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“It is a pleasure to sit in front of my computer talking to Dragon like an old friend.”
Featured Case Studies
Youth Villages (Health & Human Services)
Youth Villages, a private non-profit organization, is dedicated to helping children with serious emotional and behavioral problems and their families live successfully. Youth Villages' 1,600 counselors and support staff help more than 11,000 children each year from50 locations across the US. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional enables counselors to dictate notes into a digital voice recorder while their on the road and then automatically transcribe those notes to their office PC. Voice commands further speed and simplify paperwork. Time studies have shown that Dragon reduced family counselors' paperwork time by as much as 55% over typing. Since introducing Dragon, Youth Villages has also seen increased counselor retention and improved job satisfaction levels.
Dragon Helps Achieve Academic Success
Arizona State University senior Benjamin Snow hasn't let cerebral palsy impact his academic success. Snow and his father describe Dragon speech recognition as a dramatically life-changing assistive technology for students. "Dragon helps me dictate more concrete thoughts, and I'm able to get my work done faster and more efficiently," he explains. "Dragon also lets me focus more on the content of my writing instead of constantly looking at the keyboard."
Education
Dragon Helps Achieve Academic Success
Arizona State University senior Benjamin Snow hasn't let cerebral palsy impact his academic success. Snow and his father describe Dragon speech recognition as a dramatically life-changing assistive technology for students. "Dragon helps me dictate more concrete thoughts, and I'm able to get my work done faster and more efficiently," he explains. "Dragon also lets me focus more on the content of my writing instead of constantly looking at the keyboard."
Higher Education: Graduating to Dictate for Mac
Higher education tends to be a writing-intensive environment, whether you’re a student or a professor. As Chris Haskell, Jill Dahlman, and Dennis McElroy have discovered, that also makes it the perfect environment for Dragon Dictate, regardless of the subject matter or need that drives the use of speech recognition software. As Dennis points out, “[Dragon] saved me: when faced with a choice between speaking my work and hunting and pecking on a keyboard, there’s no comparison.” Learn more in this fantastic success story.
Unlocking Potential with Dragon
"Never did I realize how many doors Dragon would open so quickly for this bright little girl," recalls special needs teacher Karen Howe. The fourth-grade student she was working with struggled with a form of autism that hindered her ability to write despite her exceptional reading comprehension skills. But once Howe introduced the student to Dragon, the student was able to achieve complete independence — and academic success — in the classroom.
More Efficient and Effective Professing
Mark Hopper, associate professor of psychology at Lamas College in Iowa, needed to find an efficient way to give students in his writing-intensive courses the feedback they needed without compromising the quality of his commentary. Dragon allows him to double what he used to do in the same amount of time. He explains that it used to take him an hour to read one student paper and produce feedback. Now he can complete four or five papers per hour, providing more feedback than before. It used to take him three or four weeks to return student papers, but now he can turn them around within seven to 10 days.
Building an Educational Foundation for Dyslexic Students
Zach Osbrach, who was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, opened a series of charter schools in Florida geared towards dyslexic students. He relies on Dragon for all written communication, whether he's responding to an e-mail or putting together a formal report. "Without Dragon, I would be somewhat illiterate," he says. "I often don't get close enough to the word to rely on spell check."
Dictate Ignites A Passion for Learning
From Math teacher Richard Lautze to student Amanda Joyce, faculty members and students at the Urban School in San Francisco rely on Dragon Dictate as a key component of their academic workflow. Director of Technology Howard Levin explains that the software "has freed them to become more productive by speaking their thoughts, rather than dealing with slow typing speeds or unfamiliarity with using a computer."
The Perfect Research Assistant
Shakespeare scholar and English professor Erika Lin relies on the productivity-boosting prowess of Dictate, acting as her trusty foil in pursuits of academic research, writing and teaching.
Mac, Mr. P., and Me
Discover how Dr. Ed Lynch relies on the advanced capabilities and superior speech recognition accuracy of Dragon on his Mac to compose books, DVD scripts, emails, class sylabi, and much more.
Playing a Key Role in Anthropology Research
Sean Bruna, a PhD candidate in cultural anthropology at the University of New Mexico and a teacher at a local community college, uses Dragon Dictate to improve the detail and quantity of his filed notes.
