Voice Recognition in Home Inspections:
What Is Practical and What Is Not
Voice recognition is getting better and being used successfully in many industries like medical record transcription. We are going to explain how we see voice software fitting into the home inspection process and more importantly where it does not.
Also see: Using Voice Recognition with HomeGauge
There are several different ways that voice can be used during the inspection.
- Voice recording – useful for simply taking short notes about findings to be listened to later. This is supported by HomeGauge on the desktop version and the Pocket PC version.
- Voice dictation - turning your speech about findings into text. This is supported by HomeGauge on the desktop version. Inspectors can use the voice recognition software built into Windows XP for the Tablet PC or Microsoft Windows Vista. Many HomeGauge customers also report success with using Dragon Naturally Speaking.
- Voice command – using your voice to give the computer commands and move around the application. With the voice command and some additional speech feedback from the computer, the inspector can be hands free. Sounds cool and sexy, but it just is not practical. Below is why we think you should focus on realistic technology advancement.
Why is voice command and hands free inspection not practical?
Let’s look at a simple issue first.
Remember that since you are hands free you cannot see the computer. If you speak “Move to kitchen” to the computer, you must wait for feedback from it to make sure it understood you (even if it usually does, but sometimes doesn't) and consciously verify its accuracy. Tours and demonstrations for this seem amazing but remember you are still seeing the screen, so try watching with your eyes shut to understand that you really need to hear this feedback. During this time your agent and buyer (seller too if he is there) can feel intimidated to speak with you, or waits until you are through dictating aloud and then speaks, only to discover that he interrupted you listening to the feedback from the software, and can cause you to have to repeat the feedback process or review later. Your Buyer, Agent or Seller can’t hear the feedback process (not sure they would want to), so they see you standing there in a catatonic gaze and begin to ask you a question. Either your “wait a minute” finger goes up, or you have to stop. After a couple of times of this you are sure to alienate the other parties there.
Personalized Service can suffer
Interaction or Distraction: Trust and confidence is earned usually at the inspection on an individual basis with the Buyer present. You also have to earn the respect of the Seller if he is present. Inspectors, being mostly human, try to do this at the inspection through interaction with the Buyer. Since there are fewer opportunities for interaction with this voice aloud process, it can result in the Buyer becoming a distraction while you are trying to dictate.
Hands Free Operation Is Slower and Takes Longer
The speech feedback from the computer adds time. If I point and click I am done. But if I have to dictate aloud or move around in the software with voice commands, I have to listen to the feedback. An inspector can visually verify input into the computer many many many times faster than by listening to spoken text.
Anytime you have to review each line of your report after you put it in creates duplication or repetition. You will always have to re-read your report to make sure the voice to text translated correctly. This adds more time to review. Remember, anytime you have to review your comments again, you have taken away the “coolness” of the idea. Yes it sounds cool, but it’s not practical. It will consume more time than one thinks to perform an inspection this way. The need to review and or clean, defeats the innovation.
Talking out loud during an inspection.
It takes a certain type of individual to talk aloud to himself while others (seller, buyer, agent, etc.) are in the room.
Some buyers, and just about all sellers, once they discover your verbal dictation, will hinge (or cringe) on every word you say and you may be repeatedly reviewing your findings during the inspection process instead of at the end. This can incite an argument with the seller while you are verbally dictating aloud how his house is in need of repair. If you doubt this, try going over the report in detail (for the first time with your buyer) in front of the seller on your next 5 inspections.
It can add obstacles or create frustration for your agent as she or he listens to you formulate out loud how the bath floor is falling in…..No, correct that computer…How the bath floor is rotten…..correct that computer… how the bath floor is in need of repair (deterioration)
How many times do you start your comment and after reading it, change or tweak the significance (either more serious or less serious). If everyone is listening at the inspection to your soliloquy, you won’t get the chance to change the significance and save face at the same time.
Other thoughts
Comment library: We all know how important it is to say it right, not just the first time, but each time you come across that same defect, you want to comment on it correctly, completely and logically. That is why you have an auto-comment library. To use your auto comment library without being able to quickly scan it you will have to memorize the list of comment names. Prepared demos of this look good where the presenter knew the comment to use, but with a comment library containing hundreds of entries, it can be hard to remember them all. Or you can have the computer read you a really long list of your comments, but remember to pack a lunch for this method.
Hands-free distance: When considering using voice, remember the range of your remote headset may be up to 100 feet (some are lot less), but that can be lowered a great deal depending on the structure. You will most likely still have to move your base computer during the inspection to maintain a connection.
Background noise: Even with top of the line headsets with noise canceling technology, other people (Buyer, Seller, Agent) talking near you can get picked up by your headset and confuse your software, or enter in comments you didn't intend.
Since you cannot see the computer using voice command it can be very intimidating and definitely is not for a person just starting with computers or someone that is not comfortable with them.
While speech recognition in computers is becoming more accurate and used in some industries that are not dealing with customers at the same time, you will still need to dedicate time to training the software to your way of speaking. Until then you will have to put up with fixing several items in your comments that was not recognized.
Speech recognition takes a lot of computer power. So for it to work well it may not work on your current computer so you may want to get a new fast computer.
Summary
Thought activation....now that would work. We can name it the Brain. Seriously though, voice command and hands free during the inspection is not as efficient or fast as your eyes and fingers, and will involve everyone in the room whether they want to be involved or not. Just like the obnoxious guy in line on his cell phone, those in the room cannot help but to listen. HomeGauge is capable and does support voice recordings for taking quick notes on site. HomeGauge also supports voice dictation that can be combined with the mouse to move around quickly and put in custom comments quickly. This input could be done any time during or after the inspection while using digital photos for reminders. Since there can be many disadvantages or negatives with voice, HomeGauge recommends that if you are evaluating software that you should compare all features like the ease of customizing the report or creating a generated report look that you like.
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