Speech-to-text in ServiceM8
When entering text in the various free-text fields throughout the ServiceM8 app, a little-known feature of the iOS keyboard is the ability to instead dictate what you want written with your voice. This can be done by tapping the microphone icon on the keyboard of your iPhone or iPad:
When walking around a site and generally on-the-move, using speech-to-text functionality like this can be a big time-saver when searching or entering information into ServiceM8, such as:
- Searching for a client or job in the Search field of the Jobs tab
- Entering a Job Description
- Entering Work Completed for a job
- Saving a Job Note or Client Note
- Posting to the Activity Feed
- Texting a client from their job card
- Creating a new Task
Keep in mind that you can also add punctuation and formatting by pronouncing it mid-sentence, where you want it to appear. You can use phrases like:
- “comma” to insert a comma (,)
- “full stop” to insert a full stop/period (.)
- “question mark” to insert a question mark (?)
- “new line” to return down to a new line
- “dash” to insert a dash (-)
- “new paragraph” to return down to a new paragraph
- “cap” to capitalise the first character of the next word
dash confirm locations with client new line
dash take before photos new line
dash disconnect power new line
dash install and reconnect For more tips on how to use speech-to-text dictation with the iOS keyboard in ServiceM8 (and in general), check out this page.