Voice recognition technology has evolved over the past few years, with iPhone application, Siri, interacting with a large slice of the population daily. Although Siri is very helpful, often bogus internet searches and mis-dialed numbers result from misinterpreted interactions. While the technology and applications are innovative and useful, total dependence is not yet a reality. Revisions needed on items transcribed through voice recognition are commonplace. It is almost unheard of to find an error-free paragraph transcribed via voice recognition technology. Writers can avoid errors and minimize revision rates by checking, and proofreading anything transcribed by software.

Medical TranscriptionDoctor's Laptop
While the medical transcription industry looked as though it would be completely phased out by the voice recognition software era, there were many errors that did not allow for this transition. There are several factors that go into a successful transcription job. Formatting is very important, and often the voice recognition software is of little help with formatting. Spelling is crucial: voice recognition software spells correctly every time, but does it always spell the correct word? While most of the time the correct word is used, the percentage of time that the wrong word is used is generally too high to be acceptable. For example, the wrong word in a medical file can mean the difference between life and death. Errors associated with medical transcription are important to catch and fix. In one study, 90% of patient records transcribed through voice recognition software contained errors before being proofread. This is compared to 10% of the reports transcribed by a human transcriptionist. Further, the reports which used voice recognition software took longer, raised the cost for the medical provider, and added an unmeasured but substantial amount of stress to the medical provider.

College Use
Some students can speak much better than they can type. Because of this ability to allow thoughts to flow verbally, voice recognition software can be a sound option for college students. Voice recognition software has an accuracy of approximately 70 to 80% for most users. This accuracy is much too low to simply dictate and then turn in an assignment. While voice recognition software will work for college students who are verbally expressive, double checking and proofreading is essential. One disadvantage for those who use voice recognition software happens when reading over the document as they are dictating the content. Often, the mind will correct mistakes and read the article as correct even when words are wrong.

Content Production
Many Writers who complete assignments at a particularly high volume may use voice recognition software the majority of the time as dictating dialogue often takes less time than manually typing it out. While this is perfectly acceptable, a good idea for individuals from any field turning in assignments or content that were dictated via voice recognition software is to re-check the work after taking some time away to clear the mind.

Proofreading assignments is the best way to ensure assignments are accepted on the first try. If the editing team on behalf of the User notices a series of consistent errors or nonsensical sentences, the article will be sent back to the Writer to revise. This may impede the number of articles that a Writer can potentially have accepted in a day and can negate the effectiveness of the voice recognition software. Writers should always be sure they are proofreading and double checking their work, both dictated and hand typed, in order to submit assignments that will be accepted the first time. No software is perfect and even the most sophisticated software can be result in error.