Help

About Tazti Speech Recognition Software

Thank you for taking the time to download and install tazti Speech Recognition software. We are happy to provide tazti to you for FREE!

We are very interested to hear your input about what works great, any problems you may experience and any suggestions you may have about future features you would like to see added to tazti. Send your comments to support@tazti.com

We're sure you will have fun with tazti, a first step into the future of speech recognition search.

Here are some comon questions and their answers.....

Common Questions - Using tazti's NEW Features
Common Questions - Download/Installation
Common Questions - Running tazti The First Time
Common Questions - Problems Running tazti
Common Questions - Using tazti's Features
Common Questions - My Question Wasn't Answered

Tech Support

For help with issues not covered in the FAQ's please email us at: support@tazti.com

Common Questions -Using tazti's NEW Features

Q. What is tazti?
A. tazti 2.4 is speech recognition software that lets you control PC video games and other programs by using your voice. You can do all of the following:

Play PC video games (Medal of Honor, World of Warcraft, Starcraft etc.)
Control iTunes
Dictate letters to Microsoft Word, Notpad, Open Office, Outlook, Thunderbird or your webmail
Search the internet (Google, Yahoo, eBay, Wikipedia, Amazon, Bing, Twitter etc.)
Use tazti's speech command API to control robots, Lego Mindstorm, hardware, websites and programs
Customize tazti to control which speech commands are turned on or off
Manage browser and delicious bookmarks via tazti speech recognition
Log into and navigate Facebook and MySpace by talking to your PC

Q. What is new in this version of tazti?
A. The bugs that were reported in the Beta have been fixed, and new features have been added. The following changes were made

Improved overall stability
Improved 64-bit compatibilty for Vista and Windows 7
New Basic commands added for easier navigation
Addition of API capability to control more programs and websites in a more flexible and sophisticated manner than the gaming and custom speech commands
The ability to turn off built-in speech commands
Improved dictation capability
Improved user interface & look
Added the capability to pass command line parameters with custom commands
Added new search engines
Added the ability to customize the intro played when the program starts, and the signal beep

Q. Can I really play a video game using tazti and my voice?
A. Yes - it's true! tazti even comes already set up to let you control and play World of Warcraft, out of the box. Want to control games besides WoW? You'll need to spend a couple of minutes to setup tazti - but it works with virtually any game or even programs such as Photoshop.

See the FAQ section 'About tazti & Video Games' for more details.

Q. Does it work with Ventrilo VoIP Chat?
A. Yes, and it's very easy to setup. Set Ventrilo to work with Push-To-Talk mode. Add a keybinding to your tazti gaming profiles that trigger the Push-To-Talk key setup in Ventrilo.

Q. How do I get more game profiles?
A. tazti includes a gaming profile for World of Warcraft. You can create gaming profiles for other games or programs through the gaming tab. You can also download pre-built gaming profiles.

Q. How do I download pre-built game profiles?
A. >Click the gaming tab on the tazti dashboard. Click the "Download/Share Gaming Profiles" button. Click the "Get More Profiles" tab and browse the programs and game profiles. Follow the links to download a profile for the program or game - it will automatically install in tazti.

Q. Can I share my custom game profiles?
A. Yes - Click the "Download/Share Gaming Profiles" button. Click the "Share A Profile" tab, and fill out the form to upload your game profile. You'l need to setup an account to upload the profile. Once uploaded, the profile will be available publicly to anyone who has tazti and internet service, even if they live in Tahiti

Q. Can I modify or delete an existing game profile?
A. Yes. You can modify any game profile - one that came with tazti, one that you downloaded, or one that you created - by adding and deleting speech commands. You can delete a profile, but this will delete all the speech commands in the profile.

Q. What is the tazti API?
A. API stands for Application Programming Interface. tazti's API is a framework that allows you to connect tazti's speech recognition capability to other programs in ways that are more advanced and sophisticated than custom speech commands and gaming speech commands.

Q. What can the tazti API do?
A. You can control websites and program with the tazti API. In addition, most hardware that can be controlled through a PC (including robots) can be controlled by tazti's speech recognition.

