriptions. You can add notes, speaker labels and word timestamps.
Watson Speech to text has a free version. You can also have transcriptions done at a price per minute rate. There are many tiers and the lowest one is $0.02/minute.
Watson Speech to Text is best for:
- SMBs
- Large businesses
- Voice dictation
- Transcription services
- Speech recognition technology
Website: Watson Speech to Text
Express Dictate
NCH’s Express Dictate is proof that a program can be both powerful and intuitive at the same time. An expansive feature set and a simple UI make it the easiest to use dictation software out there.
Express Dictate is essentially a voice recording software that works like a dictaphone. It records audio with enhanced signal processing quality and can record to multiple formats, including .wav, .mp3 and .dct. The software supports automatic non-destructive editing, with multiple recording modes like record-insert, record-overwrite and record-at-end. Voice-activated recordings mean long silences are not included, and you can assign priority to individual dictations. You can directly send recordings via e-mail or FTP, and also save them for later use.
HIPAA-compliance ensures all recordings are encrypted, which makes Express Dictate perfect for recording secure client and patient data. You can also dock analog or digital handheld dictation recorders with the program, and transmit recordings made when you’re away from the computer. It’s possible to attach additional notes and files to the recordings for better transcription, and built-in compression technology reduces the size of recording files for easier transmission online. Express Dictate lets you use hand controllers and foot pedals, and can even be controlled via system-wide hotkeys. The software is available for both Windows (XP and above) and Mac (OS X 10.5 and later).
BEST FOR IOS
Built-In Voice Dictation
Millions of people around the globe use Apple’s iPhones and iPads for their productivity needs. If that includes you, you don’t need to look for any third-party dictation app, as iOS already has one.
The voice typing features of iOS are always being improved. Currently, they are on iOS 14 and it works great.
What’s best is that iOS’s voice typing feature is integrated directly into the on-screen keyboard, so it’s always available. All iOS apps that support text input through the on-screen keyboard, support voice typing as well. This means that you can use your voice to write e-mails, create notes, reply to text messages and more. Simply tap on the microphone key on the keyboard, and start speaking. You can also speak keywords like “Period” and “New Paragraph” for a better dictation experience.
BEST FOR ANDROID
Gboard Voice Typing
Android is all about choices, so if you use an Android smartphone and/or tablet for all your typing needs, there are a lot of dictation apps that you can choose from. Of these, Google’s Gboard is certainly the best.
Gboard is an on-screen keyboard app developed by Google. It has many features such as text prediction, GIF support, and of course, voice typing. To get started, you just need to have Gboard selected as the default keyboard app (this can be changed under “Language & Input” in Android’s settings) and have the voice typing option enabled.
Once that’s done, things get pretty straightforward. Launch the app (e.g. Microsoft Word, Google Docs) in which you would like to enter text, tap the microphone key on Gboard and start speaking.
Conclusion
Before you start working on your PC, there are few things you have to do. First thing you have to do is download Dragon Naturally Speaking on your PC. It is free of cost. You can download it from their website.