                              README

                     Dictation Buddy version 4.0
               Copyright (C) 1999-2015 High Criteria, Inc.
                        All Rights Reserved

CONTENTS

  Overview
    - Introduction
    - What’s New in Version 4.0?
    - Version information
    - System Requirements
    - Registering Dictation Buddy
  Installing Dictation Buddy
    - Package Content
    - Installation 
    - Uninstallation
    - Adding Support for Foot Control to Dictation Buddy  
  Configuring Dictation Buddy
  Technical Support


=======================================================================
                               OVERVIEW
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictation Buddy is a Windows program that records your voice from
a microphone and saves it as a compressed sound file that you can play,
edit, send, or publish.

The features include:
- Recording and playback of compressed sound files using fast
  and efficient Windows codecs.
- Recording from any line or sound card on your computer.
- Recording phone calls using a voice modem.
- Improve the quality of your recording using speech enhancements.
- Accelerated playback for easy searching.
- Ability to edit your recording.
- OLE support that allows you to imbed your recording in other files
  such as Microsoft Word documents.
- Direct sending of your recording via E-mail.
- Sound activation and reduction in silence intervals.
- Auto save parts of a recording to separate, automatically named,
  files.
- Global hot keys to allow quick access to common functions. 
- Ability to create bookmarks in sound files and use them for quick
  navigation.
- Controlling playback using a foot control.
- Playback with automatic pauses.
- Playback of non-standard files, including Olympus DSS, Dialogic VOX, and BCB TrueSpeech (PlayAll).

The program is an ideal choice for:
- Transcribing sound data to a text document.
- Dictating.
- Adding voice comments to a document.
- Publishing speeches and other sound data to a Web site.
- Sending voice messages through E-mail.
- Importing from a portable dictaphone or cassette recorder.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT’S NEW IN VERSION 4.0?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictation Buddy v4.0 has all of the features of Dictation Buddy v2.2b, Call Recording Director v2.2, and Transcription Buddy Recorder Edition v3.1a. For more information, refer to our web site at http://www.libertyrecording.com

In addition, Version 4.0 includes the following new features:
- Create and use Windows Media Audio files (WMA).
- Speech enhancements for playback:
   - Automatic Gain Control (AGC) to adjust the sound level of recorded speech;
   - noise suppression to enhance the quality of reproduced sound;
   - tone control.
- Support for Windows Vista.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
VERSION INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Version history:

Version 4.0	January 2008
1. Create and use Windows Media Audio files (WMA).
2. Speech enhancements for playback:
   - Automatic Gain Control (AGC) to adjust the sound level of recorded speech;
   - noise suppression to enhance the quality of reproduced sound;
   - tone control.
3. Support for Windows Vista.

Version 2.2	18 June 2002
 1. Record phone calls using a voice modem.
 2. Control playback using a foot control.
 3. Ability to adjust playback speed.
 4. New events for automatic creation of bookmarks.
 5. Choice of the audio device used for playing.
 6. Notification when saving a file in "auto save" mode.
 7. New "Save As" button in main toolbar.
 8. Automatic creation of new folders.
 9. A priority setting for the Dictation Buddy application.
10. Additional global hot keys.
11. Additional displays of hardware recording format.

Version 2.1	10 December 2001
1. Creation and support of bookmarks in sound files.
2. Ability to add notes to a file.
3. A Sound Activation Wizard that helps you with settings.
4. New recording mode that lets you append data.
5. Fast save operation for changes limited to the ID3 tag of MP3-format
   files.

Version 2.0	18 May 2001 
1. A Sound Activation which enables sound activation and
   a reduction in silence intervals.
2. Auto save parts of a recording with automatically generated
   filenames.
3. Different options for minimizing the main window.
4. Create and use MP3 type files.
5. Global hot keys for easy transcribing.
6. Start-up options to control the start of the application.
7. Ability to cancel long operations.
8. Main toolbar with access to common operations.
9. Dialog to display properties of a sound file, such as size, format
   and attributes.

Version 1.0	15 October 2000
The first version was released.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SYSTEM REQUIREMENT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To use Dictation Buddy, you need the following:
- a sound card; 
- a voice modem, if you plan to record phone calls;
- 32-bit or 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
REGISTERING DICTATION BUDDY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
After installing and verifying the program works properly, you should obtain a registration key from High Criteria. If the program is unregistered then your use of Dictation Buddy is limited to 30 days.