Q. Do I need any special skills to use the tazti API?
A. The tazti API is an advanced feature that combines aspects of custom speech commands, gaming speech commands, and voice search technology. We recommend that you have a good understanding of how custom speech commands, gaming speech commands and voice searches work before exploring the API. Also, understanding batch files, scripting and general programming is helpful.

In general, the skills you need will be dictated by the programming you are trying to control with tazti's speech capability, and how that program allows itself to be controlled.

We highly recommend that you also read the help file section about the tazti API before exploring it.

Q. What can I control in iTunes?
A. Use tazti to start, stop, fast forward (etc.) iTunes. It can control your volume. You can even search your Music Library and the iTunes Music Store using tazti and your voice. It also does a lot more.

Q. Can I dictate documents using tazti?
A. Yes. tazti works with Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, Microsoft Word, Open Office, WordPad, Notepad, and any browser based webmail.

The dictation feature is called Jot-A-Note, and the list of commands is available on the Jot-A-Note subtab on the Basic tab.

Q. Does tazti work with robots, garage doors, and other hardware?
A. Sure. Any kind of hardware you can connect to through software on a PC can be controlled using tazti's API feature. tazti even works with Mindstorm!

Q. Is it Mac compatible?
A. Sorry, tazti only works on Microsoft Windows XP 32-bit, Vista 32-bit/64-bit and Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit editions.

Common Questions - Download/Installation

Q. Which version of the download should I choose?
A. You should choose the version that matches the operating system for your PC. The options are 1) Vista operating system or 2) Windows XP / XP Pro / XP Tablet operating system. (The only way you can install tazti on a Mac is by first installing Parallels desktop virtualization software, then installing Windows on top of the Parallels software, then install tazti onto the Windows operating system.)

On Windows XP PC's you can identify your operating system by clicking the start button, then clicking the Control Panel link on the right side of the pop up menu, then click the "System" icon. This opens a window that has tabs. Choose the "General" tab and it states if the operating system is XP.

On Vista machines the user can easily verify the operating system by clicking on the Vista icon on the lower left of the screen then clicking the Control Panel link on the right side of the pop up menu, then click the "System" icon. This opens a window that identifies the operating system.

Q. I'm running other types of speech recognition software to dictate letters or documents - will tazti interfere with this? Will tazti run OK with other software installed on the same machine?
A. We are continually testing tazti for compatibility issues. If you run across a program that seems to be causing problems for tazti or tazti is causing problems for something else, please let us know so we can evaluate the issue and make any needed fixes for tazti. Contact us at support@tazti.com.

Q. Can more than one person use tazti?
A. Yes, but each person needs to create their own recognition profile for best performance. To create your own recognition profile read the help section in tazti on the menu line on the upper left of the tazti application after it's installed. It's labeled ‘Training and Recognition Profiles ’. Click it... then clck the drop down listing "Create a Recognition Profile".

You are able to select your profile if someone was using tazti before you with their profile. On tazti click ‘Training and Recognition Profiles ’ then click 'Select a Different Recognition Profile'.

For more info read the help section in tazti.

Q. Why doesn’t tazti begin immediately after I finished the installation?
A. When you install tazti onto your computer it is stored on your hard drive, but the program must be started manually. Click the tazti icon (a box with three letters “t” in it) on your desktop to start tazti. Alternatively you can click the green “Start” button, then put your cursor over the words “All Programs”. Click on the tazti shortcut on the menu. The tazti shortcut is a box with three letters “t” in it. tazti will automatically start.

Common Questions - Running tazti The First Time

Q. How do I know that tazti is working?
A. The first time you start tazti it takes a few seconds to begin. You will see a web page open in your browser for activating tazti, then a small splash window will open indicating tazti is starting up, then a window will appear titled 'Create a Recognition Profile'. Follow the direction on this first window and it will lead you through creating your first recognition profile, configuring your microphone, and training your new recognition profile so tazti will understand your voice. Remember... XP users must perform 3 training sessions of your recognition profile so tazti will work correctly. Anything less and you will get poor performance. You can always perform more than 3 training sessions if you want. Vista users are only required to perform one training session. Each training session asks you to read a written passage (presented to you by tazti), into your microphone so the computer and tazti can hear you reading and learn your voice.