Corporate/Government
Maine OCFS (Health and Human Services)
Caseworkers at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) often faced overwhelming documentation demands. By introducing Dragon, OCFS has significantly cut documentation time, improved narrative quality, and boosted caseworker morale. In a survey of pilot participants, nearly 70 percent of respondents stated that Dragon saved them at least 30 minutes or more per day, and 80 percent said that Dragon enables them to work more efficiently.
Major Insurance Company Boosts Property Claims Adjuster Productivity (Insurance)
When property adjusters' claim volumes spike, overwhelming documentation demands make it challenging to provide the fast, efficient and award-winning service that customers have come to expect. To address this concern, an industry-leading insurance company purchased Dragon licenses for its commercial markets property claims adjusters nationwide. Dragon has significantly reduced documentation time, enabling adjusters to process claims faster and deliver superior customer service. It has also enabled injured employees to stay on the job and maintain productivity by supporting hands-free computer use.
Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Cambridge, Mass. (Health and Human Services)
Michael Muehe, executive director of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities in the city of Cambridge, Mass., spends a good deal of his time working with the local disability community to improve access and provide information about resources. Because of his spinal cord injury, Muehe has very limited finger dexterity and knows from person experience that Dragon makes an ideal assistive technology.
Helping Put out Fires from the Sidelines with Dragon (Fire and Public Safety)
When Steve Bergson broke his wrist several years ago, the firefighter and hazardous materials technician feared being sidelined until his wrist healed. Then Bergson discovered Dragon NaturallySpeaking and suddenly he had a way to put his expertise to good use and continue to make valuable contributions to the fire department. After his wrist healed, Bergson returned to his regular duties and stopped working in an office every day, but Dragon remains with him at home where he runs a web design business on the side.
Complete More Detailed Police Reports Faster, Cloquet, MN, Police Department
Dedicated to protecting and servicing the communities within his jurisdiction, Cloquet Police Chief Wade Lamirande is always looking for ways to improve efficiencies within his department. Nuance worked closely with partner Chader Business Equipment to deliver a Dragon solution that cut documentation turnaround time and improved report quality within a matter of months.
Delaware Division of Family Services (Health and Human Services)
Delaware DFS needed a way to help caseworkers speed documentation turnaround so they could spend more time in the field helping children and families. Dragon has cut the time it takes caseworkers to enter their case notes by up to 75 percent. In addition, using a digital voice recorder for dictating notes in the field allows caseworkers to boost productivity – even when they're simply traveling to appointments or waiting in court.
Youth Villages (Health & Human Services)
Youth Villages, a private non-profit organization, is dedicated to helping children with serious emotional and behavioral problems and their families live successfully. Youth Villages' 1,600 counselors and support staff help more than 11,000 children each year from50 locations across the US. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional enables counselors to dictate notes into a digital voice recorder while their on the road and then automatically transcribe those notes to their office PC. Voice commands further speed and simplify paperwork. Time studies have shown that Dragon reduced family counselors' paperwork time by as much as 55% over typing. Since introducing Dragon, Youth Villages has also seen increased counselor retention and improved job satisfaction levels.
Landmark College (Education)
Landmark College incorporates highly accessible educational approaches to empower learning disabled students to master skills and strategies for success in mainstream settings. To that end, the school strives to integrate assistive technology into the learning process wherever possible. Landmark College incorporates highly accessible educational approaches to empower learning disabled students to master skills and strategies for success in mainstream settings. To that end, the school strives to integrate assistive technology into the learning process wherever possible. Using Dragon, Landmark College students have been able to achieve greater independence in their schoolwork; express themselves in writing with enhanced ease and fluency; and make marked progress in spelling, reading and writing.
Creativity
Fanning Sparks of Ideas into Flames of Inspiration
"I can't type as quickly as I speak, or as fast as I can think," explains consultant Michael Kristof, who was frustrated by the inability to quickly and easily capture his creative ideas as he worked on projects ranging from web site design to print ads to corporate videos. But with Dragon Dictate, he's ready whenever inspiration strikes.
Serving Up a Fresh Voice with Dictate
Cookbook author, columnist and blogger Jaden Hair relies on Dragon Dictate to ensure her light breezy style comes through in her writing. "I don’t like writing so it can take me hours to write an article," she explains. "But it goes much faster if I simply speak it."
