This page is designed for visually impaired persons. It has no graphic inclusions to allow for the use of reading software. If you experience problems using this site, please contact mailto:parrot@parrot.fr
Black / White - White / Black
Parrot Users Testimonies
I love the Voice Mate because of it's seize. it's portable and small enough to fit in my coat pocket. It has some great features. Such as, phone book, clock, calculator, memo and other interesting goodies. I think that all visually handicapped people should check it out.It's a wonderful machine. Ray Charles http://www.raycharles.com
In the present society, we need managing a great bulk of information. Everyone use a cell phone or a digital agenda. Blind people cannot work with those devices with total authonomy since these machines are not as accessible as desired (information appears on the screen). The Voice Mate is a good solution and complement to other devices, such as the cell phone. Voice Mate is fully accessible because it speak out the information on its display. Not only is it a phone directory, but also it has calculator functions, Euro translator, memo functions, and more. As a journalist, I need to make lots of phone calls each day and take notes. Voice Mate makes it easier and quicker because I just have to press a button and say a name or record a memo or an appointment. And all this just fits in a little purse or even in a paper keeper. Nuria del Saz - Canal 2 Andalucia
I have used The Voice Mate for several years and think that it is the greatest thing for people with vision problems since the invention of the White Cane. Will Mincey
My name is Dwight Sayer and I am a Voice Mate user who has really enjoyed using the product. I have enjoyed it so much, that I now train other purchasers of the units through CITE in Orlando and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Orlando Florida.. I was asked recently by a product supervisor at CITE to test the Voice Diary called the IMP. I received a demo unit from Imp and tested the product extensively. I must admit the construction was first rate, but the ease of use was pittyful. It was apparent to me that it was designed for use by the sighted. When comparing the two units in as far as use by the blind and visually impaired you have them hands down. The only thing that I liked about their compact unit was the onboard battery and charging system that allowed for charging just like a cell phone. This was the only feature that was wonderful. I would also like to ask if somewhere in the future some consideration in the software operation in as far as automatic alphabetizing the phone book would be great I have found on those days that I am not sounding like myself and need to page through my phone book to find someone, it would help us by us then knowing where we were in the phone book so we could know if right or left would be quicker in finding soneone.. Thanks Again For A Great Product! Warmest Regards, Dwight D. Sayer State Secretary National Federation Of The Blind Of Florida President / National Federation Of The Blind Of Florida - Greater Orlando Chapter Florida State Registrar - NFB Newsline reg. Member SBRC Alumni Association Member Blinded Veterans Association Member Ocoee Lions Club E-Mail - repcodds@aol.com My Pledge - http://home.att.net/~poofcatt/july.html
I wish to share with you my enthusiasm about your product. I have now purchased my second Voice Mate (your newer and more advanced version) and wonder how I ever function in the past without it. I have totally lost my sight over six years ago and at first, kept track of my contacts and appointment on my laptop. I would always struggle to keep track of my numbers, meetings and diverse notes whenever I was on the road. After listening to my complaints too many times, a friend of mine researche on the web for a possible palm pilot that would have a voice response capacity. I was delighted when he found the product. The Voice Mate does not only offer voice response but voice recognition as well.Your product has totally changed my life and brought back a lot the independence that I lost when I became blind. Thank for this priceless gift. Sincerely yours Eric Brun Sanglard
For a blind person, Voice Mate provides a way to accomplish lots of activities with only one unit. Where else do you find a tool that allows you to keep telephone numbers, make memos, that is a calculator, tells you what time it is, reminds you of your appointments and record information that can be thrown away? The appointment calendar, particularly for me, is very important, because when you have lots of appointments, it's very nice to be able to turn the Voice Mate off and have it beep you when its time to go to the meeting. I don't know what I would do without it! And while it is keeping track of all of that, you've got the alarm clock, a calculator etc.
Plus, with the new version, it has a longer memory : 40 minutes instead of 6.5. The Voice Mate is excellent for taking memos when you are in hurry or a telephone number while walking down the hallway. If I want to take a lot of notes all day long, I probably wouldn't want to use the Voice Mate, favouring instead a Braille note taker or a slate and stylus. The Voice Mate should not be regarded as something that competes with Braille. It is a supplement to Braille. The size is ok; it fits in my pocket with my cell phone, my digital recorder, my slade with my book for Braille, Swiss army knife, business card, pens...
The price of 259 dollars is decent for a digital device like the Voice Mate. I am quite familiar with no visual access technologies available to the blind. Voice Mate comes talking right away. It’s a great thing.
Curtis Chong - Director of Technology for the National Federation of the Blind (U.S.A.).
Hi all, I too am a new Parrot user, having just got mine today. I have version 3, and I can now hear for myself what all the excitement is about. I'm looking forward to many years of use and enjoyment of my Parrot, and highly congratulate everyone involved in its creation and distribution. In other words, I recommend it highly.
Dennis Nelson
I love my Parrot and have become very dependent upon it. It goes everywhere with me and I love how fast and flexible and clear it is. I've never seen a piece of adaptive equipment so perfectly mimic the existing technology for standard users, without leaving us at any disadvantage. It's wonderful.
Becky
Hi there. Just bought myself a Parrot and can't thank you enough. It has organized my life and I really like the ease of use factor and how smart it is. It does everything I could want from an organizer plus much more.
Scott Rutkowski
From the time I bought my Parrot, I have been using it on a daily basis ever since. I could not believe the versatility of it. One thing I use it for, on a regular basis, is the memo feature as a check register. If I am in the store and write a check, I will record the check number, amount, and to whom. Then later when I get home, I can enter that information into my Quicken program on my computer. The appointment feature is great. I have it set to give me an audible beep and remind me of the next days appointment. The phone book is just as useful. I just say a name and the number is right there. I love the phone book's feature of being able to enter cell phone, home phone, business phone, Etc. One feature I absolutely love about the Parrot is the talking clock. Setting the clock is so great. No more pushing a button to forward one minute at a time for setting. When you do that you pass up the minute and then have to go all around the 60 minutes again to get to the desired time setting. This phone pad key board is the simplest thing to set a clock. Just enter in the desired hour, minute, date, Etc. That feature is very handy. The talking calculator is nice too. The Parrot has so many features, which are speech friendly for setting and using, and it is small enough to fit In my pocket.
Tom Rash
Phil Scovell's product review on Bind-X March 25 -
I recently began using the Parrot Plus digital voice recognition organizer. This hand held pocket sized device weighs just 5.5 ounces and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. This digital organizer, or electronic day timer if you prefer, has a number of unusual features.
First, and the most convenient, is its voice recognition. In my opinion, the problem with retrieval has always been the major disadvantage with digital portable organizers. With the Parrot Plus, however, all you do is press a button and speak a key word, such as a person's name or a company's title, and the information, regardless of where it has been stored, is retrieved and ready for verbal display. For example, if you store a friends work phone number under the name of Phil Scovell, you simply tab over to the phone book category using a front panel function key, press a button, and speak the name Phil Scovell. The telephone number is instantly retrieved and ready to be accessed. If you hold the Parrot Plus up to the telephone mouth piece and press the button again, the tones play into the phone and the number is dialed for you. This is made possible because you have stored the phone number digitallys using the telephone style key pad on the front of the Parrot. Immediately following the tones, the Parrot Plus built in voice synthesizer speaks the number to you.
In fact, All major functions and features are spoken to you by the built in Parrot voice synthesizer. This makes the Parrot incredibly user friendly for any person. I could easily spend a half an hour detailing all of this handy little unit's features but let me mention a few to give you an idea of its capability. First, the unit has two separate battery compartments. It runs on four triple a batteries. Why two battery compartments? This allows you to change two batteries at a time without loosing any recorded data. by the way, the unit warns you of low batteries with a warning signal. You can also connect an optional cable to your pc and using their software, transfer the recorded data stored on the Parrot Plus to your computer.
The Parrot comes with programmed categories where data is quickly and easily stored. Each category is verbally announced as you tab to them one at a time. They are, phone book, memo, appointment, clock/calendar, and calculator. There are a couple of other categories but these relate to a dialing assistant, which has to do with setting up the Parrot for different dialing prefixes anywhere in the world, and a control panel, which is where you customize the unit to perform in the manner you choose.
The phone book category will allow you to record numbers for home, fax, cellular, work, and secondary phone numbers which might be something like a person's pager. The phone book category also provides space for you to record the address of this person or company. This phone book assistant is very handy for me personally because all my children have their own cell phones, home numbers, work numbers, and pagers and I can never remember them all. Now the Parrot remembers them all and even dials them when I speak the names of my kids into the unit.
The memo category allows you to record just like a tape recorder, that is, one message after another but that's not all. You can play back, record, edit, insert, fast forward and rewind, the recorded memos using the telephone style touch tone key pad on the front of the unit. this means you can modify your record memo as you wish at any time. the left and right arrow keys on the key pad allow you to move through your memoes quickly.
The next category is called appointment. Here you can record a key word, such as doctor's appointment, and retrieve that reminder at any time. It works like this. Record a key word, such as doctor's appointment, and then you will be prompted to enter the date and time you wish to be reminded of this appointment. The entry is accomplished using the telephone style key pad on the front of the Parrot. You can review this appointment reminder at any time by simply speaking the key word of doctor's appointment in to the device and having it automatically retrieved or, if you have selected to be automatically reminded at the appropriate time, the Parrot Plus will sound an alarm and you can then press the button to have the information read to you. The appointment recordings can be edited and review just as they are in the memo category.
The talking clock and calendar are simple to use. Just tab over to the clock using the front panel button, and click on that heading. The time and date are announced by the voice synthesizer. The day of the week and the current month are likewise spoken. The calculator works as easy as any other with all functions spoken as each key is pressed.
In fact, that is one of the most convenient aspects of the Parrot Plus; it speaks nearly everything and walks you through all functions and features. You are never lost, therefore, when using the Parrot.
One question people always ask is, how much time is available for what you record. The answer is six and a half minutes but that isn't a problem. the only thing which goes into that digital six and a half minute data storage is what you speak. The phone numbers stored, the date and time stamps, and everything else are not apart of that data storage. So if you save a phone number under the name Jonathan, then that one or two seconds it takes to speak the word Jonathan into the Parrot's memory is all the time used in the data storage area of the device. This makes that six and a half minutes much larger than one might first assume. You can also switch the Parrot into a compressed speech mode and expand the data storage to thirteen minutes. The speech quality, of course, isn't as good but is understandable.
I might as well mention the basic control panel features to give you an idea how easily the Parrot Plus can be customized. Using the right and left arrow keys on the front panel, you can quickly cycle through all the settings which you may wish to customize for personal use. These settings include volume levels, tones and beeps for key entry indication, help mode on and off, accessibility on and off, shunt down time adjustable from 20 to 60 seconds, record level of quality or compressed speech, password mode on or off, dialing speed of the telephone tones from slow to very fast, and dialing volume of the tones. Other changes can be made such as date format, clock format, and others too numerous to mention. All of this is clearly spoken to the user by the Parrot's built in voice synthesizer. Though I cannot detail all the Parrots features, I will mention something I really appreciate; the unit has no off and on switch to worry about. It automatically shuts itself down after inactivity of 20 seconds; adjustable up to 60 seconds. No more forgetting to switch your unit off and draining the batteries and thereby loosing important recorded data.
There is an international Parrot programmed for English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese. I personally was amazed how easy it was to learn how to use my Parrot Plus. The audio cassette included with the Parrot was well done and easy to follow. The unit comes set up by the company and is shipped with the batteries installed so it is ready to use the moment it is removed from the shipping carton. It took me about an hour to listen to the tape, following along as I went with my Parrot Plus, and once done, my voice recognition organizer was customized to my preferences and I began using it. I carry it with me to church, whenever I'm out and about, and it always sits near me at my desk for quick retrieval of information, for quick memoes to remind me to return calls, placing orders, or simply to check the time or to perform a quick calculation on the built in talking calculator. I personally haven't seen anything like this and find it very useful in my daily life. Now I know what sighted people are able to do with their day timers except my day timer not only talks to me but I talk to it and it responds. I only have one problem.
Now my wife wants one.
Phil Scovell - zenith@diac.com
The Parrot Plus, Another Look - Will Smith on Blindad March 28 This is a follow-up review to the excellent and comprehensive review done recently on several blindness-related mailing lists by Phil Scovell. Since Phil's work was so detailed, accurate and well written I'm going to cover more personal impressions of my first week's work with the Parrot Plus. I'll begin by saying that it's the best and most portable electronics assistant I've run across up till now--and I've looked at several and read the specs for many more. Now, why do I feel this way? Let's take a closer look.
First, let me stress the convenience and ease of use of this small unit. As has been mentioned earlier, everything talks and the major functions can easily be cycled through from the always accessible function button at the top left of the front panel of the unit. This means that you're never more than a few clicks away from phone numbers, addresses, a digital memo pad for voice notes, appointments calendar, clock and alarm, calculator dialling assistant, and the settings control panel where you can customize many features to your exact tastes.
Now, remember that all this power is housed in a small device about the size of an infrared remote control that will nest in a shirt pocket or perch at hand on a desktop. It looks very sturdy but I'm being careful with my Parrot Plus because it's such a useful device that I'd hate to ruffle even a feather on its well styled and well thought-out surface. The two most used buttons are the only two visible until you swing down the front panel which hinges at the bottom front of the unit.
Under the hood you'll find a circle of four buttons at the top which are, starting at the upper left and circling clockwise, modify, delete, no, and yes. Below this are left and right arrows to help you step through the items in the memo pad etc.
Now, a few comments on the major functions I've found most valuable. Since I have a more elaborate address book on my computer I keep only the voice inputted names and phone numbers in the Parrot's phonebook--although one can put in multiple numbers, addresses, etc. And yes, the voice recognition is quite good but not perfect with my voice. On those rare occasions when it echoes back the wrong name it's quite easy to try a second time and be completely accurate before dialing or utilizing the touchtones built into the Parrot. I've entered both local and long distance numbers and it will take an extremely long series of tones when needed for access to a secondary phone carrier. The unit's so functional I use it all the time instead of pushing the buttons on the phone. This is a small convenience at home but could be a much bigger one when away and using a telephone you're not familiar with. I'm thinking here of a relatives big button phone that doesn't use the conventional phone pad layout or spacing. And when one encounters an older rotary phone one can easily follow the voice output numbers for manual dialling. I should note here that one must have the Parrot quite near the phone's microphone input as the tones are defaulted to a level 3 that will occasionally not get all the tones if removed a bit from the input. I solved this by going to the control panel and setting the volume up one level. You can also change the dialling rate of the tones and voice recitation of the numbers to higher or lower values for faster or slower playback.
Next, the Parrot boasts a very functional memo pad that's digital and quite easily used for brief notes--and quite a few of them too, I might add. Although the unit doesn't boast one of those big time capacities of 30 or 60 minutes that are now on the market still for my purposes during my first week's use I've never had the memo's digital capacity more than half full, even when I was storing over two dozen short notes. You can recall these notes with a double click on the side button on the case, then arrow through them quickly. My Parrot also time-stamps the time and date of the message so there's no confusion about whether the memo noted is fresh or an old one needing to be deleted. In the lower voice quality mode the unit provides almost 15 minutes of notes--and for my money if I need lengthier notes I'd likely want to use a micro cassette tape recorder.
Life is sort of slow around me here in the country so I haven't used my appointments feature too much except for testing. You simply voice tag the event with an easily remembered audio name--such as "doctor's visit," "CBS movie," "BBC newscast," or "call Bob." You're then prompted by voice to enter date and time. This can be a same-day event or it can be months away because the Parrot keeps track of the time and the date--and I presume it's y2k compliant as well, although I need to check on this with the company reps. If you like the Parrot will store a reminder note with the cryptic voice tag. One favorite use I have for this feature is to remind me a couple of minutes before a favorite radio or TV show comes on. Needless to say, I'm missing a lot fewer favorite shows now than I was back a week or so ago!
I'll sum up with a few remarks about the clock, alarm clock, calculator and the other special features worth noting that mean the most to me. The clock is very accurate and the alarm is loud enough to get my attention or to awaken me if the unit is nearby. The calculator is easy to use although the numeric keypad is a bit on the tight side. The unit does do the standard arithmetic functions which are accessed via the circular 4 buttons at the top, with the percent being the star button and the decimal point being the number symbol on the keypad.
Many have wondered about the adequacy of the onboard memory, especially in the memo mode. This has not been a problem for me and I doubt it would be for most folks. And a handy feature of the Parrots control panel lets the user know how much digital space is left by clicking on the side button twice rapidly when in control panel mode. Right now I have 8 memo notes, 45 numbers in my Phone book, 5 appointment notes with notification alarm, and the alarm clock set--and still have 78 percent free memory available!
And one really important plus with the Parrot is its long life operation on just 4 alkaline triple A batteries. The unit can last for many months in normal use, and when the unit indicates a change of batteries is finally needed it's easy to preserve all data since one removes only two batteries at a time from two separate pockets, preserving all info. Summing up, even if I owned a lightweight and functional laptop computer, a Braille and Speak or standard digital voice recorder I'd still want to own the Parrot Plus. It's in a class by itself for functionality, ease of use and portability. If Polly's not perched on my desktop she's in my shirt or coat pocket always ready to assist me. I haven't begun to tell you everything that a blind or visually impaired person might want to know about this unit so I'd be glad to tell anyone more if they'd like to write me. The Parrot Plus sells for $199.95 from many places including Disability Specialtys who are represented on these lists.
Yes, about the only thing I can think of better than the Parrot Plus would be two or more of them!
Will Smith - wilsmith@iglou.com
Congratulations, Phil! Yes, as a happy Parrot plus user it is good to hear that a company has our needs in mind to make their products accessible to everyone. I bought my Parrot Plus in January last year before it was upgraded and it was difficult to set up to your preferences as there were no speech prompts in the control panel. I have since had it upgraded to version 3 and it is much easier to use. I highly recommend anyone who hasn't as yet bought one to give it a try. Thank you, Phil and Will, for your brilliant reviews of this versatile electronic pet. She is great! Best wishes,
Clive Pallett - cpallett@seni.demon.co.uk
Another testimony from Phil, after using Parrot for two weeks...
I must admit, when I first obtained my parrot, I really never thought I'd use it any more than any other digital device. I have a small one that doesn't talk and doesn't have all the features of the parrot and frankly, because it took time to find the recorded information, I never used it much at all. I have become parrot dependant now. I use it every day to remind me of places to call, orders to place, people to call back and for things like what to pick up when I go to the office supply store. I use it to remind me when to put the clothes in the drier and little household chores such as that. I use it to remind myself when to take things out to the mail box for the mail man and when to call u p s later in the day to place a pick up order. I use it, of course, to dial phone numbers like crazy. Frankly, I have become so dependant on my parrot, I find it hard to think of what it would be like without one now. It is most certainly, outside of my computer, one of the most important talking devices I have ever purchased. When I first heard of the parrot and read about its features, I figured it would cost twice as much as it does and as valuable as it has become to me personally, it would be worth twice as much. Anyhow, I thought of all these things when I read someone here on the list talking about how they have come to the point of depending on their parrot. Me, too.
Hi, I'm also another new owner, and also really love it. I especially appreciated the fact that a blind guy got to do the tape, great touch.
Bill Koppelmann - on parrot@onelist.com
When I say, 'let me check with my parrot' I get strange looks until they see it, then everyone wants to know where to get it. I use it for voice memos, telephone and fax numbers, reminders and occasionally to dial my telephone numbers. I did a thorough product comparison prior to purchase and could not find anything else to do all the Parrot does. Also, I tried using the other products and none of them were nearly as easy to use as the parrot. My wife and I love our parrots and are organized now ---with simplicity---no complex manuals or hard to learn software programs. Highly recommended!
Bob Wyatt - Age 60, V2 consumer version owner
Parrot Users List Archive
Submit your own testimony
<Your Name
<Message
Join the Parrot Users List
Go back to Parrot's Accessibility Site
This site is a commercial site of the Parrot S.A. Company © 1998 Parrot S.A.