Voice control

[JohnK]

My last phone had a reasonable voice control software module in it - good for almost hands free calling. My new Android phone (needed for the MyVolt.com app) seems to be pretty poor. From my owners manual, it looks like the Volt has a very comprehensive voice control system. Anybody care to share (or try out and then share) thoughts and observations?

[Mybatcar]

It's been very accurate so far....does a great job understanding numbers......makes hands free "hassle free" too !
I also like my HTC EVO's voice recognition ie: voice to text, etc.

Steve in Boca Raton

[ssj4vegita2002]

I haven't had an issue with the Volt's voice commands so far. As long as your speak clearly, it is fine.

As for Android, it has the BEST voice recognition I've seen so far on any product actually. Pretty much anything I speak into a Google search using voice comes out fine, or with very minimal changes needed [which don't matter, because the search will usually suggest what you were trying for anyway]. Are you using the built in voice, or something from a third party app?

[JohnK]

built-in. Have only tried it for dialing home while driving home from work. Almost never gets close. Even when it does, it seems to require hitting a "button" on the screen to confirm. I'll guess that there is a way to get better results if I study it carefully - haven't had it for long. It is a Samsung SPH-M920 (Transform).

[Marty]

Voice recognition seems reasonably accurate for me. I use it for phone dialing, and would really like a less verbose mode. For example...

Me: Hit steering wheel button:
Car: "Please start speaking after the beep. - BEEP" <- How about just the beep? I pushed the button, why else?
Me: "Hands free" (If I say it too fast, the car misinterprets as "Display")
Car: "(Very long pause...) Ready."
Me: "Call home"
Car: (Home number on display) "Calling home - Please say yes or no."
Me: "Yes"
Car: "Calling - Using IPhone."

This extended conversation takes way too long.

How about, instead something like:

Me: Hit steering wheel button.
Car: "BEEP"
Me: "Hands Free Call home"
Car: "Calling home using IPhone."

No need for "Please start speaking" No need for "Ready". No need for "Yes or no". (If it got it wrong I'd hit the kill button on the wheel.)

[PoisonArrowFrog]

I agree. The voice recognition with a Bluetooth phone is really not practical in it's current form. I just bypass the voice recognition, hold the call button for an extended two seconds and then just use the display prompts. Its a bit more dangerous I suppose.

I would prefer a faster way to use the iPhone voice recognition to make calls.

Here is that process now:

Steering phone button
"Hands free", pause and wait for response
"Bluetooth", pause and wait for response
"Voice", pause and wait for response from iPhone
Call blah mobile ... Converse with iPhone

Yikes!

I should at least be able to string the whole sentence together.

[faz]

I definitely agree with Marty. The voice control is pretty good in that it recognizes most of the commands if you speak clearly and speak one of the expected commands. But it does take way too long to dial a number, as Marty describes. Also, when I first started using it, I thought it was a little more advanced than what it is and was hoping it was more like Ford's MyFord Touch. They make it so simple to call, such as "Call Dad" and that's it and it dials (http://www.ford.com/technology/sync/myfordtouch/). Why can't the Volt be as simple? Or is it and I haven't programmed it completely.... ?

[RDO CA]

I have had 2 different responses to the button push. One is the "please start speaking" voice response but usually only a beep to which I say hands free and get the "ready--beep" response.
Than I get the "dialing with i-phone". But twice I have recieved a response of "dialing with on-star" instead. This is when the Bluetooth icon is showing on the screen. I have than cancled the call before it went thru and tried again which goes thru with the i-phone.
Anyone seen this yet?

[MichiganVolt]

No need for "Please start speaking" No need for "Ready". No need for "Yes or no". (If it got it wrong I'd hit the kill button on the wheel.)

I asked my dealer if I could just hit the button and say "Call Joe Smith (number and name already stored in Volt)" He said it wouldn't work. I tried and IT WORKED!

[MichiganVolt]

Excerpt from the manual:

General Navigation Commands

Feedback on, feedback off:
This command instructs the
system to turn on and off the
voice recognition feedback.
When feedback is ON, the system
responds to commands with a talk
back phrase. When feedback is
OFF, the system responds to
commands with a chime.

I haven't tried setting the feedback to 'off' but this may eliminate some of the annoyance.