Dictation Buddy and Transcription Frequently Asked Questions

The Frequently Asked Questions can be found under the following topics:

Using Dictation Buddy Transcription Features

Can I control playback and keep my text editing application, like MS Word, as the working application on the top of my desktop?

Yes! Dictation Buddy, can assign Hot Keys to control playback functions, like Play / Pause / Rewind / FF / Speed-up playback and Slow-down playback, all through your keyboard. Alternatively, you can use a foot pedal (USB or game port connection) to control playback functions. See this link for more information.

Where can I get a foot pedal for my PC that works with Dictation Buddy?

You can purchase a foot pedal from High Criteria. Follow this link to order a USB style foot pedal, or contact us by email if you would like to order a game port version foot pedal.

How do I know if I have a game port or a USB port?

A game port is usually found on your sound card. It is a 15 pin, female connection. The 15 pins are split into two rows. The plug that goes into the game port looks like this:

USB ports have only been popular since the year 2000. If you computer is older than this, then you probably do not have a USB port. Also, USB support is only available on updated versions of Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. USB support is not available on Windows 95 or on NT. The plug that goes into the USB port looks like this:

How do I activate a foot pedal?

First, plug the foot pedal device into either the USB or game port of your PC. Then, go to View=>Options=>Foot Pedal and check the box labeled "Enable Foot Pedal Control".

How do I activate the Hot key function?

Go to View=>Options=>Hot Keys and check the box labeled "Enable Hot Keys".

Can Dictation Buddy playback at speeds that are faster and/or slower than normal playback speed? If so, how?

Yes! The program can playback a recording at a faster rate or a slower rate than normal. The speed-up and slow-down functions may be accessed either through the keyboard with Hot Keys or with a mouse.

When you start playback, you will see double arrows pointing left and right, just below the "Length indicator" (this is in the lower left corner of the Dictation Buddy Window.). These arrows control playback speed. To slow down the playback, click on the arrows going left. To speed up playback, click on the arrows going right. Please note that these arrows only appear during playback. You can also control this function through the keyboard. Please see View => Options => Hotkeys for more information about using the keyboard to control the playback speed.

Each click of the arrow will cause playback speed to be reduced or incremented by a step speed. With this control, you can go down to 1/2 normal speed or increase the speed to double the normal speed. The size of the incremental steps is specified under View => Options => Playback.

More information about this topic can be found in the Help Topics facility under Using Dictation Buddy =>  Playing a Sound File => Changing the Speed of Playback.

I would like to use the Hot keys to control Dictation Buddy, but the default Hot keys conflict with my text editing application. Can I change these defaults?

Yes! Just go to View=>Options=>Hot Keys. Select the function you want to change, "Clear" the key, then press the new key that you would like to substitute for this Hot key.

How big are the wav files that Dictation Buddy uses?

The size of the file depends how much dictation is in the file and what type of compression is used on the file. By default, Dictation Buddy is set to use MS-ADPCM compression. This type of compression gives a good quality recording with moderate compression. If you want even more compression, we suggest that you use DSP Group Truespeech. Truespeech compression was written specifically for dictation applications and gives an excellent level of compression. To change the type of compression, go to View=>Options=>Recording=>Sound Quality=> Change.

How can I move the recorded files around the Internet?

Generally, wav files will be too large to attach to an email. An alternative is to set up your own File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site. There are also a number of FTP sites on the Internet that charge you for using their services. With these types of sites, one user (your customer) can upload a recorded file, and then you can retrieve the file. You can purchase a number of mega-bytes per year from these sites and they become your own private C drive on the Internet. Two examples of such companies are www.xdrive.com and www.bigvault.com. As of the date of this writing, you can obtain 100 megabytes per year for $36 from BigVault.

This example is not meant as an endorsement of either XDrive or BigVault. Users should investigate these sites and determine if they address their requirements. High Criteria has no affiliation with either XDrive or BigVault.

I already have my recording on a tape device. How can I copy this recording to my PC?

You can use Dictation Buddy and a cable that you can get from your local electronics store. See this page for details.

Installing Dictation Buddy

What version of Windows do I need to run Dictation Buddy?

Dictation Buddy will run on any version of Windows, from Windows'95 and up. Your PC must also have a sound card. If you want to use a foot pedal, then you must also have a USB port or a game port, to plug the pedal into the PC.

I have a previous version of Dictation Buddy installed. Should I uninstall it before installing a new version?

No. A newer version will automatically remove an older version and then install itself.

When I try to run dicbud22.exe I get a message "WinZip self-extractor header corrupt". What can I do?

You can download a regular zip file called dicbud22.zip from http://www.highcriteria.com/download/dicbud22.zip. However, you should be careful as this problem is likely caused by a virus on your computer.

My hard disk crashed and I lost everything including Dictation Buddy. How can I get another copy?

You can always download the latest version from our web site at www.highcriteria.com. We recommend you keep a paper copy of your registration key and keep it in a safe place. If you have lost your key, use http://www.highcriteria.net/scripts/getkey/getkey.asp to obtain a registration key. This form can be used only if your E-mail address that we have in our database is still valid. If this is not the case, E-mail us at support@highcriteria.com and provide your registration name, the old address and the new address, and we will update our records.

Purchasing Dictation Buddy

The evaluation version of Dictation Buddy seems to work fine. Why do I have to purchase anything?

The evaluation version of the program will only work for one month. The program is not free and you must purchase a registration if you are going to continue to use it.

What happens when I make a purchase online?

A charge for the appropriate amount is placed on your credit card by our credit card processing company, either Internet Secure or ShareIt. We will then send you two emails. One email is simply a receipt. The other email is your registration information. Your registration information is a code that you must copy and paste into two text boxes in the Dictation Buddy application. Complete instructions come with the email.

This entire process should take about 10 minutes, from the time you make your purchase, until you copy and paste the registration information into Dictation Buddy. If you also ordered the optional foot pedal, then we'll send it to you by ground courier and you should have it in a week.

We send you your registration information by email, so it is very important to specify your email address correctly, in the purchase order form.

How long does it take to get a registration key?

If you register by credit card, it takes only minutes. Your registration code is automatically emailed to you as soon as your credit card has been verified.

My credit card transaction was approved but I didn’t get a receipt and/or a registration key. What should I do?

This is likely caused by a typing error in your E-mail address, or possibly due to some technical problems with network communications. E-mail support@highcriteria.com and we will resend the missing information to you. Make sure that your E-mail address is not blocked and that you can accept E-mail from us.

I live in the United States but my receipt is in Canadian dollars. Why?

This is normal. Your receipt will show Canadian Dollars but your credit card company will convert this amount to US Dollars.

I am trying to register but receive a message that the transaction is “Voided”. What does this mean?

It means the postal address you provided is different from that of your credit card billing address. Please correct the address and try again. If in doubt, look at your credit card statement for verification. If there is still a problem, use the alternative credit card link.

My credit card is valid and has sufficient credit but your Website keeps declining it. What can I do?

The best way to resolve this is to call your bank. They have records of all your transactions and may be able to quickly determine the reason for failure. You can also try the alternative credit card link.

When I try to make a purchase, my browser gives me the following error message. Why?

We Cannot Process Your Transaction.
Cannot find one or any of these variables:
MerchantNumber, Products, ReturnURL or ReturnCGI.

This is likely caused by using the Netscape 6.1 browser. Its SSL implementation is not compatible with many e-commerce sites. Netscape is aware of this problem and will probably fix it in the next release.

Please use another browser/version or the alternative credit card link.



Please see the following pages for more information about using Dictation Buddy for transcription.
Please follow this link to the High Criteria home page.