To obtain a registration key, follow the instructions on High Criteria Inc.’s web site at the following address: http://www.libertyrecording.com.

After you receive the registration key, you can register Dictation Buddy by taking the following steps:
1. Run Dictation Buddy. From the Help menu, select Registration.
2. Type in the same name you used to obtain the registration key followed by your registration key. Note that after successful registration, this menu item is not accessible.
 
To order by check, refer to the Registration.txt file in the installation folder of Dictation Buddy.

Note: 
For a limited time, licensed users of Dictation Buddy (v2.2b and lower), Call Recording Director (v2.2 and lower), or Transcription Buddy Recorder Edition (v3.1a and lower) can upgrade to Dictation Buddy v4.0 for an upgrade fee. Please refer to http://www.libertyrecording.com for more detailed information.


=======================================================================
                     INSTALLING DICTATION BUDDY
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PACKAGE CONTENT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictation Buddy consists of the following files:

File             Description
---------------- -------------------------------
Dicbuddy.exe	 Dictation Buddy application
Dicbuddy.chm	 Help file
Infinity.dll	 External dynamic link library to support a foot control
SetUp.exe	 Installation program
Uninst.exe	 Uninstall program
Readme.txt	 Read-me first file
License.txt	 License agreement file
Registration.txt Registration form

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLATION
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictation Buddy is shipped via the Internet as a self-extracting
or regular archive.

Take the following steps to install Dictation Buddy on your PC:

1. Download the self-extracting (.exe) or regular (.zip) archive from High Criteria Inc.’s web site: http://www.libertyrecording.com

2. Run the installation program:
- If you downloaded the self-extracting archive, simply run it.
- If you downloaded the regular archive, unzip it and run Setup.exe. Note that you must unzip the entire archive and not just the Setup.exe file.
The installation program creates a directory for Dictation Buddy, copies all of the files to that directory, and creates a Program Group called Dictation Buddy. 

Dictation Buddy is now ready to run. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
UNINSTALLATION
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To uninstall Dictation Buddy, select one of the following methods:
- Use Start - Settings - Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs.
- Use the corresponding item in the Start Menu: Programs -
  Dictation Buddy - Uninstall. 

Note:
- Before uninstalling you should quit the application.
- The folder containing the installed application will not be removed
  if it contains anything other than the previously installed files.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ADDING SUPPORT FOR FOOT CONTROL TO DICTATION BUDDY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictation Buddy supports the following foot controls:

1. VPEDAL foot control, with the standard joystick interface,
   connected to a game port or to a USB port. 
2. Infinity Foot Control connected to a USB port.
3. Olympus R23/24 Foot Switch connected to a COM port or to a USB port.

Dictation Buddy supports the "Infinity Foot Control" and
the "Olympus R23/24 Foot Switch" by using an external dynamic link
library. This library is included in the Dictation Buddy installation package.
To add foot-control support to your copy of Transcription Buddy,
go to the http://www.libertyrecording.com/TB_installusb.htm link
and follow the instructions.

=======================================================================
                       CONFIGURING DICTATION BUDDY
=======================================================================
To configure Dictation Buddy, start the application and select
Options from the View menu. You are presented with the configuration
dialog with the following tabs:

 1. Profiles 	     - options for using profiles.
 2. Folders          - options for temporary and default folders.
 3. Playback         - options for playback.
 4. Recording        - options for recording.
 5. Sound Activation - options for sound activation and the reduction
                       of silence intervals.
 6. Auto Save        - options for automatically saving recordings.
 7. Using MP3        - options for recordings using MP3-format.
 8. Using WMA        - options for recordings using WMA-format.
 9. Minimize         - options when minimizing the Dictation Buddy
                       application.
10. StartUp          - options for the startup of the Dictation Buddy
                       application.
11. Hot Keys         - hot keys for quick access to common commands.
12. Bookmarks        - options for using bookmarks.
13. Foot Control     - options for using a foot control.
14. Olympus DSS      - options for working with Olympus DSS files.
15. Dialogic VOX     - options for working with Dialogic VOX files.
16. BCB TrueSpeech   - options for working with BCB TrueSpeech files.

Some of these configuration options can also be set using
the Main toolbar or the View menu.


=======================================================================
                            TECHNICAL SUPPORT
=======================================================================
If you experience problems with Dictation Buddy that you cannot resolve
yourself, visit support area on our Web site:
- http://www.libertyrecording.com/support.htm - Support Area