Any future times you open tazti, the tazti icon will be visible in the System Tray, which is usually located in the lower right hand corner of the computer screen.

Q. Can I make tazti more accurate? Should I train tazti?
A. For tazti to work effectively each tazti user must create their own recognition profile. The first time you open tazti, a wizard will lead you through this process. You can create additional recognition profiles for each person who wants to use tazti, anytime you want.

XP users must perform 3 training sessions of their recognition profile so tazti will work correctly. Anything less and you will get poor performance. You can always perform more than 3 training sessions if you want.

Vista users are only required to perform one training session.

Each training session asks you to read a written passage (presented to you by tazti), into your microphone so the computer and tazti can hear you reading and learn your voice.

Tazti is always listening unless you have it in 'Mute' or 'not listening' mode. It's always trying to interpret what it hears against the commands built into it. Sometimes tazti guesses incorrectly what you said. In this case, it may act on what it thinks you are saying, even if it is interpreting wrong. If this happens more than just occasionally, then you probably didn’t train tazti after you installed the program. We highly recommend that you take a few minutes to do this. See the next question for instructions on how to do this.

Another thing that can interfere with accuracy is background noise: if you have a TV or stereo playing very loudly in the background, and you have a very sensitive microphone, the microphone may pick up the background sound causing tazti to misinterpret your commands, or possibly interpreting the background noise as a voice command.

If you talk on the phone while wearing your headset mic while tazti is operating, tazti may recognize or guess at what you are saying and trigger some actions. It's always best to mute, or turn off your microphone when not using tazti.

Q. Is it really necessary to train my recognition profile in tazti?
A. XP users must perform 3 training sessions of your recognition profile so tazti will work correctly. Anything less and you will get poor performance. You can always perform more than 3 training sessions if you want. Vista users are only required to perform one training session. Each training session asks you to read a written passage (presented to you by tazti), into your microphone so the computer and tazti can hear you reading learn your voice.

We highly recommend that you train tazti and your computer to get the best experience, and the most fun from the software. If you do not train tazti you may be unhappy with your experience.

Q. How do I train tazti?
A. For tazti to work effectively each tazti user must create their own recognition profile. The first time you open tazti, a wizard will lead you through this process. You can create additional recognition profiles for each person who wants to use tazti, anytime you want.

We recommend a minimum of three training sessions for XP users and one training session for Vista users. Of course more training for XP is always an advantage.

Any time you want to, you can go back and perform additional training sessions on a recognition profile you've already created.

Here is how you can train an existing profile....

A) Go to the tazti platform and click on the 'Training and Recognition Profiles' menu listing towards the upper left of the platform. A menu list appears. Click on the 'Train a Recognition Profile' listing. This opens the 'Select a Profile to train' screen. Click on the profile you want select, highlighting it, then click the 'Train Profile' button. Wait about 5 seconds....

B) This brings up the microphone configuration wizard. When you complete the microphone wizard, the training wizard automatically opens. Directions for each wizard are clearly written on each screen as you progress.

Common Questions - Problems Running tazti

Q. Everything seems to be running ok, but tazti doesn’t recognize anything that I say. What is the problem?
A. Any number of things could cause this problem:

Check that your microphone is plugged in.
Make that the microphone is plugged all the way into the plug.
Make sure that the microphone is plugged into the correct plug.
Make syre that your microphone is selected as a recording device.
Make sure that the volume is high enough for the microphone.
If all else fails, you may need to select the microphone boost feature.
XP users can reconfigure their mic by opening tazti, clicking on the upper left menu item 'Training and Recognition Profiles'. A drop down menu appears. Then click on 'Configure Your Microphone'. Then follow directions on the various screens. You can check and see if your mic is installed by opening the control panel then clciking on the 'Sound and Audio devices' icon. Then click on the 'Voice' tab. You can test your hardware on this page.
Vista home premium users can reconfigure their mic by opening tazti, clicking on the upper left menu item 'Training and Recognition Profiles'. A drop down menu appears. Then click on 'Configure Your Microphone'. Then follow directions on the various screens. You can check and see if your mic is installed by opening the control panel then clciking on the 'Sound' icon. Then click on the 'Recording' tab. There should be a mic icon. You can double click on the mic icon. and it opens the mic properties window. You can click on the tabs and the Properties button for information on your mic's performance. Make changes as needed.
Vista Basic operating system users should see the next question and answer for mic adjustments.

