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Method and systems for measuring user performance with speech-to-text conversion for dictation systems
Brian Marquette et al., United States Patent and Trademark Office (US 8,639,512 B2), 2014
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A granted US patent that describes how to score a person's dictation: a timer runs while the user dictates a sample passage, and the transcript is scored for words per minute and errors. It is a description of a test method, not a study of how fast people dictate.
- How much weight it carries
- A patent states a claimed method and its examples; it reports no population results. Its ownership and legal status are listed by Google Patents, which does not verify them. Used here only for how a dictation speed test is set up and for the ways its score can be distorted.
Facts taken from this source
- In the patent's sample dictation test, pressing the push-to-talk button starts the counter or clock that times the user's dictation.
“the push to talk button 508 substantially simultaneously begins the counter or clock” (Detailed description, push-to-talk step)
- The patent says a dictation system may accept macros that enhance effective words per minute, because one short spoken phrase can produce a longer text.
“the dictation system may be designed to accept macros to enhance effective words per minute” (Detailed description, macro example)
- The patent says dictation words per minute may be adjusted for errors, or errors may be reported as a separate metric.
“the words per minute may be adjusted for errors or errors may be provided as a separate metric” (Detailed description, performance metrics)