Foxer55

Last night I tried using the phone system in the car for the first time. I mean making a call. Terrible! When the screen came up I said "Phone." Nothing. I kept saying "Call" and it would do nothing. Finally, the car said, "If you want to make a call, say "Call." I kept saying "Call." The the car said "Say a number or say a name from your phone." I said a name from my phone list and - nothing. Finally the car replied with "Still loading numbers from your phone" and then timed out. This went on and on. Then I tried about the tenth time and would say the phone number. The damned thing couldn't get the number right and kept skipping numbers or recording the wrong ones. After a time I just gave up and used the phone itself to initiate the call.

The call works when initiated from the phone but not when using the car's communication system. Anybody else have an issue like this?

Lrn2Swm

speech recognition is awful

thebishman

I don't seem to have these issues. You just need to press the voice recognition button and when it asks for a command, say something like "call John Smith", or "call Home". Works pretty much every time for me.
Bish

RazorZ06

Works great. Play around with it.

Jus Cruisin

No issues with mine. Make sure you paired it properly. I think it asks if you want to download the address book. Then make sure you ask to call the way it's saved in the phone.

T-Z06-J

I think the car only has voice recognition. The mind reading you were expecting won't happen till the C8.

J/k read the manual, learn how to use it. It doesn't work like Siri. If you are still unhappy with it then use Siri with Apple CarPlay or wait for Android Auto.

Mine works fine

Foxer55

Chuckle.

66rag427

You must say in the same sentence " Call 555-555-5555 (your number)" and it will repeat number you stated. If that is correct and you say " yes" or "correct" then the call will be made.

Do not pause between "Call" command and phone number or you will get the response you described. If you do pause say "cancel" and start over.

Bucknut2006

Haven't had any issues with mine. It is annoying having to wait for the voice prompts to finish, but I'm sure that could be adjusted if I spent the time.

mikede824

Go by an Apple 6 and use Siri, no problems

Speednet

OP, not sure why you're having so much trouble. The voice system works great in my 2016 Z06. (And worked great in my 2014 Stingray.)

Just say "call ". No need to do it as two separate steps.

If the person has more than one number in your contact list say "call at work" or "call on mobile".

You can also say "call ".

If you use an iPhone you can activate and speak to Siri by just pressing and holding the "speak" button on the steering wheel for a few seconds.

It's really a great system if you learn a few commands.

AZDoug

When I get in ANY of my sports cars, the LAST thing I want to do it talk (or text) to somebody on a phone.

You, the car, the road. Everything else is a distraction and unnecessary.

So, I can't give you any advice.

Doug

FAsnakes

Nah, works fine for me.. I use the phone all the time. .

I'm running in iPhone and use Siri to dial from my address book.

dmaxx3500

make sure the windows are rolled up

mcoomer

I've given up on vehicle voice recognition. I run Android with the Google Now launcher. All I need to do is say "OK Google" (even if the phone is asleep or locked), wait for the tone, and tell it to call whoever, get directions wherever, send text message to whoever, whatever I need it to do. I've not seen a factory or aftermarket system yet that performs as well as my phone.

Mike

2vettes

I just use the controls on the steering wheel; my entire address book is there; it also shows the numbers of recent in and out calls.

SLBelt

Mine is definitely hit or miss. I owned a 2014 stingray and now a 2015 c7z with the exact same results. I use a Samsung Android GS5.

Sometimes, it can hit the steering wheel button and say "call debbie" and it figures it out. Many times, I get either "pardon", a wrong response such as a radio station, or "Still downloading phonebook".

I wonder if it's actually bad error handling in the Nuance (DNS) software for when they can't match the spoken name to a phonebook entry. I've got probably 1000 names/numbers in my phonebook which I believe it redownloads each time you start the car. So it takes a while and if I try to perform a "call debbie" too quickly it usually doesn't work. If I instead give it a "call 124-456-7890" it ALWAYS works. Also, if I wait several minutes after starting the car, it usually works. What's weird is the varying error message or lack there of when it doesn't work. I think Nuance needs to go back to the drawing board on their software and GM needs to hold them accountable...

davepl

It operates on a geological timescale (ie: it's really slow) but it does sort of work.

What =doesn't= work is trying to use it on the road in a convertible. I've lost two hats now trying to yell up into the corner mic only to have the wind steal the brim.

Experience One:

"Hey Siri, text my wife and tell her I will be late"

Experience Two:

"PHONE"
"PHONE"
"PHONE!!!!"
"DIAL NAME"
"DIAL NAME"
"NO, I SAID DIAL NAME YOU USELESS BAG OF GARBAGE!!!"
"dial name"
(etc)
"AMANDA HUGGENKISS"
"call"
"send"
"go"
"dial"
"DIAL"
"DIAL!!!!"
(rings)
"I don't know, I'm so worked up I forgot why I called you"

For those that don't know, you can PRESS and HOLD (for a second or two) the voice button to pass through and talk to your phone itself, rather than the car, and that usually works much much better for me.

As you can imagine, the voice recognition on a $1000 iPhone6 is a lot better than the $99 Soviet Processor they use in our electronics stack. So pressing and holding the button makes life much easier for me.

ZeeOh6Nut

Bill Dearborn

It all depends on how your phone feels. By the way there is no way to know whether or not the car's phone system has better electronics or worse electronics than an apple phone both are designed at the lowest cost possible.

As far as my iPhone 5S I get too many problems with it recognizing what I am saying that I usually just dial. Especially, when I tried to use my bluetooth ear piece to place a call and Siri came back and told me she didn't have time to bother with my call.

It might actually be better to use your OnStar phone and place a nice clear call without all of the hand held BS and limited range you get with a hand held.

Bill