Voice Mate from The Parrot Company

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Voice Mate

Reviewer: Annette M. Carr, M.Ed.
Assistive Technology Specialist
Fairfax, VA
acarr@gmu.edu

Voice Mate
PARROT SA
Business Communication
174, quai de Jemmapes
PARIS 75010 FRANCE
Tel: + 33 (0) 48 03 60 60
Fax:+ 33 (0) 48 03 06 66
Photo of Voice Mate
http://www.voice-assistant.com/
Retail price: $259
Evaluated: June, 2002
Rating: A

The Voice Mate is a hand held voice recognition digital organizer. Its measurements are a slim 5.5 inches high, 2.7 inches wide, 0.6 inches thick, and 5.3 ounces with batteries. The device is packed full of features to give you on the spot access to names, addresses, phone numbers, notes, appointment details, a talking clock with alarm, and talking calculator. There are three types of technology used to input and retrieve information from the Voice Mate; they are voice recognition, digitized speech, and direct data entry via keypad.

Most functions of the Voice Mate use state of the art voice recognition technology to input and retrieve information. As you speak names, addresses, and other notes, the device stores your voice as a digital recording that is played back to you upon your request later. When you want to retrieve stored information, you just speak to the Voice Mate with the information you are looking for. The device compares your current input to the information it has stored. If it finds a match, it will play it back to you. Accuracy in finding a match is dependent on the users ability to repeat the information exactly as it was spoken the first time it was entered into the Voice Mate. As the user becomes proficient at using the device, they will find that they can achieve close to 100% accuracy in retrieving stored information.

The digitized speech messages of the Voice Mate are a very clear female voice. They are used to prompt the user, provide feedback to most key presses, and announce the time, date, and calculator results and phone numbers. The voice was always clear and easy to understand.

The Voice Mate has a total of 20 buttons located in three different areas on the device. One button is located on the left side of the device and is primarily used for recording. In some modes this button is used to quickly retrieve the date and time or the result of a calculation. A second button is located on the front of the Voice Mate and is used to select the mode that you want to use. The remaining 18 buttons are also located on the front of the device but are covered by a plastic flip down door. By opening the door, you activate the mode selected by the single exposed button. When carrying the Voice Mate in your pocket or purse, the closed door prevents accidental activation of the 18 buttons. All 19 buttons on the front of the device are rubber coated and raised off the surface of the device. The buttons are layed out in groups, using a different shaped button for each group. This makes tactile identification of the buttons relatively easy. Users who have decreased sensitivity in their fingers may find it difficult to access the number pad group of buttons as they are close together. Key presses that do not have a voice prompt or announcement have a user selectable sound. There are four audible indicators to choose from, as well as no sound at all.

The Phonebook is packed full of features. You can store names with
addresses and phone numbers (home, work, cell, fax and other). Names and addresses are stored in your voice and later retrieved via voice recognition. Phone numbers are stored via the keypad and announced later with the synthesized voice. Upon retrieval, the phone numbers can be spoken back to you, or with a press of a button the Voice Mate can produce the “touch tones” used to dial a phone. By holding the Voice Mate up to the mouth piece of a phone and pressing one button the device will dial the number for you.

When it comes to organizing your calendar, the Voice Mate is almost like having a secretary who you can dictate your appointments to. Each event is assigned to a date and time defined by you. The Voice Mate keeps all events arranged in chronological order. You can review appointments by moving through them one by one, or use the speech recognition feature to take you directly to the appointment you are looking for. Each appointment can have an alarm that tells you that an event is about to happen, or that it is happening right now.

The Voice Mate is a portable alarm clock. With a click of a button, the device announces the time and date. The alarm can be set, as with any alarm clock to the time you desire. When it sounds, you will hear a peppy little song. The alarm can repeat 5 and 10 minutes after its set time.

A multi function calculator is among the many features of the Voice Mate. You can do basic calculations that include addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Other functions of the calculator include percentage calculations, currency conversion, and one number memory storage. The Voice Mate can assist you with everyday calculations.

One of the most impressive features of the Voice Mate is the Memo function. It allows you to record lengthy messages with can later be edited. This feature takes advantage of the latest speech input technology. You record your memo by speaking into the Voice Mate. It is stored as a digital image. When playing back your memo, you can start, stop, and pause as needed. If you find that you have left out some information in the middle, you can insert the missing information anywhere in the memo.

Other features of the Voice Mate include an earphone for private listening, a security code system to prevent other people from accessing your data, and a computer back-up system. This back-up system allows you to make a copy of your Voice mate data to store on your computer’s hard drive or other storage media. Once you have stored your information on the computer you cannot manipulate it via the computer, but you can copy it back onto the Voice Mate if needed.

The Voice Mate is powered by four AAA batteries. A unique arrangement of the batteries will prevent the loss of data stored on the Voice Mate during battery replacement. A voice announcement will sound to alert you to low batteries.

As with anything, there are a few negative points to the Voice Mate. For this reviewer, I found that the door covering the keypad was in the way. More often than not, when the door was open I would hit it with my arm as I was approaching the device. This would either cause the door to close, or knock the device out of my hands. The second issue was how quickly the batteries had to be replaced. A rechargeable battery system would be a great improvement for this device. Thirdly, although I am impressed with the phonebook and appointment calendar functions of the Voice Mate, I personally would not use them on a daily basis, as they do not interface with a computer based system. Since professionally I am required to maintain an electronic system that can produce written reports, the Voice Mate cannot fulfill this role. However, I did find that the Voice Mate was a good tool for storing information about appointments and other information until I was able to access my computer.

Overall, this reviewer was impressed with the Voice Mate. Its slim design, clear digitized speech, and state of the art use of digital technology makes it a very desirable device to use. Once you start using the memo function, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

Editor's note: Arlette Kotchounian from Parrot SA informs us that the company is aware of the problem with battery life. She indicates that they have tested a charger that made the batteries last for 3 to 4 weeks. The company website will indicate where this charger can be purchased in the near future.