Speech to text: Relief for cops in Delhi, lodging FIR made easy

New Delhi, Jan 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Delhi Police on Sunday introduced a phonetic keyboard system with Hindi voice typing facility that will most likely simplify the process of registering a First Information Report (FIR).

This is the first-of-its-kind system innovation that has taken place in north Indian Hindi speaking states in the closed net of Crime Criminal & Networking Systems (CCTNS) on which all works of investigation beginning with lodging of FIR, writing case diaries and submitting charge sheets are done across the country.

Delhi Police said the IOs were facing difficulty in computer typing in Hindi, the lingua franca of the region which is used by complainants and general public to converse and record their statements. "With this technological solution, now investigating officers (IOs) will be able to speak and record their work electronically using phonetic keyboard, dispensing the dependency on Hindi typists or the compulsion to record hindi versions in English alphabets, bringing in efficiency, accuracy and transparency in investigation works," Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Kumar Mittal said.

He said that as a pilot project, the system has been launched in all the police stations of New Delhi and North Districts and shall be rolled out in all the districts shortly.

But how was the system working till now? Police personnel, especially IOs had been experiencing difficulty in operating CCTNS in Hindi for official works like writing FIRs, Case Diaries, Final Report etc, as very few personnel were adept in Hindi typing; and often sought help of professional Hindi data entry operators. Moreover, the system did not accept the Hindi scripts and even Hindi words and sentences had to be written in English script.

However, the newly developed procedure is quick, easy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) based. A dictionary of traditional Hindi and Urdu words, often used in police work, has been added for convenience of users. The system catches new Hindi and Urdu words also and stores the same for the database, thus expanding its vocabulary to include all words and syntax used in police works.

The system has improved speed, accuracy and efficiency of police functioning in terms of maintaining proper records digitally. "It has come as a big relief for the personnel using the CCTNS and a landmark in investigation work," said the official.

According to the officials in the police establishment, the technological solution of Hindi typing via the Speech-to-Text software within the CCTNS system will prove as a milestone in bringing ease and efficiency to the working of the IOs.

Source: IANS