Audio quality can make a huge difference when it comes to dictation accuracy. For best possible accuracy, a good noise-canceling, USB style, wired microphone is preferred. (Many wireless microphones provide poor audio, especially narrow band Bluetooth microphones.) nVoq regularly reviews dictation microphones for compatibility and tests many of them for functionality with each nVoq Platform release. In addition to headsets and hand-held USB microphones commonly used in the healthcare industry for dictation, nVoq also offers a Wireless Microphone app for iOS and Android smartphones.
It is important that users have an audio recording device that is recommended by nVoq when recording dictation or voice shortcuts. Using a device that is NOT recommended may result in poor audio quality, which results in poor recognition accuracy. If the dictation server doesn't understand what was said, transcripts will be inaccurate. See the list of recommended microphones.
Click the play button below to hear a recording made with a NON recommended microphone.
Besides making sure that you have a good microphone, other factors can influence audio quality, including speaking too loudly or too quickly, or even background noise in the environment in which you're dictating. You'll want to coach users who are experiencing poor dictation as a result of these issues to speak clearly and make sure the microphone is not too close or too far away. They should reduce background noise as much as possible (like turning off the radio or television, for example). See Audio Quality Examples.