Q. I have Vista basic installed and I just re-installed the operating system because I was having a problem. Now my microphone does not seem to be working (not enabled).. Do you know what the problem might be?
A. Some low cost PC's using the Vista Basic operting system come with restore disks for reinstalling the operating system. When the operating system is restored from these disks, the microphone may not be enabled by default. This means that any microphone plugged into such a PC running restored Vista Basic will not be recognized by Vista Basic and will not operate correctly.

(It's possible, but unlikely the same problem is occurring in a new PC you bought with Vista Basic operating system.)

Vista Basic users Solution: Follow the steps listed below to enable the microphone.

Open the control panel in your PC.
Then Click on the "Hardware and Sound" icon.
Then Click on the "Sound" category.
The "Sound" dialog box will appear on the screen.
Then Click on the "Recording" tab of the "Sound" dialog box.
If no icons appear in the "Recording" tab of the "Sound" dialog box, the user should Click the right button on the user's mouse with the cursor in the empty "Sound" dialog box. A menu appears. Then Click on "Show Disabled Devices". This shows the sound drivers installed in your PC but not yet turned on (enabled).
One or more icons will appear in the empty "Sound" dialog box.
One of the icons will be for an "Audio Device".
Click the right button on the user's mouse with the cursor on the "Audio Device".
A menu appears.
Use your mouse to click on the word "Enable" on the the menu. This will cause the "Audio Device" to change its status to "Enabled".
Plug your microphone into into the correct plug on your PC.
A microphone icon will appear in the "Recording" tab of the "Sound" dialog box.
Click the right button on the user's mouse with the cursor on the microphone icon. A menu appears.
Click "Enable" on the menu to cause the microphone to begin operating.
Click the "OK" button on the "Sound" dialog box.
Your microphone is now enabled..

Q. The iTunes commands do not seem to work – why is this?
A. If Apple's iTunes is not installed on your computer, then the itunes commands will not work. These speech commands will not work with other music players.

Q. Why won’t a particular program work with tazti?
A. tazti works with most programs, but may not work with every program on your computer. There are thousands of software programs out there and each programmer does things a little differently. We’ve covered more than the basics here, but cannot confirm all programs are compatible with tazti.

Q. Why do some of the message screens in the tazti software not function via voice recognition?
A. These screens typically require you to confirm an important action like shutting down the computer or closing tazti. To make sure that you really want to do this, tazti requires you to actually click a button in response. If you have a version with a survey screen... The survey screen also requires you to use your mouse, but you can click ‘Never’ if you don’t want the survey screen to pop up again.

Q. I uninstalled and reinstalled tazti. Why does it ask me to activate again?
A. tazti requires activation every time it is installed. After tazti is installed and activated you can run it as often as you want!! New improved versions that you may download later, will also require our 3 minute activation.

Common Questions - Using tazti's Features

Q. Why can’t tazti respond to some dialog boxes that pop up from certain programs?
A. Some types of dialog boxes can’t be clicked on by using tazti. One example of this is the dialog boxes in the internet firewall program ‘Zone Alarm’. This is due to intricate security programming by Zone Alarm to keep hackers from deactivating their program. In the Zone Alarm software’s setup you have the choice to have the program notify you by pop up box of certain issues. We recommend you turn off the pop up notifications option as it doesn’t affect the excellent protection offered by Zone Alarm. See Zone Alarm’s help file for more information on turning off pop up notifications. You can always turn it on later if you want to.

Q. tazti is always running. How do I set it so that it only runs when I want it to?
A. To change this setting, click the options tab in the Control Window, and uncheck the ‘Start Automatically When the Computer Turns On’ option.

Q. I don’t want the welcome screen to display when tazti starts. How do I do this?
A. By default, tazti displays the welcome screen whenever it starts. This let’s you know that it is working. Click the Options tab in the Control Window, and uncheck the ‘Display the Welcome Screen When It Starts’ option to change this setting.

