Voice activation

[Gadgetdad]

Bluetooth on my 07 #3 is a teadious, sometimes working adventure in frustration. Push the talk switch and sometimes it says "Say a command", mostly though it says, "Say the Number" (like I memorize numbers on my cell phone!) After a phone tree of innumeral branches, I say the name Bill Jones, and the darn voice says, "dialing Fred Flintstone" or some other goofy name that doesn't sound at all like Bill Jones. One is better off just dialing using your cell phone and talking via the bluetooth system than using the voice command system. Any suggestions to improve the experience with Voice Activation?

[ucsbgaucho]

I'd say have a dedicated "dial by number" and "dial by name" button, and maybe the dial by number works so that as you say the number, the number comes up on the screen, so you can correct mistakes before you say "6199999999" and the system thinks you said "6190090909090".... Honestly the systems they ahve now when you call, say, UPS or your credit card company are pretty damn accurate, especially spouting off a whole tracking number with letters and numbers.

Speaking of letters and numbers, anyone know if the Prius system can handle voice commands where there's a letter in the phone number, like 1-800-PICK-UPS? or do you have to know the # itself?

I too find myself just dialing a number from my keypad instead of using voice... in fact, I haven't really used the voice commands for anything since having my car for a month, I started out using it just cuz it was new and cool, but it's too buggy, takes too long to hear the lady repeat your commands and give instructions, etc.

[Renocat]

I always use the dial by name feature. THere are only a handful of people I call form my car and i find it very easy to push the voice activation button say dial by name, push the switch again and say the name.

[mjg216]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Renocat @ Feb 24 2007, 08:56 AM) [snapback]395798[/snapback]</div>

I always use the dial by name feature. THere are only a handful of people I call form my car and i find it very easy to push the voice activation button say dial by name, push the switch again and say the name.
[/b]

I have a bluetooth phone and heve entered a "voice tag" for each of my phone book entries. However, I cannot get the system to recognize the "Dial by Name" command. I say "dial by name", but the system keeps asking me to say the number. If I say a name, the system translates that to a nonsense number, as if I had stated some number. It's probably something very simple, but I can't solve the problem. You seem to have been successful in setting this up. Can you tell me how you did it? Thanks.

[Renocat]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mjg216 @ Feb 25 2007, 03:51 PM) [snapback]396325[/snapback]</div>

I have a bluetooth phone and heve entered a "voice tag" for each of my phone book entries. However, I cannot get the system to recognize the "Dial by Name" command. I say "dial by name", but the system keeps asking me to say the number. If I say a name, the system translates that to a nonsense number, as if I had stated some number. It's probably something very simple, but I can't solve the problem. You seem to have been successful in setting this up. Can you tell me how you did it? Thanks.
[/b]

Dial by name
In my 2006 package #7,this is what I do to use voice dial:

* Press the talk switch on the steering wheel and say "dial by name"
* Jill says "Dial by name has been chosen. After the screen has updated please press the talk switch"
* Press the talk switch
* Jill says, "Please say the name"
* I say the name I have programmed to the number
* Jill says "Name chosen. Please briefly touch the talk switch or touch the off hook switch to dial"
* I press the off hook switch (telephone with receiver off the hook) and the call dials.

I hear the call dial, the person answers and I am good to go. I have dialed a name without touching the MFD, only the steering wheel.

The process is almost the same for dial by number, which I use to call a person that is not in my phonebook. There is one extra push of the talk switch, that seems like a glitch, but it still works.

When I have an incoming call, the radio cuts out, and I hear a generic ring through my car speakers, not my ring tone. Sometimes my phone will actually ring about a 1/2 a ring and then I hear the generic ring through the speakers. I haven't quite figured that one out yet.

You must have voice tags programmed to the numbers you have entered into the car's phonebook. If you have Verizon, you can't transfer your phone's phonebook, you will have to manually enter them one by one.

[Gadgetdad]

Yes, that is how it is supposed to work. What happens about 45% of the time is that when the talk switch is pushed, the voice doesn't ask "please say a command" rather it skips right to "please say the number." This is so frustrating that I just use my cellphone's number list and press send on the phone.

I don't know how much the voice command feature costs to put in the car, but so far it isn't worthy to be in the Prius. Perhaps it works better with the Navigation unit that I don't have

[ucsbgaucho]

mjg, you don't set the voice tags on your phone, you do it on the car's computer. So after you enter names and numbers into the CAR's address book (by touching the screen), there's an option if you scroll down to the 2nd page to add a recorded voice name, choose that and then you save the person's name into the car's computer. You dont have to have voice tags on your phone for this to work, just on the car's computer.

[dsmart1]

I also had a very frustrating time figuring out how to use name command to dial instead of the default number command. The instructions in the Owners Manual are totally inadequate to the point of being maddening.

Here's what I finally figured out:

1. After the Bluetooth connection is established, press the "Settings" button on lower left of the telephone
screen display
2. Select "Bluetooth"
3. Press the talk switch on the steering wheel
4. When the "Say a command" dialog box appears, say "Dial by Name"
5. As long as you remain in the current screen, when you press the talk switch again, the name command
option will be active
6. However, if you go back to any other screen, the system will revert to number dial.

This is surely a software problem. There should be an option to set the default dialing command (name, number, etc.)

This system is definitely not up to the standards of the rest of the car's systems!!

[Gadgetdad]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Don S @ Mar 3 2007, 01:36 PM) [snapback]399587[/snapback]</div>

I also had a very frustrating time figuring out how to use name command to dial instead of the default number command. The instructions in the Owners Manual are totally inadequate to the point of being maddening.

Here's what I finally figured out:

1. After the Bluetooth connection is established, press the "Settings" button on lower left of the telephone
screen display
2. Select "Bluetooth"
3. Press the talk switch on the steering wheel
4. When the "Say a command" dialog box appears, say "Dial by Name"
5. As long as you remain in the current screen, when you press the talk switch again, the name command
option will be active
6. However, if you go back to any other screen, the system will revert to number dial.

This is surely a software problem. There should be an option to set the default dialing command (name, number, etc.)

This system is definitely not up to the standards of the rest of the car's systems!!
[/b]

Thanks, Don, nice to feel like I'm not alone with this problem! <_<

[Renocat]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Don S @ Mar 3 2007, 04:36 PM) [snapback]399587[/snapback]</div>

I also had a very frustrating time figuring out how to use name command to dial instead of the default number command. The instructions in the Owners Manual are totally inadequate to the point of being maddening.

Here's what I finally figured out:

1. After the Bluetooth connection is established, press the "Settings" button on lower left of the telephone
screen display
2. Select "Bluetooth"
3. Press the talk switch on the steering wheel
4. When the "Say a command" dialog box appears, say "Dial by Name"
5. As long as you remain in the current screen, when you press the talk switch again, the name command
option will be active
6. However, if you go back to any other screen, the system will revert to number dial.

This is surely a software problem. There should be an option to set the default dialing command (name, number, etc.)

This system is definitely not up to the standards of the rest of the car's systems!!
[/b]

My screen is on the consumption screen 99.9% of the time. I push the talk switch on the steering wheel, hear a beep and say dial by name and Jill asks me to say the name.

Perhaps there is a bug in the 2007?