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1 Focus Medical Software on the new Nuance PowerMic III

All of the Dragon users out there, especially the Dragon Medical and 360 PowerScribe users, may have heard about the much anticipated "PowerMic III" upgraded product release.  This is an upgrade of the PowerMic II hand-held USB mic which has been the preferred mic for many Dragon (Medical) users over the last 8 - 10 years.  It is a plug-n-play solution, and has been provided by VARs and hospitals alike.

There are some very notable changes to consider though:

1. It offers the choice of two cord lengths:  9 ft. and 3 ft. options, depending on your specific setup.  Unfortunately, they are not interchangeable, so you have to choose one or the other at the time you purchase.  The Philips SpeechMike Premium can be a great alternative, if you are looking for that kind of flexibility, FYI.
2. It replaces the prior "pointer stick" with an optical device to control cursor movement.  Since the previous pointer stick was a clear weak point, this is a significant improvement.
3. In terms of size, it's about the same width, but clearly a bit shorter (see images below).

Accuracy and External Noise Rejection:  While comfort, functionality and compatibility with work-flow are often key drivers for hand-held microphone users, at the end of the day a microphone has to be accurate to be viable.  Here's what we can tell you from a limited testing period and feedback from clientele:

Real Life Usage:  In the setting of a physician dictation room with regular conversation and dictation in the background, it worked every bit as good as the SpeechMike Premium LFH3500.  While it's accuracy was impressive, where it really excelled was in external noise rejection.  The 3 ft. cord is a great improvement, unless you are in a fixed, desktop scenario - I would suggest the 9 ft. cord in that scenario. 

Images:

The upsides:  Like the prior version, the PowerMic III enjoys several features which make it a great choice for the medical user, including the following:

• It includes an embedded microphone element which leads to a fairly high level of immunity from external noise. In this regard we consider it superior to every other hand-held on the market.
• It includes unprecedented integration with all current medical versions of Dragon (both client side and cloud-based versions)
• It includes ten programmable buttons - these can be programmed directly through a dedicated tab on the Dragon Medical options tab to do a slew of helpful things. This is a major advantage of this microphone.
• It is the only microphone that is made with two cord lengths (3ft. or 9ft.) The cord is not exchangeable, though, so you have to make this decision up-front when you purchase.
• It is well constructed and durable.
  
  

The downsides:  No product is perfect, and this one is no exception.  Here are the potential negatives:

• It continues to be overpriced ($424). The alternatives (SpeechMike Premium LFH 3500, and any SpeechMike III series, along with the Olympus Direct Rec) are good products at much lower costs although don't enjoy the same integration with Dragon medical versions.
• It has a less than stellar warranty (only 90 days). Most other hand-helds come with a 1- or 2-year warranty.
• In our opinion it is not quite as ergonomic as the alternatives, including the Philips SpeechMike Premium and Olympus Direct Rec DR2200. We love the new optical track pad, but also think it's placed so low that it's a fairly long reach for your thumb to alternate between microphone control key and optical track pad.
• It does not integrate with non-medical versions of Dragon (buttons are not programmable in non-medical software), with the exception of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional in a network setting
• It is compatible with a Mac only with some tweaking and use of additional software, although highly not recommended - you should definitely use the Philips SpeechMike Premium for that, and give us a call first to discuss the differences.

Technical Specifications:

• OS Compatibility: Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. See below for information of Mac compatibility (only with additional software)
• USB Compatibility: 1.1 or higher
• Microphone frequency response: 20-16,000 Hz
• Microphone sensitivity: not reported
• Signal to noise ratio: +70db

Summary:  the PowerMic III is a significant upgrade from the PowerMic II, most notably because of the switch to a non-mechanical track pad and the availability of a shorter cord. It is highly accurate in both real-life use and in formal bench testing.  Unique to both the PowerMic II and PowerMic III is an embedded microphone element which provides extra protection from external noise.  Both microphones also enjoy unparalleled integration with medical versions of Dragon.  I do not recommend upgrading to the PowerMic III if you are a current PowerMic II user and happy with its performance.  

If you are new to speech recognition software and are considering the purchase of a hand-held microphone to use with medical versions of Dragon, this is certainly a great choice.  For non-medical users, you are probably better off purchasing the less expensive and equally functional Philips SpeechMike Premium LFH3500.  

Dragon® NaturallySpeaking Speech Recognition Software Now Comes in Versions for Professionals and Individuals

Nuance Communications is pleased to announce the introduction of two new versions of its Dragon® NaturallySpeaking Professional 13 speech-recognition software to better meet the specific needs of users.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 13 has been split into Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Group 13.5 and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Individual 14.

Professionals working in a group environment where there are multiple of users of Nuance’s industry leading solution are targeted by Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Group, which retains the same feature set as Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Individual is designed for individual professionals and people with physical limitations who work in a small office setting. As a result, a number of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13’s advanced features that are geared toward group environments, such as administrative settings and the Roaming User feature, have been deleted.

Both versions are compatible with Windows 10 and include additional functionalities tailored to the needs of each type of user.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Pro 13.5’s advancements include:

• An enhanced User Interface, that is more intuitive and easy to use
• Smart Format Rules offering even more hints for alternative words
• A Learn from Sent Email tool that works with Web-based email such as Gmail™ and Yahoo! Mail® for more potential sources for familiarization with words and phrases you may write
• A new Vocabulary Editor interface making it easy to add new words and customize each word’s unique properties
• Support for microphones built into many of the latest laptops for optimal flexibility and convenience

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Individual includes:

• Advanced, customizable time-saving commands
• Vocabulary customization
• Dragon Anywhere Integration, a new mobile application that enables users of iOS and android devices to turn voice into text, as well as edit documents on mobile devices.
• The ability to transcribe an individual speaker’s recording without traditional Dragon training.
• Revamped help files that are even easier to use

Both versions are 99 percent accurate, right out of the box, and can turn speech into text three times faster than typing. They are also chock full of the patented technology and advanced features that have made Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional the leader in the speech recognition software industry.

To reach 1 Focus Medical Software or to schedule a live demonstration of our software offerings, please click here.

Multi-Tasking Made Easy with Dragon® Medical Practice Edition 2 Speech Recognition Software

Multi-tasking is a must over the course of a healthcare professional’s hectic workday. Nuance Communications addressed that necessity in the design of its Dragon® Medical Practice Edition 2.2 software.

Dragon Medical speech recognition solutions include a Hidden Dictation Box, which allows medical professionals to dictate anywhere in their EHR/EMR, eliminating navigation between screens and the notes window. With the Hidden Dictation Box, commonly known as Hidden Mode, you can dictate into Dragon Medical, even when the cursor is active in another application or a website. The Dictation Box can made visible or invisible, whatever the situation demands.

Hidden Mode feature is an essential feature for physicians, radiologists and other clinicians who need to focus their attention elsewhere while dictating medical reports into Dragon Medical Practice Edition 2 using your preferred microphone. All that’s required in the Hidden Mode is for you to dictate and then click into the appropriate EHR/EMR field, and say, “Transfer text” or press the HotKey, which by default is CTRL+Shift+T – but can be customized to something similar to suit your needs. If you are using a handheld microphone such as the Nuance PowerMic II or the Philips SpeechMike Premium, you can customize any of the buttons to be the HotKey for transferring your text from the hidden dictation box in to your EMR/EHR.

1 Focus Medical Software is an Elite national reseller of Dragon Medical Practice Edition 2 speech recognition solutions and we ensure the success of our clients by backing our products with industry leading consultation, installation services and ongoing, free lifetime technical support.

To contact 1 Focus Medical Software or learn more about customizing your Dragon Medical Practice Edition 2, please click here.

Roaming User Profiles make Dictating from Different Machines and Locations a Snap

Changes can be made remotely across an enterprise network with Dragon® NaturallySpeaking Professional, Dragon® NaturallySpeaking Legal and Dragon® Medical Practice Edition 2 Roaming User feature, which can synchronize user profiles on networked computers utilizing Dragon’s speech recognition software.

A network profile is all that’s required for users to dictate information that will be reflected system-wide and to utilize the time, effort and money saving features that have made Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal and Dragon Medical Practice Edition 2 the favored speech recognition solution for professionals, students and everyone in between.

The Roaming User feature allows you to dictate utilizing your network user profile from different locations using a variety of computing and audio input devices, without the creation of a user profile on each piece of equipment. This means that if you teach computer #1 a word, a command or anything else, that all of the other computers networked will learn them as well. This is a technology that even allows a networked computer to leave the network, hence leave the Roaming User profile, and take advantage of a local user, say if a physician wanted to take their laptop home and dictate treatment plan updates.

Managing enterprise profile and desktop dictation deployment is simplified for network administrators with the Roaming User feature, which enables them to:

• Easily set up users to access their centralized profile from multiple machines, whether at the office, at home or in the field; as long as users can connect to their server.
• Update custom vocabulary from a central location, quickly and easily.
• Efficiently distribute common voice macros across a network.

To reach 1 Focus Medical Software or to learn more about Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal and Dragon Medical Practice Edition 2, please click here.