Q. I don’t want the Control Window (dashboard) to display when tazti starts – I just want the program to run in the background. How do I do this?
A. By default, tatzti displays the Control Window (dashboard) whenever it starts. Click the Options tab in the Control Window and uncheck the ‘Display this Screen When It Starts’ checkbox to change this setting.

Q. I can never remember the speech commands. How do I get a paper copy that I can keep by the computer?
A. On the dashboard, click the button marked ‘Print Commands’. This will print out a paper copy of the speech commands recognized by tazti. The print out may be several pages long. tazti may open WordPad or Microsoft Word to print out the list, depending on what word processing program is installed on your computer – this is normal behavior and it will close automatically once it is finished printing. Be sure your printer is turned on and is connected to the PC.

Q. I don’t like the list of speech commands – can I change them to different words?
A. tazti does not let you change the Basic, Stuff, Places, Fun or Search commands. tazti does let you create additional new speech commands, and control what action they perform (opening a particular website, or opening a particular program or document). This is done on the Custom Commands tab.

Q. Does tazti allow me to change my mouse configuration so I can use the mouse left-handed?
A. Yes it does, but you must change your mouse settings so that your mouse is set up for left-handed use. Simply click on the Options tab. The right hand side of the screen shows an illustration of a mouse, displaying how it is currently configured. The button that your computer recognizes as the ‘click’ button is shaded in grey. If ‘Context Menu’ is on the left and ‘Click’ is on the right, your computer is already setup for left-handed use. If ‘Context Menu’ is to the right of ‘Click’, then your computer is set up for right-handed use. In addition, the illustration tells you the current mouse configuration. To change the mouse configuration, click on the button beneath the illustration to change the setting. When you click this button it changes your mouse immediately and the change applies for all the programs on your computer.

Q. What is the difference between Basic, Stuff, Places, Fun and Custom commands?
A. Basic commands are pre-programmed commands that control portions of the operating system which include the functions “Click”, “Double Click”, and “Context Menu”. The Stuff, Places, and Fun commands are pre-programmed speech commands for surfing the internet. These commands are managed by tazti engineering. From time to time we may change the speech commands or the links associated with some of the speech commands. If you want to keep a link that our engineering department has deleted, you can add it yourself in the Custom Commands tab. Custom Commands are added/changed by the user.

Q. Why did some of the links for speech commands change from one website to another without my changing the link? I liked the old website better?
A. The designers of tazti decided early on that tazti should be a free software. In order to cover the costs of giving tazti away for free and all ongoing engineering and business operation costs, we rent some of the speech commands in the Stuff, Places, and Fun categories to advertisers. So for example the “Get Book” link might be rented by Barnes and Nobles for 6 months, then for the next six months, rented by Borders. We will change the links in all installed software via internet from time to time. You are unable to control these changes. If you want to keep a link that our engineering has deleted you can add it yourself in the Custom Commands tab. Without the ability to rent links, tazti software would not exist. Please be patient with us and remember we provide it for free to users!! Please re-read the End User License Agreement if you have more questions about why tazti is changing links.

Q. Why doesn’t tazti work while the welcome screen is visible?
A. tazti only starts listening for voice commands once the Control Window becomes visible. If you changed tazti’s settings so that the Control Window no longer becomes visible when tazti starts, we recommend that you wait a few seconds for tazti to ready itself before beginning to speak commands.

Q. Why does tazti ask me if I really want to “exit” the program or “shutdown” the computer when I say those voice commands?
A. This is on purpose to make sure that tazti does not recognize these commands by mistake and take actions you do not want.

Q. What is the questionnaire and do I need to fill it out?
A. We are randomly gathering information for a scientific study about how hand pain relates to computer usage. Your download of tazti may include this questionnaire. This information is kept separate from any other information you provide us, and will only be used in conjunction with the study. If you would prefer not to participate, and would like tazti to stop asking you about it, click the ‘Never’ button when it asks if you would like to participate. We would appreciate your help in this study if you were experiencing hand pain before using tazti software.

Common Questions - My Question Wasn't Answered

Q. My Question isn't covered hasn't been answered by this page. How do I contact you for additional support?
A. If you have additional questions please contact us at support@tazti.com.