Examining the Psychological Side of Travel with Dragon Dictate
Michael Brein, who describes himself as a "travel psychologist," relies on Dragon Dictate to turn others' wayfaring adventures into engaging stories that examine the psychology behind their thrilling, scary, humorous, and intoxicating travel experiences.
Writing Faster, Smarter, Stronger with Dragon
Pop culture writer and film critic Andrew Konietzky uses Dragon to draft articles and film reviews, because the software allows him to write the way he talks. "I can throw my personality into the mix," he explains, allowing him to achieve a conversational style in his articles.
Productivity
On-the-Go Legal Notes and Summaries with Dragon
"I need a system that allows for efficiency and accuracy for my very demanding schedule," explains lawyer and road warrior Brad Wixen. "Dragon has been a great time saver and is almost error-free." With Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Wixen dictates his notes into a digital voice recorder while in the car and completes his daily paperwork in half the time it used to take.
Banishing the Blank Page with Dragon Dictate
Professional writer Rick Zeoli still struggled with the initial blank page when starting a writing project. But Dragon Dictate now makes it much easier to start writing. Zeoli explains: "I just started talking. It made the first step in the journey so much easier. Getting over that hurdle was like getting over a mountain."
Preserving History with Dragon
Despite his Cape Cod accent ("Pahk your cah in Havahd Yahd"), historical society member Duncan Oliver was able to accurately generate 200 pages of transcribed text for an historical anthology in just a month and a half using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. "I type with one finger," he explains, "but speaking the articles was more than twice as fast as the fastest typist at the historical society."
Keeping a Solo-Practitioner Practice Humming with Dragon Legal
Isaac Jaroslawicz relies on Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal to create email, reports, briefs, deposition outlines, and more. In addition to significant time savings, he credits Dragon with allowing him to stop using online transcription services that used to charge him a minimum of $30-40 per document.
Taking Care of Business with Dragon
Robert Schaefer, who lives and works in Bangkok, uses Dragon for everything from editing documents and filling out customs forms to browsing the web and writing emails. "I can talk into a wireless mic and work in comfort," he explains. "I rarely use a keyboard anymore."
Dragon Gives an Officer More Time to Serve the Public
"I write reports all day long, every day, but I’m not a typist," explains officer Jeff Potter of the Cottonwood, Utah police department. Instead he uses Dragon to dictate his reports and finishes the job in half the time it used to take.
Protecting Kids with More Efficient Reports, Thanks to Dragon
Ed Madaus, a 23-year veteran of the state department of social services, believes Dragon can help state government employees and others improve reporting and save money. Staff often spend weekends catching up on the overwhelming load of paperwork, Madaus explains, "but with Dragon they could greatly reduce the time needed to get that part of their jobs done."
Soup to Nuts Architecture with Dragon
Architect Christine Broda uses Dragon to keep up with the pace of work as a single practitioner. "I talk faster than I can type, so Dragon cuts my writing time in half, which allows me to include more information," she explains. She uses Dragon with a Bluetooth wireless headset to conveniently dictate notes, as well as emails, memos, proposals and more.
A Journalist's Assistant and Time Saver
Journalist Bryce Hubner relies on speech recognition to make him super productive and save a ton of time in the process.
Speaking from the Heart with Dragon
There are always plenty of people out there who need a prayer or two, as Dragon customer Sandra Norris knows. She works part-time for a national television ministry as a prayer counselor, and while she receives plenty of prayer requests by phone, she also sees many of them arrive via web chat. Dragon NaturallySpeaking not only makes keeping up with the prayer requests a breeze, but lets Sandra help people with a personal touch through spoken word.
Uncovering Family History with Dragon
Sandy Schlaudecker had a treasure-trove of letters written by her great-great-great-grandfather during the Civil War. But how could she share the content of the 200 letters with friends and family? The solution was Dragon NaturallySpeaking. With Dragon Schlaudecker can simply place a letter in front of her and read it into her PC.
Removing the Sales Meeting Recap Drudgery with Dragon
Like many sales executives, Dan Gadbois found himself spending several hours each week typing out comprehensive sales reports. He explains that Dragon significantly improved his productivity when he started using the software to dictate his reports from the field. "It gave me more time for sales prospecting," he says, "increasing sales at existing accounts, and getting more appointments into each day."
