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Dictate and pause by voice

What it does

While you dictate a message you can pause the recording and continue later in the same recording. Words said during the pause do not go into your text. You can pause with the pause button next to the timer, or, on workspaces with live transcription, by saying a short phrase.

How to ask

  1. Press the Dictate button in the composer and start speaking.
  2. To pause, press Pause dictation or say a pause phrase. The caption reads Paused — say "go on" or tap to continue.
  3. To continue, press Resume dictation or say a resume phrase.
  4. Press the button again to stop, or Stop & Send to stop and send in one step.

The phrases that work, by language and effect:

  • Pause (German): "Moment", "Moment mal", "Moment bitte", "Moment mal bitte", "einen Moment", "einen Augenblick", "eine Sekunde", "Sekunde", "warte kurz", "warte mal", "warte", "wart mal", "warte bitte", "halt"
  • Pause (English): "wait a minute", "wait a moment", "just a moment", "hold on", "one moment", "one second", "wait"
  • Pause (French): "attends", "attendez", "un instant", "un moment", "une seconde"
  • Resume (German): "weiter", "weitermachen", "mach weiter"
  • Resume (English): "go on", "continue", "carry on", "keep going"
  • Resume (French): "vas-y", "continue", "on continue"
  • Send (German): "senden", "abschicken", "absenden", "Nachricht senden", "jetzt senden"
  • Send (English): "send", "send it", "send message", "send now"
  • Send (French): "envoyer", "envoie", "envoie le message"

A phrase counts only when it is a whole sentence of its own, spoken as a short command. "Halt" counts only as a sentence on its own, so "Das ist halt so" stays text.

Say a send phrase as the last sentence of your dictation, for example "Erster Punkt ist das Budget. Senden." While live transcription is running (the caption shows your words as you speak), the dictation ends about a second after you stop speaking and the message is sent. Without live transcription, or if the live connection fails, end the recording with the button after the phrase; it then sends. The spoken command is not part of the sent text, and a Sent note confirms it. The note confirms only this voice send, never a message you send elsewhere in the meantime.

A send phrase as the last sentence also sends when you end the recording yourself with the button, including in workspaces without live transcription, where the recording is transcribed as a whole. It never sends if the recording was paused at any point.

Tips

  • Choosing the microphone. If your device has more than one microphone (for example a laptop microphone and a headset), a small arrow (Choose microphone) appears next to the Dictate button; with a single microphone it does not appear. Press it and speak: each microphone shows a level bar, and the one that hears you gets the mark hears you. Press the microphone you want; the choice is remembered on this device for the next dictation. Choosing the microphone marked Default goes back to following your system setting.
  • If the chosen microphone is unplugged, dictation uses the default microphone and a short note says so. A microphone the browser cannot open for the preview reads unavailable. The level bars only show once the browser has already allowed microphone access; the list itself never asks for it. Until then the list shows "Levels appear after your first dictation.", and a bar that is still starting up stays empty.
  • Pause and resume by voice, and the automatic send about a second after you stop speaking, need live transcription, which the platform administrator enables for the workspace. Without it, a paused recording's caption reads Paused — tap to continue and the button works as usual.
  • The pause button works the same on a phone. When you tap to continue, the speech service reconnects, so give it a moment before you speak: words spoken right after tapping to continue may be missed.
  • The microphone keeps listening while paused so the resume phrase can be heard. Nothing said during the pause goes into the text, and the gateway does not log or store the transcript text.
  • Check the text before you send it. A voice send cannot be undone.

Limits

  • The timer is wall-clock time. A pause counts toward the eight-minute limit of one recording.
  • If the live connection fails and the recording is transcribed as a whole, words you said in the same breath right after the pause phrase, or while stopping, can still appear in the text. Check it before sending. On that path a dictated "Moment." on its own is removed as a pause phrase.
  • If a dictation cannot be continued after a pause, it ends and the text recognised before the pause is inserted; nothing from the pause is added.
  • Only the phrases listed above are recognised.

A send phrase is not acted on when:

  • it is not the last thing you said, or a pause came earlier in the same recording;
  • it is part of a longer sentence ("Ich will das senden"), a question, a quote or a sentence that trails off;
  • the live connection failed and the recording is transcribed as a whole after a pause or an unclear stretch. The words then stay in the text and nothing is sent.

When something goes wrong

  • Saying the phrase did nothing. Pause and resume by voice, and the automatic send about a second after you stop speaking, need live transcription. Check that the caption shows the words you speak. If it does not, use the pause button, or press the button after the send phrase to end the recording and send.
  • The dictation ended with only my typed text sent. Everything you said was paused or nothing was recognised. The note below the composer says so; your typed text was sent once.
  • A word from the pause is in my text. See the limit above, and delete it before sending.
  • The message was not sent. If it cannot be sent right now (for example because an answer is still streaming), the note Not sent: the message is in the input field appears and your text waits in the composer.