Damian Lettie

How can I deal with the issue of the invited rediologists? Can I have a single licence for the radiologists that only work here every now and then?

Web Dictate might suit your needs better than Express Dictate. You could buy a Web Dictate site licence and use it to control which users have access and when, and any user would be able to dictate from any machine. You can download a demo version from the Web Dictate home page.

I have tried several times over the past week to install my Infinity foot pedal and NCH transcription software. I do not receive any verification that drivers or pedal are installed although Express Sscribe opens. When I depress the foot pedal I only get a loud "click" sound and no reaction from the screen or transcription. The file type is .wma and I did follow the directions for choosing that type.

Are you able to playback the audio using the keyboard short-cuts or on-screen buttons?

The problem appears to be time related as a 10 min job fails after 30 secs at 50% progress while the 5 min job fails at around 75% after approx 30 secs? The download progress is never exactly the same when it fails which also points to a time out related cause?

Thanks for the detailed explanation. We will try to reproduce the problem here.

It might also be worthwhile reporting this through the official bug reporting tool (Help -> "Send Bug Report").

We are getting an error from the clients (Express Scribe Users) when they are allocated and try to download (sync) some jobs. It appears to only happen when the jobs are larger / longer - the short ones come through OK. The error message appears at about 75% download and reports "Download Interupted"

Are you running Express Delegate v4.02?

Are the Scribe users connecting via LAN or internet?

Of a dictation that fails, do you know the duration / number of channels / bit rate?

Do you know how many seconds between clicking Sync and and the error?

I purchased email support and cannot find anyplace to contact technical support that I paid for!

In Express Scribe, select Help -> "Technical Support Page". Scroll right down to the bottom and you'll find a link labelled "None of the above answers my question. Contact Technical Support...".

I cannot get this software to forward a dictation file. I keep getting error messages, the most recent one being

"data terminator not accepted"

Are you trying to forward by email? Are you running anti-virus software? Some anti-virus programs append some text (like "Outgoing message verified virus free") to the bottom of emails, and this extra text can corrupt emails which have attachments. You don't have to disable the anti-virus program - just try disabling the option for appending that text.

I am using a FREE version, perhaps that is the problem?

Express Scribe has no paid version.

I am a small business owner with approximately 7 separate off-site accounts. Some of these accounts are using a call-in system and others are still using the microcassettes.

 

I am considering purchasing Express Dictate for ALL of them to use, but seem to get more confused the more I read, so I have a few questions.

 

1. If I purchase the "Web Dictate Site License" myself, that allows me to have an unlimited number of accounts (dictators) using the software, correct?

 

2. After the above software is purchased, can it be downloaded on each dictator's computer at multiple offices?

 

3. If a contract is terminated between myself and a specific account, then can I restrict their access to Express Dictate so that they are no longer able to use it?

 

Any other help or clarification would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

Debbie

You may be confusing two different applications: Express Dictate and Web Dictate. A single user licence for either product is the same price, which is why they're grouped together on the purchase page, but the two application work differently.

Express Dictate is an stand-alone application that you would need to install and licence separately for each user / machine.

Web Dictate, on the other hand, is installed once on the server, and each user can then use it from any client machine without installing anything, just by accessing the server from a web browser. The number of users who can log in to a Web Dictate server depends on what licence(s) have been purchased. You can either purchase a single user licence for each user, or a site licence that allows unlimited users. If you're running Web Dictate with a site licence then you would be able to block someone's access to the server when they're contract was terminated, by deleting their user account.

i have vista on my computer and it is not compatible with express scribe. i need it for work, but i don't want to buy a new computer. is there something i can install to make these two compatible?

The main Express Scribe application is compatible with Windows Vista. Problems with Scribe on Vista usually stem from third-party audio codecs and / or hardware drivers.

But you'll have to give a lot more information about your problem if you want any more help tracking it down.

