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Item No: 8G Meeting Date: February 10, 2003 Type of Business:CB WK: Work Session; PH: Public Hearing; CA: Consent Agenda; CB: Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Mike Sommer, Police Chief Item Title/Subject: Purchase of Voice Recognition Software Program and Required Computer Upgrades Using LLEBG Grant Funds Date of Report: February 10, 2003 Background: On March 1, 2001 the Mounds View Police Department was awarded a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant. The monies from this grant can be used to purchase equipment which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the police department. The total amount of the grant was $12,159.00, which included the required match amount by the city of $1,216.00. On April 24, 2001, $4,382.41 of the available grant funds were expended to purchase video equipment that is used to view and print still photos from surveillance cameras installed at numerous retail and business locations throughout the city. Under the terms of the grant, all funds must be expended within two years of the award. Currently there is $7,776.59 of unexpended funds, which must be used prior to February 28, 2003, or they will be subject to forfeiture. Discussion: Staff has been assessing the needs of the department in an attempt to identify an area where this funding could be utilized to improve its efficiency or effectiveness. One area that could appreciate significant benefit for the department would the acquisition of voice recognition software and the necessary computer upgrades required to run the program. Voice Recognition software allows the user to generate text in any windows based word processing program. If used in conjunction with digital voice recorders, Voice Recognition could greatly aid investigators and others in generating lengthy narrative reports and victim/witness statements and suspect confessions. Voice Recognition may also be useful in helping to avoid repetitive stress and carpel tunnel related injuries. Two local vendors of Voice Recognition products were contacted and invited out to demonstrate their products. The first product viewed, which is called “Via Voice” by IBM, was not seen as a user-friendly program, and did not appear it would be the best product for our department. The second product demonstrated was called “Dragon-Naturally Speaking.” This product appeared very easy to use and navigate, and it also offered a Public Safety version, which recognized many more words and terminology used in law enforcement. Under the proposal from BMS-Integrated Office Technologies, who is the company offering the Dragon-Naturally Speaking program, the police department would license six users within the department. In order to meet the computer specs necessary to run the program, two desktop computers would be replaced utilizing grant funds, and one laptop computer would be purchased, which could be used at other workstations or in the field