Voice Dialing In Rx 400h

[JMR]

I took delivery of my 2007 RX 400h 1 week ago and love it. One thing I haven't been able to get working is the voice command to dial the phone. Every time I use it, the system comes back with an addition to the map. It's very strange.

Here's what I am doing:

1. Press the "Talk" button.

2. I say "Call Holly" or just "Holly" after the beep. I have "Holly" setup in my speed-dial. This happens with any name I use.

3. The system responds by saying ATMs, banks, or other map features have been added to the map. The phone is never dialed.

I asked my dealer about it. He suggested not saying "Call Holly". Instead, say just "Holly". No change. Dialing by pressing the speed-dial button works fine.

I did not see any phone-related commands in the posted command list, but phone commands appear to be supported when I say "help" to the voice system. Other voice commands work fine.

I have an LG/Verizon phone. The system says I have a successful Bluetooth connection.

Any ideas?

thanks, Jim.

[ZZ4]

I have an 08 RX 350. I would think the Bluetooth system is the same.

I push the Talk button, "She" says, "Please say a command"

I say "Dial by Name"

"She" says something about the screen or the phonebook updating, and then asks for the name. You have to say the name exactly as you have it in your phone book.

Hope this helps!.............Don

[JMR]

I have an 08 RX 350. I would think the Bluetooth system is the same.

I push the Talk button, "She" says, "Please say a command"

I say "Dial by Name"

"She" says something about the screen or the phonebook updating, and then asks for the name. You have to say the name exactly as you have it in your phone book.

Hope this helps!.............Don

Thank you for the information. I was using "Call by Name" as the command. I don't know where I got that command from, but thought for sure I got it from saying "Help". It shows "Dial by Name" now when I do that.

The "Dial by Name" command got me to the phone book and prompted for a name. I said, "Holly", but apparently need to setup some voice recordings as nothing was found. I will have to dig into the manual some more to find how to do that.

I went back through the navigation manual and could only find a page or two on the entire voice command system. I think Lexus can do a better job documenting their features, as noted in previous posts.

[Jim Nazium]

Not to be negative, but the voice command on the Lexus REALLY Blows. If Toyota would of spent just an ounce of R & D on the Navigation System, instead of out sourcing it, it would of been VASTLY superior to what they got as a turn key solution.

It boggles the mind. Any other system on the market in this class and price range is vastly superior. Trying out the Acura System, is a work of art. You do not need a Class A pilots licence.

I don't even bother with it anymore.

Cheers,

MadloR

[3sticks]

Not to be negative, but the voice command on the Lexus REALLY Blows. If Toyota would of spent just an ounce of R & D on the Navigation System, instead of out sourcing it, it would of been VASTLY superior to what they got as a turn key solution.

It boggles the mind. Any other system on the market in this class and price range is vastly superior. Trying out the Acura System, is a work of art. You do not need a Class A pilots licence.

I don't even bother with it anymore.

Cheers,

MadloR

[Gryphon]

Chief 3sticks be man of few words.

Tom

[3sticks]

He is right, the entire nav system is second rate, like something detroit would offer. The RX400h will be my last Lexus due to disappointment with the nav system. The voice recognition doesn't recognize English very well and is dangerous; when trying to get it to give the correct response the driver's focus is on the system not the road.

While driving one can play with the nav map, look at trip info, gasoline consumption, battery charge and other useless info, but try or have your passenger try to enter a destination or phone number while moving and it is grayed out.

If the lawyers were so worried about the nav destinations or phone numbers causing accidents what about the rest of the system? The need to "agree" each time the vehicle is started is also another reason to look elsewhere.

Lexus must either provide all version 6 nav system owners with the unlock code or watch their sales decline.

Ed

[skyfish400h]

I have an 08 RX 350. I would think the Bluetooth system is the same.

I push the Talk button, "She" says, "Please say a command"

I say "Dial by Name"

"She" says something about the screen or the phonebook updating, and then asks for the name. You have to say the name exactly as you have it in your phone book.

Hope this helps!.............Don

Thank you for the information. I was using "Call by Name" as the command. I don't know where I got that command from, but thought for sure I got it from saying "Help". It shows "Dial by Name" now when I do that.

The "Dial by Name" command got me to the phone book and prompted for a name. I said, "Holly", but apparently need to setup some voice recordings as nothing was found. I will have to dig into the manual some more to find how to do that.

I went back through the navigation manual and could only find a page or two on the entire voice command system. I think Lexus can do a better job documenting their features, as noted in previous posts.

I don't believe the NAV is sophisticated enough to do real voice recognition (learning your voice). Certainly not sophisticated enough to recognize TEXT to SPEACH translations such as connecting a new piece of text the the user has entered, such as "Holly", with the spoken version that text.