I am running WindowsXP Pro SP3, with Microsoft Speech Recognition (and the default profile) installed. My speakers are fed via USB, and USB Audio is selected as the nominated Sound Device. I have ticked 'Enable speech recognition' in the speech to text drop down menu.

 

I am trying to start with the most basic task - in the hope that my text will appear in the Notes window.

 

I click in the Notes window, then click on the Start button (or press F9). Then I hear the audio playing OK, but no text appears. I have tried this with the NCH welcome message as well as a PCM WAV file of my own.

Speech to text conversion is done when the audio is loaded into Scribe, not when you play it. Also, it takes a while, especially for long audio. So the steps are:

1. Enable speech recognition
   
2. Load a new audio file
   
3. Wait
   

The text will appear in the Notes, prepended with "-- Speech to Text".

Apparently at some point there has been a duplicate installation of ExpressScribe rather than an overwrite - or at least there are the remnants of one. I found a second set of system folders containing a duplicate Welcome. Deleted the duplicate folders, the problem was eliminated.

I think you've treated one of the symptoms of the problem, rather than the problem itself. It's normal for Scribe to create multiple directories. eg. (on Windows XP):

Please don't manually delete any of these directories.

If the original problem was with registry permissions then you'll have many other problems besides the zombie welcome message. (eg. Not being able to save file association changes, or incoming source property changes, etc.) Did you try the window size test in my post above?

I have the same issue - doesn't matter how many times I hit 'delete' - the welcome message is back every time I open the program.

I can reproduce this problem by denying myself write access to the Express Scribe registry key hierarchy.

Are you using a company PC? Even though you're using an admin account, the hardware people may have restricted your access to the registry.

You can test if you have write access to Scribe's registry keys by resizing the Scribe main window (not Scribe Mini), quitting the application, and relaunching it. The main window should restore to the same size as when you quit. If the size is reset to the default then you don't have write permission.

Next question, then how do dictations get into ED?

Express Dictate and MSRS have an Express Delegate send method which uploads recordings directly to the Delegate server. If you'd like a similar feature in Dial Dictate, please use the Dial Dictate "Help" -> "Send Improvement Suggestion or Feedback" menu item to suggest it to the developers.

In the meantime, you can use the Delegate web interface to manually upload Dial Dictate recordings from any computer to a Delegate server.

I have the same issue - doesn't matter how many times I hit 'delete' - the welcome message is back every time I open the program. I've even tried going into the folder and actually physically deleting the audio file - it STILL comes back.

What operating system are you using?

Does your OS user account have admin privileges?

What version of Express Scribe are you running?

Have you tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling Scribe?

I did as you suggested back in February and have still heard nothing from NCH.

I have just sent an email with further instructions.

Okay, I feel stupid asking this question, but how to I connect Express Delegate to my FTP server where DialDictate is sending all the files? I could not see that setting anywhere in ED...

Express Delegate can't currently load dictations directly from FTP, and DialDictate isn't currently able to send dictations directly to Express Delegate. Until one of these two features are implemented I can't think of a way to automate this.

I am unable to see any difference when I select the voice activation and/or change the setting.

The record button should light up yellow, rather than red, to indicate voice activation stand-by. When you start speaking, the recording button should change to red, to indicate that recording has actually started.

If you don't see yellow before you start speaking then you probably have to increase the activation level.

Getting error "The file you are attempting to loc is corrupt. (Length check failed)"

Using verion 4.02 Express Dictate.

 

Is there a utility that can help get this file recovred?

You're trying to load a DCT file? There's no standalone utility for repairing a bad DCT file. There are several NCH applications that can load DCT files (Express Scribe, Express Dictate, WavePad, etc.), but if the file really is truncated or corrupt then I imagine you'd have similar problems in all of them.

Is there a way to use eTools to extract encrypted dictations (so that the length of the wave file can be determined)? Or can this be added to the eTools XML file that it produces?

It's currently not possible to see the duration of the audio or extract the audio if the dictation is encrypted. I'll add a suggestion to the developers for a way to supply the decryption key, for consideration in the next release.

