Use Voice Input for Technicians
Voice input lets you add a technician to your roster by speaking a natural-language description instead of filling every form field manually. You describe the technician — their name, skills, certifications, shift hours, and availability — and BayWise sends the transcript to your configured AI provider, which parses it into structured fields that auto-fill the Add Technician form.
This is particularly useful during initial workshop setup, when you are entering ten or fifteen technician profiles in a single session. Speaking a description is faster than tabbing between fields, and the AI does a reliable job of extracting structured data from conversational speech.
What voice input does
Voice input handles one operation: adding a new technician to the roster. When you speak a technician description, BayWise captures the audio using your browser’s built-in SpeechRecognition API, transcribes it, and sends the transcript to the AI provider configured for your account. The AI parses the transcript and returns structured data:
- Name — the technician’s full name
- Skills — skill categories extracted from your description
- Certifications — any professional certifications mentioned
- Efficiency rating — if mentioned or implied
- Shift hours — start and end times for their working day
- Availability — which days of the week they work
The parsed fields auto-fill the Add Technician form. You review and correct any fields the AI got wrong, then save.
Voice input does not support clock-in commands, job assignment, or any other operation. It is a data-entry accelerator for technician profiles only.
Before you start: requirements
Microphone permission: Your browser must have microphone access. When you click the microphone icon for the first time, the browser will prompt you to grant permission. If you previously denied permission, re-enable it in your browser settings (usually the padlock icon in the address bar).
AI provider configured: Voice input relies on an AI provider to parse the transcript into structured fields. If no AI provider is configured in Settings, the transcript will be saved to the technician’s skill notes field as plain text — no structured parsing will occur. Configure at least one AI provider before using voice input if you want the auto-fill behaviour. See Configure AI Providers.
Reasonably quiet environment: Voice recognition accuracy drops significantly near running engines, compressed air tools, radio noise, or multiple people talking at once. Use voice input from the reception area, the workshop controller’s station, or any space where background noise is manageable.
Brave browser users: Brave blocks Google’s speech recognition endpoint by default as part of its Shields privacy features. If voice input does not activate or produces no transcript in Brave, disable Shields for the BayWise tab (click the Brave lion icon in the address bar and toggle Shields off for this site). Other Chromium-based browsers, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge all work without modification.
How to use voice input when adding a technician
Open the Tech Roster
Navigate to the Techs tab from the main navigation. You will see the list of all technicians at the current location.
Click Add Technician
Click the + Add Technician button. The Add Technician form opens.
Click the microphone icon
In the Add Technician form, click the microphone icon next to the form fields. The icon activates and a listening indicator appears — a pulsing animation that confirms BayWise is recording.
Voice recording uses your browser’s SpeechRecognition API in continuous mode. It will keep listening and transcribing as you speak, automatically restarting on brief pauses.
Describe the technician
Speak naturally and include as much detail as you want the form to capture. The AI is flexible about phrasing — you do not need to follow a rigid format. Include the technician’s name, their role or skill areas, certifications if any, and their typical working schedule.
Example descriptions:
“Priya Nair, master technician and diagnostics specialist, works Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm”
“James Okafor, apprentice mechanic, general mechanical skills, available Tuesday through Saturday, 7:30 to 4”
“Sofia Lindgren, certified spray painter with ten years of experience, Monday to Friday 9 to 6, also qualified in surface prep”
“Rafael Mendes, senior technician, specialises in electrical diagnostics and ADAS calibration, works Monday to Friday, starts at 7, finishes at 3:30”
Wait for the AI to parse
The auto-parse triggers 1.5 seconds after you stop speaking. BayWise sends the transcript to your configured AI provider, and the parsed fields populate the form automatically. You will see the name field, skills checkboxes, availability toggles, and shift time fields update with the extracted data.
If AI is not configured, the raw transcript is saved to the technician’s Skill Notes field instead. You can manually fill the structured fields afterwards.
Review and correct
Check every auto-filled field before saving. The AI handles straightforward descriptions well, but may occasionally:
- Misspell an uncommon name — correct it in the Name field
- Miss a skill that was implied but not stated explicitly — check the relevant skill box
- Set shift times slightly off if you used informal phrasing like “starts early” — adjust the time pickers
The form is fully editable after auto-fill. Treat the AI output as a first draft that saves you most of the typing.
Save
Click Save. The technician is created with all the fields as shown in the form — both the AI-populated fields and any corrections you made.
Tips for the best results
- State the name first. Leading with the technician’s name gives the AI the clearest signal for the most important field. “Priya Nair, master technician…” parses more reliably than “We have a master technician, her name is Priya Nair.”
- Be explicit about days. “Monday to Friday” or “Tuesday through Saturday” parses cleanly. “Weekdays” also works. Avoid ambiguous phrasing like “the usual days.”
- Use specific times. “8am to 5pm” or “07:30 to 16:00” parse reliably. “Morning shift” is too vague for the AI to assign specific hours.
- Mention certifications by name. “ASE certified” or “certified spray painter” gives the AI a clear token to extract. “He’s got his papers” does not.
- One technician per recording. Complete the form and save before starting a new voice input for the next technician. The AI parses each transcript as a single technician profile.
Common questions
Does voice input work on all devices? Voice input works on any device with a functioning microphone and a modern browser that supports the Web Speech API (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge). Older browsers or heavily restricted enterprise browser environments may not support it.
What happens if the AI parses the description incorrectly? All fields are fully editable after auto-fill. Correct any errors in the form before saving. The AI output is a convenience, not a commitment — nothing is saved until you click Save.
Can I use voice input to edit an existing technician? No. Voice input is available only in the Add Technician form. To update an existing technician’s profile, edit their record directly from the Techs tab.
The microphone icon is not responding. What should I do? Confirm microphone permission is granted in your browser settings. Close and reopen the browser tab and try again. If the issue persists on a mobile device, check that the browser app has microphone permission in your device’s operating system settings (not just the browser-level setting). On iOS, this is under Settings, then the browser name, then Microphone. On Brave, disable Shields for the BayWise tab.
What if I do not have an AI provider configured? The voice input will still record and transcribe your speech. The transcript is saved to the technician’s Skill Notes field as unstructured text. You will need to fill the structured form fields (name, skills, availability) manually. To get the auto-fill behaviour, configure an AI provider in Settings first.
Will voice input work in a language other than English? Voice input availability in languages other than English depends on your browser’s speech recognition support and the BayWise language setting for your account. Technician names are transcribed as spoken regardless of language setting, but the AI parsing accuracy may vary for non-English descriptions depending on your configured AI model’s language capabilities.