I belive the way it works is that you can voice dial by the speed dial number associated with your entery "Holly". That way the system only needs to be able to recognize the canned words "one" thru "eighteen".

Hope this helps. I agree the 400h NAV system leaves a lot be desired.

[gordonw]

Just curious, does anyone know which manufacturer has a better or more sophisticated system?

[Gryphon]

I haven't spent much time with the voice dialing, but the map voice commands are ridiculous. I'm fed up with trying "zoom out" and getting "dual map" instead.

Tom

[skyfish400h]

I haven't spent much time with the voice dialing, but the map voice commands are ridiculous. I'm fed up with trying "zoom out" and getting "dual map" instead.

Tom

Use the onscreen help to play the commands for you to hear. If you mimic the tone and cadence of what you hear, it will respond better. POI Off was the hardest one for me.

Also if you look in the onscreen help you find other alternative ways of working some of the commands that may be more natural for you.

[Jim Nazium]

Just curious, does anyone know which manufacturer has a better or more sophisticated system?

Acura, BMW, Mercedes... all vastly superior. Especially the Acura System, the Voice Recognition is spot on and most everything is plug and play in terms of on road use. Very nice. Lexus really did a poor job, and in fact there own people acknowledge it.

Cheers,

MadloR

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

Just curious, does anyone know which manufacturer has a better or more sophisticated system?

Acura, BMW, Mercedes... all vastly superior. Especially the Acura System, the Voice Recognition is spot on and most everything is plug and play in terms of on road use. Very nice. Lexus really did a poor job, and in fact there own people acknowledge it.

Cheers,

MadloR

gordonew may have meant what AFTERMARKET NAV manufacturer has a better system, rather than switching car manufacturer just to get a better NAV. After all ... changing to BMW? Mercedes? Acura? That would be a bit of a trade off ... mpg wise, for a SUV. Then, regarding Benz & BMW, there's the quality thing (according to consumer reports, as well as several owners I've spoken with). But yes, at least their NAV's and some of their other features are nice.

So ... gordonw, if it's a portable / better NAV, the Garmins are hard to beat. Pricy, but feature packed, and simple to operate. We got one because if we fly out of our area & get a rental car, it's great to just take it with you ... better than having to figure out functions in the ones that come in the rental cars.

[skyfish400h]

gordonew may have meant what AFTERMARKET NAV manufacturer has a better system...

Indeed. The Oct 07 Consumer Reports has an evaluation of these devices.

They like the Garmin 660 and TomTom 910 for the larger screen sizes, but even these are only 4.4 and 4.0 repectivly. These will also get you real time traffic and bluetooth funtions.

What I wish we could see is a 3rd (or 4th) party NAV option that directly competes with the Denso. After all the Operating system is just software. Anyone should be able to write a NAV system to use the touchscreen, microphone, bluetooth, gps, and other sensors to give us a better package.

I would be willing to pay muliple times more than the $300 Denso upgrade cost if such a competitor were to offer say, real time traffic thru my bluetooth phone. I think there is a real market here.

[Jim Nazium]

Just curious, does anyone know which manufacturer has a better or more sophisticated system?

Acura, BMW, Mercedes... all vastly superior. Especially the Acura System, the Voice Recognition is spot on and most everything is plug and play in terms of on road use. Very nice. Lexus really did a poor job, and in fact there own people acknowledge it.

Cheers,

MadloR

gordonew may have meant what AFTERMARKET NAV manufacturer has a better system, rather than switching car manufacturer just to get a better NAV. After all ... changing to BMW? Mercedes? Acura? That would be a bit of a trade off ... mpg wise, for a SUV. Then, regarding Benz & BMW, there's the quality thing (according to consumer reports, as well as several owners I've spoken with). But yes, at least their NAV's and some of their other features are nice.

So ... gordonw, if it's a portable / better NAV, the Garmins are hard to beat. Pricy, but feature packed, and simple to operate. We got one because if we fly out of our area & get a rental car, it's great to just take it with you ... better than having to figure out functions in the ones that come in the rental cars.

Actually, I think he as refering to other manufactures who produce vehicles with integrated NAV. And on this point, Lexus really messed.

Going the aftermarket route is really half-@ssing it and getting one of those "Stick on the front Windshield and please crack my drivers window and steal me" units, then that pretty much defeats the point. They are not integrated and require even more hands off than a properely integrated Nav/Bluetooth system.

Cheers,

MadloR

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

Actually, I think he as refering to other manufactures who produce vehicles with integrated NAV. And on this point, Lexus really messed.