Is there any way to stop the new version of Express Scribe 'dropping' the last minute or five off of the end of the audio file?

Please describe the problem in detail. eg. What format is the audio in, how are you loading it into Scribe, etc.

Does each user that logs into a computer need to run the foot pedal wizard?

Assuming you're running a fairly recent version of Scribe, then yes, the pedal settings are stored per Windows user account.

She prefers LOAD as this usually displays all the files available in the incoming folder. She can then select the most appropriate (and see how many are left to do). Another secretary can also dip in to the same folder. SYNC just uploads the next or everything indiscriminately.

Have you tried Express Delegate? You could use it to setup rules to automatically assign dictations to any number of typists based on criteria like priority.

When she navigates to it she can view etc. but the next time she tries it opens the my document folders again...

Do you have the same problem with the new Scribe v4.31?

What version of Windows is she running?

Changes in Express Scribe v 4.31 for Windows:

• Added: M4A file format support.
  
• Fixed: FLAC files weren't loading.
  
• Fixed: Dragging-and-dropping a CDA file into the main window now loads the correct track. (Previously always loaded track 1).
  
• Fixed: "You have X new dictations" notification message was showing the incorrect number of dictations.
  
• Fixed: Low disk space popup now only appears once. (Warning icon now appears in the status bar until the problem is rectified).
  
• Fixed: Status files on FTP servers are now updated immediately after Done / Dispatch, instead of waiting for the next Sync.
  
• Fixed: Special audio processes and speech-to-text were not being run on dictations downloaded from Express Delegate servers.
  
• Fixed: Numerical inputs on "Playback" and "Disk Usage" pages of Options no longer accept non-numeric input.
  
• Fixed: Remove button on the Incoming tab of the Options dialog can now delete more than one incoming source at once.
  
• Changed: New application icon.
  

Changes in Express Dictate v 5.09 for Windows:

• Fixed: No longer crash when generating a dictation report when the previous report file is open in another application.
  
• Fixed: "Mirror all sent dictations to this folder" option wasn't working for Express Delegate recipients.
  
• Fixed: Sample rate used for new recordings is no longer affected by changes made to audio codec settings in recipient properties.
  
• Fixed: Less degradation of audio quality when sending to an Express Delegate server. (Requires Express Delegate v4.02 or later for best results.)
  
• Fixed: Better validation of numerical inputs in "Restrict number of characters" of data validation dialog.
  
• Fixed: Notes were not cleared when a dictation was sent.
  
• Fixed: Cosmetic issues when running on Windows 98.
  
• Changed: No longer attempt to load or play files with more than two audio channels.
  
• Changed: Audio codec options UI is now disabled for recipients using Express Delegate send method.
  

Changes in Express Delegate v 4.02 for Windows:

• Added: Audio sample rate is now displayed on the dictation properties page. (For recordings uploaded to Delegate v4.02 or later with DB schema >= v2.)
  
• Added: "MSRS Conference and Court Recording System" is now listed in the help as a compatible client program.
  
• Fixed: Recordings uploaded from client programs are now stored quicker, so client programs no longer time-out when uploading large recordings.
  
• Fixed: Improved audio quality of recordings. (Clients: For best results, use Express Dictate v5.09 or later, and / or MSRS v4.07 or later.)
  
• Changed: Secure web port now disabled by default for new installs.
  

Our users computers are all set to transfer files to the secretary's incoming folder which is on the c: drive. We had Express Scribe set up to look at that folder using the upload button so that she could select teh next file according to priority etc. Since it was re-installed after a computer upgrade, (version 4.30) I can no longer set this as the default so every time she looks she needs to navigate from the default (in her documents) to the incoming folder.

 

There seems to be no way of setting our incoming folder as the default. Am I missing something?

Is your secretary using Load or Sync? If she's using Load, then Scribe should remember the most-recently-used folder. If she's using Sync, then the source folder is set in Options -> Incoming -> Properties -> "Source folder", with the "Receive method" set to "File Copy".