---
title: "Use voice input"
description: "The mic button on the chat is speech-to-text dictation — not a two-way voice agent. Hold to talk, release to send the transcribed text as a chat message."
group: "estimates"
lane: "how-to"
status: "published"
publishedAt: 2026-05-15
sidebarOrder: 130
tags: ["voice", "mobile", "how-to"]
relatedSlugs:
  - "estimates/start-an-estimate"
  - "estimates/chat-questionnaire"
sidebarLabel: "Voice input"
---

Voice is the fastest input on a phone. Wave's mic button gives you speech-to-text dictation straight into the chat — designed for field technicians describing a loss while standing in it.

## How to use it

1. Tap the **mic** button on the chat input.
2. Speak. The transcription appears in the chat input as you talk.
3. Release / stop, review the transcribed text, and send.

It's exactly what you'd expect from any phone's dictation — you can review the text before sending and edit it if the transcription got something wrong.

## What it is — and isn't

- **It is** voice-to-text dictation. You talk, Wave transcribes, you send.
- **It is not** a two-way voice agent. Wave doesn't speak back. The reply is text in the chat.

## When voice helps most

- **On a phone in the field** — typing is slow with gloves on or hands wet
- **For long initial descriptions** — *"Cat 2 toilet supply line failure at 482 Sycamore Lane, hall bathroom and hallway affected, water reached the closet, baseboards saturated…"* — much faster spoken than typed
- **When you're walking through a room** — describe what you see as you see it

## Tips

- **Speak in complete sentences.** Transcription is more accurate when you give it structure.
- **Industry terms are recognized.** Cat 2, IICRC, dehu, HEPA, antimicrobial — Wave's transcription is tuned for restoration vocabulary.
- **Review before sending.** Dictation is good, not perfect. A quick scan catches the occasional misheard word.

## Related

- [Make your first estimate](/docs/estimates/start-an-estimate) — voice fits naturally in the first message
- [The chat questionnaire](/docs/estimates/chat-questionnaire) — what Wave asks once dictation reaches it