Patriarcal Blessings Technologies

Hi, guys, ladies...

Here a few questions for understand and share knowledge on what technology features our patriarchs are receiving/using:

- What are the record system your stake patriarch are using for record patriarchal blessings?

- Are scribes receiving the audio for transcription in a computer-format file?

- Are the patriarchs or the scribes using a software with voice-to-text recognition to speed the work?

Thanks for your participation!!!

MorettiDP wrote:What are the record system your stake patriarch are using for record patriarchal blessings?

Our patriarch uses two systems: one is a digital recorder and the other records on a cassette tape.

MorettiDP wrote:Are scribes receiving the audio for transcription in a computer-format file?

No. The scribe is the patriarch's wife, and she just plays back the recording using the recording device.

MorettiDP wrote:Are the patriarchs or the scribes using a software with voice-to-text recognition to speed the work?

No.

Ours uses exactly the same process as asbrown.

MorettiDP wrote:- What are the record system your stake patriarch are using for record patriarchal blessings?

In our stake, my father, the patriarch, too uses two systems: a Panasonic Cassete system (run with two AA batteries) and a digital Sony device (run with two AAA batteries that has 260 hours of record capability). The tapes is a backup only (in the begining, he don't know how to use the digital device and lost two or three blessings, using the Cassete backup to transcribe the blessings).

MorettiDP wrote:- Are scribes receiving the audio for transcription in a computer-format file?

Yes. After the blessing is done, I put the Sony device in contact with the computer, via USB cable, and use the software enclosed with the device (ordered by the Orders Division of the São Paulo Brazil Area Temporal Affairs Office) to (1st) convert the file to MP3 and (2nd) copy the file to the computer. After it, I send the files to one of the three scribes of our stake by e-mail, in a manner that only one or two blessings are with the same scribe in a same time.

MorettiDP wrote:- Are the patriarchs or the scribes using a software with voice-to-text recognition to speed the work?

No, because the only software of that kind available for Portuguese language is an old IBM ViaVoice, version 9 system, released in 2001. The software is so hard to control and the results aren't so good that IBM stop developing the system a year after. If another alternative are discovered, a new software, for exemple, it will fast the work done by the scribes, certainly.

Thank you for your responses. Please, keep it coming!!!

I just helped our patriarch setup voice recognition software on his PC. He
1. records the blessing on a Phillips recording device (and also on a backup cassette tape)
2. connects the device to his PC via a USB cable
3. points Dragon Naturally Speaking software to the audio file (.dss) stored on the device, which then transcribes it. He had to purchase the Premium version of Dragon Naturally Speaking, as the cheaper version wasn't able to do the transcription directly from a file.
4. reviews and edits the transcription.

The process worked very well in our tests...he hasn't used it yet for an actual blessing, but is excited to try.

MorettiDP wrote: Yes. After the blessing is done, I put the Sony device in contact with the computer, via USB cable, and use the software enclosed with the device (ordered by the Orders Division of the São Paulo Brazil Area Temporal Affairs Office) to (1st) convert the file to MP3 and (2nd) copy the file to the computer. After it, I send the files to one of the three scribes of our stake by e-mail, in a manner that only one or two blessings are with the same scribe in a same time.

since email can never be considered to be secure, you may want to use an alternate method of delivering this highly personal information to a scribe...

geowizrd wrote:

MorettiDP wrote:...I send the files to one of the three scribes of our stake by e-mail...

since email can never be considered to be secure, you may want to use an alternate method of delivering this highly personal information to a scribe...

Or continue to use email, but set up encryption, which will make it secure.

danpass wrote:Or continue to use email, but set up encryption, which will make it secure.

Yes, I use an encryption key at our e-mail services.

I am the scribe for our stake's patriarch. We are located in the central area of the United States. Our patriarch has a Philips dictating machine that he sets on the conference setting. He also has a backup recording device. Following the administration of a blessing, he comes to my home with the SD card from the Philips machine. I have a computer that accepts the SD card, and I copy the .dss files from the card to a folder on my computer. I give him back the SD card as soon as I have copied the file(s) to my computer.

I transcribe using software the stake purchased from a business in Utah that can play back the .dss files. It came with a foot pedal that attaches to my computer via a USB port. Prior to our having this software, he would bring the dictating machine to my house and leave it with me to use for transcription.

Once I have transcribed a blessing, I save the file with a password (Microsoft Word file) and email the file back to him. He knows what the password is and is able to open and review the transcription.

He and I have discussed ways that he could securely email the sound files to me, but he is not able to transfer them to his computer without the software that came with the dictating machine. This would be fine, except that the software would encrypt the sound files, and without transcription software from Philips, I would not be able to unencrypt them. He and I also both prefer having that face to face contact so that we can give each other a heads up about anything that would help with the process. For example, he might point out something I need to be aware of as I transcribe. He only lives a few miles from me, so this is not burdensome for us.

I should also point out that the computer I use is always secured when I am not directly with it. I work in Information Technology at a hospital, and I am very much in the habit of securing a computer even when stepping away for a few minutes. I consider the files related to the blessings to be very sacred and want to protect them fully.

I was just asked to set up something different than taking the transcription machine back and forth between the Patriarch and the Scribe. Is there any update on this thread? Can anyone give me more specifics about what they use? We bought the Patriarch a handheld, but, it generates MP3s and the Transcription Machine generates DSS files. We'll get whatever they need, but we need a good combination that is exgtremely user friendly for the Patriarch to use (non-computer user).

I was just asked by the Stake President to help the Patriarch update his recording and transcribing capabilities. Does the Church have a recommended set-up?

I have seen some digital voice recorders that come packaged with Dragon Naturally Speaking DVR version of software. Does anyone have experience with this product?

Any help would be warmly welcomed.

Speak with your FM Group and see what they have. Our patriarch has a recorder that fits in his shirt pocket very much like a smart phone. I do not know if he got it through the FM Group or if there is someone in the Church Headquarters office that serves patriarchs and obtained it through Church purchasing. He sends the electronic file it creates to the patriarchal blessing recorder who has no trouble at all reading it and typing up the blessings.

As a patriarch, I can no longer see in the patriarchal blessing system the early blessings that I gave. Is there way for me to view those blessings again? I’ve given 25 blessings and can only see four of them now. I would simply like to keep a personal record of who and when I gave blessings to.