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Any shortcuts to "Dial By Name?"

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by web1b, Dec 29, 2009.

  1. web1b

    web1b Active Member

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    There so many prompts in the Prius bluetooth system.
    In other systems (probably even the Blu Logic), you can just hit a button and say "Call John" and it just dials immediately.

    It looks like with the JBL bluetooth, you have to go through these 4 prompts before it will dial:

    "Phone"
    "Dial By Name"
    "John"
    "Dial"

    Is there a shortcut command to bypass so many prompts?
     
  2. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Well, you can press the voice recognition button before the NavLady finishes her lines to speed things up and you can eliminate "Phone" and just say "Dial by Name". Think of the Voice Recognition button as an "interrupt" button- just wait for the beeps after you hit it to speak the next command.

    You can also, I believe, eliminate the "Dial" if you press the "off Hook" button instead.

    Others can speak to speeding things up by using speedial numbers (I don't use them) or changing the voice guidance options (of which I haven't customized yet).
     
  3. web1b

    web1b Active Member

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    OK, so I think the quickest way to dial by name is turn of voice guidance in the options, then:
    Press voice recognition button, "Dial by name," wait, "John," wait, press off hook button.
     
  4. mgb4tim

    mgb4tim Noob

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    I've turned the lady off, she annoyed me. I'm sure she wasn't too happy with me, either.
     
  5. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    hahahahaha!!!
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yep. That's the quickest way i've found so far.
     
  7. mickeymammoth

    mickeymammoth New Member

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    I just got my new Prius, and have been playing around with the voice dial system. I'm kind of frustrated.

    I did find that you can turn off the voice guidance (yay), and that by viewing a list of commands, "dial by name" and "dial by number" are allowable at the top level.

    The problem I've run into is many of my contacts have multiple numbers associated with them (home, cell, and work...), and that means that you have to have yet another prompt for which number to call after you say the name.

    So I experimented with creating separate entries for each number ("Matt's Cell", "Matt's Work", etc.), but that doesn't work either, because the system will frequently prompt you to confirm that you want "Matt's Work" ("Yes") vs. "Matt's Cell" ("1") because they are so similar in sound (I guess; they both start with "Matt!").

    I thought that voice tags might help, but they actually make things worse. If you create a voice tag where you say, "Matt's Work," and you also, say, have "Matt's Work" as a contact name, then the system won't be sure if you want to dial the voice tag or the contact name. It doesn't seem to recognize that they are one and the same.

    (Note, I did notice an interesting bug. If you create a contact, and then use that contact for the voice tag, and then later delete or rename the contact, the voice tag still holds onto the original contact name and definition. Weird).

    So if you have a contact name that is very similar to the voice tag you create, you're worse off than with no voice tag; you may as well just use the computer recognition for the contact name, and avoid the voice tag.

    So, if you want to store multiple numbers for a single person, and don't want the extra prompt, you have to make separate contact entries for them, AND (here's the kicker), make the names for the entries different enough so that the system can only really choose the 1 entry. OR, make your voice tags really different from the contact name, and from each other.

    Anyone else have any tips on reducing the number of prompts for dialing?

    Also, does anyone else think it's weird that the voice commands don't work at all if you turn the Nav screen off?

    Ramona
     
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    So that's what voice tags are for. I was wondering about them (since the system recognises the contact name in the phonebook anyway).

    The easiest would be speed dial. I think you can just go "speed dial 1" but I'm not 100% sure since I haven't set up my speed dials yet.
     
  9. Airbalancer

    Airbalancer Active Member

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    I gone back to my BT headset, works easier, I can hear better
     
  10. FreakinToddles

    FreakinToddles New Member

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    Shortest way is to press the voice button, then just say "Dial Laura" or whoever you are calling. Dont need to say Dial By Name first.
     
  11. mickeymammoth

    mickeymammoth New Member

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    I'll have to try that! That's how it works in my Rav4 (no nav system).
     
  12. web1b

    web1b Active Member

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    Not true.
     
  13. chrisj428

    chrisj428 Active Member

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    I was gonna say: "Tried mine over lunch (V+nav) and it didn't work." :(
     
  14. hlkc

    hlkc New Member

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    Same here and not working.