If you’re looking for a program that can help you record voice messages and even convert speech to text, then Speak-A-Message is for you. This program can save you a ton of time by allowing you to record a message and then transcribing it right into text. You can also come up with your own personnel messages to include as notes, on calendars or attach to greeting cards.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO

Main Functionality

The whole idea behind Speak-A-Message is simple, and that is what makes it so good. You can use this program to transcribe speech into text. You can also use it to take “voice notes” that you can listen to later.

Pros

• New update fixes the “flash movie” problem associated with .png images
• Record and playback voice messages
• Add voice comments to files (photos, calendars, etc.)
• Speech recognition (converts speech to text)
• Allows you to customize your installation
• Output files don’t take up a lot of space

Cons

• Windows XP requires its own special download function
• Free version missing some helpful features only found in the Pro-Edition

Discussion

There are a lot of things I like about Speak-A-Message. Overall, it is a simple program, but the creators have implemented it in a way that is not only affective, but easy to use. This was a program that I enjoyed a lot more than what I was expecting.

First of all, Speak-A-Message features voice recognition. This means, it can actually transcribe your voice messages into text. This can save you a lot of time when it comes to writing emails and other things. Sometimes it is not perfect, but it is close enough that you can fix up your text with just a little quick editing.

The program can also be used to take little voice message as well. You can easily attach these to emails, calendars, greeting cards, and so on to give things a more personal touch. This actually turned out to be kind of fun, yet useful.

The thing that shocked me the most about Speak-A-Message was the lack of space these recordings took up. For example, a four-minute voice message will only take about 500KB of space. This is thanks to the program’s audio compression feature. Despite the sound file being so small, I had no problems with the quality of sound.

The only problem I really had with the program is the fact that you don’t have access to all of the features in the free version. Just like with any program that offers a “Pro” version, they keep a lot of the really good features just out of reach unless you pay them (in this case it costs $25). The Pro-Edition allows you to do things like add voice comments to Microsoft Word documents, integrate the program with Microsoft Outlook, export your voice as an eBook on tablets and smartphones, and so on.

CONCLUSION AND DOWNLOAD LINK

In short, you don’t need the Pro-Edition to enjoy this program. The features it offers in its free edition are enough for most people to be happy. If you are looking for a way to turn speech into text or make voice notes, this program is perfect for you. Also, since the voice output files are so small, you don’t have to worry about it hogging up your whole hard drive.

Price: Free (Pro version available for $25)

Version reviewed: 7.9

Supported OS: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 (Windows XP is support, but you must download a different version)

Download size: 12.45MB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/44

Is it portable? No

Speak-A-Message homepage