Accessibility
Dragon: A Transformational Force
When Duane French was 14, looking to escape the summer heat with some friends, he dove off a bridge. This one act, however, left him a quadriplegic. The year was 1968, and assistive technologies were still in their early stages. Today, French uses Dragon on his home and work desktop computers, as well as on his laptop, so it’s always within reach. Discover how Dragon has become and integral component of Duane’s daily life.
Tackling Disability Head-On with Dragon Dictate
"It was literally like I had been wearing handcuffs and they had been removed," says quadriplegic Paul Natsch of his first experience with Dragon Dictate. "Now I can type as fast as or faster than any able-bodied person ... It makes me feel like I can do anything now."
Telling a Grand Adventure Story with Dragon
Novelist N. Jay Young became a quadriplegic when a crumbling sea wall rained a piece of concrete on him while he was at the beach. He ended up in a wheelchair with limited use of his arms, although his fingers didn't work. He spent many years getting his writings typed by recording them, and asking friends to transcribe for him. That was a hit-or-miss process, and he began to get frustrated. Then a friend let him know about Dragon, and he began using it when version 5 came out in 2000. "It was a life-changing event when I used Dragon for the first time," he recalls.
Taking Control of Life with Dragon
On June 22, 1997, Nancy Blose's life literally turned upside down when her Jeep flipped five times and she was left with a broken neck. She recalls: "I was a 34-year-old mother of two, a wife, a sister, a daughter, now trapped in a broken body. I was dependent on others for all my daily requirements." Then she discovered Dragon NaturallySpeaking. "I desperately wanted control of my life," she says, "and I found it with my voice and Dragon."
Freedom to Concentrate on Writing, Not Multiple Sclerosis
A few years ago, Evan Upchurch was a Microsoft employee working in the usability group, where he wrote reports to help the product teams understand how people use software. When he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, colleagues encouraged him to try Dragon NaturallySpeaking. He explains that Dragon enabled him to easily transition from using his hands to using his voice for nearly every aspect of computer usage.
Dragon Is a Life-Changing Experience
Bruce Walz, paralyzed from the shoulders down after a motorcycle accident, tried speech recognition software years ago with mixed results. But after trying the latest version of Dragon paired with a wireless microphone, he raves, "Regardless of what I'm doing on the computer, Dragon simplifies each and every task."
Seeing the World Again with Dragon
Already battling multiple sclerosis, William Lankford feared his career was over when he was left legally blind. But he explains that Dragon makes his everyday life possible. "Dragon literally gave me my world back," he explains. "Not only could I control my computer with ease, but my computer could read to me! ... You can't put a price on something like that."
Overcoming Academic Writing Challenges
Writing school papers was a challenge for dyslexic student Paul Cleary. But as Bob Luke, director of The Charles Armstrong School, explains: “We work with average and above-average intelligence kids who have learning disabilities that create roadblocks to academic success. Dragon can help some brilliant kids like Paul Cleary demonstrate just how smart they really are. Dragon helps unlock intelligence.”
Life in the Grid with Dragon
Like other full-time programmers, Cory Lamle spends a lot of time in front of a computer. After more than 20 years of such work, he developed tendinitis in one arm. Not only did it threaten to hamper his career, but it also had the potential to derail his blog, LifeInTheGrid.com, where he offers tips and technology reviews aimed at online entrepreneurs. Lamle observes: “Not only has Dragon helped my tendinitis from significantly less typing, but I’ve been able to enhance my workflows and processes so much that I feel like I actually hired an internal virtual assistant.
Fulfilling Career Dreams
When Dr. Glen House broke his neck and injured his spinal cord while skiing, he didn't let the accident prevent him from fulfilling his dream of a medical career. He uses MacSpeech Dictate Medical to dictate clinical notes. "It keeps costs down because I don't need a medical transcriptionist, which is 10-12 cents a line and really adds up fast," he explains. "I easily dictate 10-12 pages of notes per day, at a minimum, and it can be as much as 50 pages a day sometimes."
Assisting Disabled Artists
Discover how Don Whittecar, found of The Emergent Institute, connected his experience using speech recognition with his organization's mission to support artists with disabilities.