Cheers,

MadloR

Somehow the thread got switched to the NAV topic ... I hate it when the OP hyjacks his own thread :P . Reading the 1st post and topic though, it was first about Lexus' cheezy VOICE commands pertaining to bluetooth dialing. Then it hopped over to NAV. Hopefully Lexus WILL get better ... with both the nav AND voice/ bluetooth interface.

[JMR]

I figured out the missing link in setting up dialing by voice. Thank you for your posts.

I had not noticed the "Edit Contact Info" screen contains a page-down arrow which leads to the voice recognition button for recording voice tags. It is covered on page 133 of the navigation manual. I entered several, tested them, and all is well.

[zoeydanielle]

I figured out the missing link in setting up dialing by voice. Thank you for your posts.

I had not noticed the "Edit Contact Info" screen contains a page-down arrow which leads to the voice recognition button for recording voice tags. It is covered on page 133 of the navigation manual. I entered several, tested them, and all is well.

I too had the same issue on my RX350, and once I followed your lead, everything went fine. I suppose as a new member of this forum I don't have the right to pontificate, but I am very pleased with all aspects of the car. Yes, it isn't perfect, but what things make of plastic and steel are. Thank G-d for that! It just seems to me that we should be grateful that we are driving a $45000+ car and even higher for the 400H. Maybe Acura and BMW have better Nav systems, but why complain if you didn't your homework to begin with. My friend just bought an Acura MDX and it rides like a tank. My wife and I just took a 110 mile round trip in our new RX and it was like floating on a cloud. I test drove the Acura RDX and the MDX and neither my wife and I liked the ride. So, be happy you have a great car or trade it in.

[crabman]

The ball was dropped on the nav/bluetooth Zoeydanielle. A well intergrated system is a thing of beauty and expectations are higher amongst users who have experienced such a system. Unfortunately Lexus is behind the curve on this as more and more people are beyond being wowed by the mere existence of a nav system. Stating these facts does not necessarily signify an overall dissatisfaction with the car. If I want to call out in my car I simply push the button, say "call blah blah" and it works every time. On my wifes car (RX) its more miss than hit. It is also needlessly difficult to upload address books or manually enter phone numbers. Does that mean the car entire is junk? Nope. The nav system needs work though and hopefully Lexus will listen to its buyers and try and improve its functionality and ease of use.

[sledgehamr]

I took delivery of my 2007 RX 400h 1 week ago and love it. One thing I haven't been able to get working is the voice command to dial the phone. Every time I use it, the system comes back with an addition to the map. It's very strange.

Here's what I am doing:

1. Press the "Talk" button.

2. I say "Call Holly" or just "Holly" after the beep. I have "Holly" setup in my speed-dial. This happens with any name I use.

3. The system responds by saying ATMs, banks, or other map features have been added to the map. The phone is never dialed.

I asked my dealer about it. He suggested not saying "Call Holly". Instead, say just "Holly". No change. Dialing by pressing the speed-dial button works fine.

I did not see any phone-related commands in the posted command list, but phone commands appear to be supported when I say "help" to the voice system. Other voice commands work fine.

I have an LG/Verizon phone. The system says I have a successful Bluetooth connection.

Any ideas?

thanks, Jim.

[sledgehamr]

I took delivery of my 2007 RX 400h 1 week ago and love it. One thing I haven't been able to get working is the voice command to dial the phone. Every time I use it, the system comes back with an addition to the map. It's very strange.

Here's what I am doing:

1. Press the "Talk" button.

2. I say "Call Holly" or just "Holly" after the beep. I have "Holly" setup in my speed-dial. This happens with any name I use.

3. The system responds by saying ATMs, banks, or other map features have been added to the map. The phone is never dialed.

I asked my dealer about it. He suggested not saying "Call Holly". Instead, say just "Holly". No change. Dialing by pressing the speed-dial button works fine.

I did not see any phone-related commands in the posted command list, but phone commands appear to be supported when I say "help" to the voice system. Other voice commands work fine.

I have an LG/Verizon phone. The system says I have a successful Bluetooth connection.

Any ideas?

thanks, Jim.

I have a 2006 rx-400h, and my voice calling does the same thing. I talked with my dealer, and he said that it is a Verizon problem. (I happen to have a Verizon account). He said it only works with Cingular/ATT Bluetooth enabled phones. Ask yor dealer if that is the case on the 2007.

[Jim Clark]

It works OK in our '08 400h. Although, it is a bit cumbersome. Hit the button, say dial by name, hit the button and say the name, hit the phone off hook button and it dials. The speakerphone works REALLY well, the best I've ever seen/heard in a car. It's also real clear on the other end.

[JMR]

I've found that using "Dial by Name" and then just hitting one of the speed dials on the screen is much more efficient. The number is dialed right away. I have a pretty good hit rate for the 6 numbers entered on the first screen.

The voice menu system is much more cumbersome than necessary.

-Jim.