First-time voice dictation: setup and the common errors

This article walks you through the very first time you use voice dictation in Booked Solid OS: the one-time speech model download, the errors that trip people up, and where your words actually end up.

How to dictate

1. Click into any text box, like the chat box.
2. Hold Ctrl+Shift+Space (Cmd+Shift+Space on Mac) and speak.
3. Let go when you are done. Your words appear at the cursor.

Two things to know: a tap shorter than about a third of a second does not record - you will see the hint Hold the keys while you speak, then let go. And pressing Esc cancels a recording at any time. If the default keys clash with something else on your computer, Settings lets you switch the hotkey to Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Space instead.

The first use: a one-time download

The first time you dictate, the app downloads its speech model to your computer. You will see a Getting your voice ready progress message. The download is about 670 MB, so on a slow connection it can take a few minutes. It only happens once.

After that, everything runs on your own machine. Your audio never leaves your computer, and the model understands 25 European languages automatically - there is no language setting to pick.

The common errors

• "Nothing came through from your microphone. It may be muted. Check the input and try again." The recording worked but was silent. Check the mute switch on your headset, and check which input device your computer is using.
• "I couldn't reach your microphone. Check the mic permission for Booked Solid and try again." Your operating system is blocking the app's microphone access. The app raises the microphone permission prompt for you; you can also review computer permissions on the Permissions tab in Settings.
• "The one-time voice setup could not finish. Check your internet connection and try again." The model download failed or stalled. Get online, then hold the keys and try again - the download picks up whatever files are still missing.
• Recording stopped by itself. Clicking away to another window cancels a live recording. Stay on the Booked Solid window while you speak.

Where the words land, and the tidy pass

Your words are typed into the text box that has focus - usually the box your cursor is in. The raw words appear right away. A moment later, a background tidy pass removes filler words and self-corrections and swaps the cleaner version in. If you already started editing the text, nothing is swapped - your words win. You can also click Use my exact words to bring back the raw transcript, and the Tidy up what I say cleanup can be turned off in Settings (it is on by default).

Still stuck? Email bookedsolid@kivimedia.freshdesk.com and a person will help.