NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Supplying voice command software and related hardware peripherals to the legal, medical, professional and disabled communities, Lunis Orcutt, the marketing dynamo at the center of the KnowBrainer operation, has become one of the nation's top sellers of the Sennheiser ME3 headset microphone. Orcutt not only recommends the super-cardioid condenser headset mic for its excellent noise rejection but he puts his money where his mouth is, using the ME3 to streamline his voice-automated order-taking process.

"I'm probably the second biggest Sennheiser ME3 dealer in the whole galaxy," says Orcutt. "Between two companies - the other is Marty Markoe - we probably sell about 90 percent of the ME3 mics."

KnowBrainer is a third-party command package for the medical, legal and professional editions of the Nuance (formerly ScanSoft) Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software that adds the ability to address letters, send faxes and e-mails, print documents and open folders and files. The KnowBrainer software, originally created for the physically disabled, additionally adds to and streamlines the operation of NaturallySpeaking while also offering optional specialized vocabulary packages for the legal and medical professions.

Orcutt says of the ME3, "It has a big diaphragm and phenomenal noise-rejection. Plus, it's got a great sound." As Orcutt relates, he often demonstrates the noise-canceling properties of the ME3, a critical feature when using voice recognition software. "I used this mic to do a demonstration for the CTO of a Fortune 50 company. I showed them how to do programming by dictating code - translated into on-screen text by the software - while I played the "Miami Vice Theme" at 110dB."

On a personal level, says Orcutt, the noise-canceling abilities of the ME3, which was originally designed by Sennheiser intended music and speech applications that require maximum movement and close proximity signal reproduction, have even improved his work environment. "Before that microphone we had no way of listening to music while we worked. Now, we can blast it at concert levels. Plus, I can wear the microphone on my head while I'm on the telephone, even with a wireless telephone. And I use the mic wirelessly because I pace while I work."

Orcutt believes that sales of the ME3 will increase into the consumer market with a new version of software that is about to be released. "The biggest problem we have is that currently KnowBrainer only works with the Professional version of NaturallySpeaking. We decided to build our own, and we're going to be able to deliver what the professional version does." KnowBrainer 2005 (the version of KnowBrainer that will work with NaturallySpeaking Standard and Preferred) should be ready for release sometime in December of 2005.

Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is the acknowledged world leader in microphone technology, RF-wireless and infrared sound transmission, headphone transducer technology, and most recently, in the development of active noise-cancellation. Sennheiser Electronic Corporation is the U.S. wholly owned subsidiary, with headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut.