A friend who has physical difficulty in typing had reported success with using Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation software. I have no problem typing but liked the idea of the promised increase in speed.

I bought the software from Amazon, who delivered it first thing next day. Installation was a bit tricky until I read the small print on the Web site and then all went smoothly. I'm running it on an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad, under Windows XP SP2.

There is a headphone/microphone set supplied in the box but I found it uncomfortable to wear. Fortunately, I already have a Plantronic headset that I bought for use with Skype. That works fine and doesn't hurt my head.

The program is faster than I expected and more accurate. It allows me to dictate at just under conversational pace. There are still mistakes while we get used to each other, as you'd expect. If you use a word or expression it doesn't know, the software guesses, much as a person would. NaturallySpeaking learns from corrections you make, so accuracy improves.

I used the software for most of this posting and would liken it to painting your text on to the page. For a slow (but touch) typist like me, using the keyboard is more like chiselling out words from a piece of rock. The blank page can be as obdurate as any lump of granite.

Not just direct dictation

NaturallySpeaking will format pages and also understand the commands for widely used software such as Google Desktop, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook Express and Internet Explorer. This, of course, makes it even more useful for the physically handicapped. This demonstration shows some of the possibilities and the ability of the software to respond to natural speech.

The "Preferred" version of the software, which I bought, will also work from recorded sound files. I keep close to hand in my car a small and light Olympus voice recorder. If I think of something interesting or see something I want to remember, I make a note of it at the time. Converting those voice jottings to text is another chore I look forward to automating.

Recommendation

As a visit to the maker's Web site shows, the medical profession is a major user of dictation software. (Perhaps the old jokes about doctors' writing are true.) My experience with the program suggests any professional or employee who produces much text can benefit from it, too. It is streets ahead of the software the PC user was being offered a few years ago in terms of speed, accuracy and ease of use.

If you tried dictation software then but were disappointed, it might be worth giving it another go. Unfortunately, Nuance doesn't offer a trial version but the basic edition of the latest release (NaturallySpeaking 10) costs less than £50 from online discounters. A comfortable headset will add perhaps £20 to the total. You should be able to swing that small a purchase on increases in your productivity and, if relevant, that of the people who have to edit your writing.

NaturallySpeaking doesn't, of itself, improve your spelling and grammar but using it makes it more likely that you'll check what you've written. Also, if you're a bad speller, as opposed to a bad typist, the software will probably do better than you at this.

A further benefit is that using this software reduces the likelihood of repetitive strain injury (RSI) arising or recurring.

Company background

Nuance Communications might be an unfamiliar name but you will probably have heard of some of its constituent parts and products. These include Dictaphone, ScanSoft (for imaging) and, recently acquired, Philips Speech Recognition Systems. In 2003, the company made a distribution deal with IBM for its ViaVoice speech product.

You can find out more about Nuance and its range of products and markets at its FAQ page. It has yet to release its trading figures for the current fiscal year but its combined quarterly results suggest a turnover of about $865 million. Nuance has, however, traded at a loss in its previous three financial years (see this Yahoo summary) and might do so again this year. This is unsurprising given its history of growth by acquisition.

The company has too many large customers and partners to disappear but if I were an investor I would be getting fidgety for profits. Research and development spending has increased every year since 2005, so product evolution at least looks assured.