stingrayman Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 As a newbie to my newly found relationship with Ford Sync's "Samantha" I have an issue, I've tried to talk to her about it but she is unresponsive. I find her friendly and helpful for the most part but at times I feel she is not giving me enough time to respond to her questions? There is one time in particular that I feel our relationship is broken, it happens when I tell her "I'm hungry". Her initial response is fine she asks me "would you like to search nearby or in a city", I respond with "nearby" and she puts up a list of available eating establishments on my touch screen. At this point she will ask me to "say a line number" and this is where the argument starts, if I choose a line number in 10 seconds or less she is pleased and is helpful moving forward. However if I am slow to respond to her request to "say a line number" she cancels our conversation pulls down the list off the touch screen and that's that, conversation over! There must be some way to ask her to hold on while I consider the choices shes presented me with, sometimes there are couple of pages to consider, certainly 10 seconds is not enough time? Can you help us patch our relationship and get me feed? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 8, 2014 Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 Think faster? Have you tried "wait" or "pause"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayman Posted October 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Think faster? Have you tried "wait" or "pause"? I had tried "pause" and now based on your suggestion have also tried "wait", unfortunately "Samantha" does not like either of those words? It is a bit odd to me that Ford has set the system so that when the vehicle is in motion the navigation system cannot be manually used (ie: via the touch screen)? That allot of the functionality of the system is blacked out so that even my wife in the passenger seat cannot act as copilot and work the system? However I can talk to "Samantha" to use the navigation system who then puts me in a position that attempts to pull my eyes from the road and she wants it done NOW? At minimum the passenger seat sensor should be involved and when someone is in that seat they can assist with the onscreen navigation controls. Perhaps some techie will come up with a way to return all the functionality to the touch screen even when the vehicle is in motion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 There is such a tool - it's called a lockpick or something to that effect. But not many people are using it and I don't know how well it works. Ford looked at a way to make sure it's the passenger using it and not the driver but couldn't come up with a good solution. Just knowing there is a passenger isn't good enough since the driver could still be doing everything. And this is all about protecting Ford from stupid lawsuits so if you want to blame somebody, blame the idiots that sue companies for their own negligence. Looking at the screen and selecting a number is far safer than trying to type in an address - that's the real danger. You can always try "Help" - that should pause and give you the available voice command options for that screen. Maybe the delay time is tied into the voice prompt settings (advanced, brief, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayman Posted October 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) There is such a tool - it's called a lockpick or something to that effect. But not many people are using it and I don't know how well it works. Ford looked at a way to make sure it's the passenger using it and not the driver but couldn't come up with a good solution. Just knowing there is a passenger isn't good enough since the driver could still be doing everything. And this is all about protecting Ford from stupid lawsuits so if you want to blame somebody, blame the idiots that sue companies for their own negligence. Looking at the screen and selecting a number is far safer than trying to type in an address - that's the real danger. You can always try "Help" - that should pause and give you the available voice command options for that screen. Maybe the delay time is tied into the voice prompt settings (advanced, brief, etc.) Thanks for your tip on the lockpick, I was able to find it through Google but at 400-500 bucks I think ill pass. I agree with your “stupid lawsuits” reference, I’m sure you and I could both go on for days on that subject. There are ways for Ford to protect its self without removing functionality of vehicles systems though. I also agree with your observation that “Looking at the screen and selecting a number is far safer than trying to type in an address” but that’s not my issue. My issue is that to select a line number you need to “read” the information that pertains to each line number. And that 10 seconds to perform that function is unreasonable and certainly (if attempted) more dangerous than working the touch pad at moments it’s safe to do so. I will try the “help” and also look through my settings again, thanks. Edited October 13, 2014 by stingrayman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 9, 2014 Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 I agree that it takes longer to read the entries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayman Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 So I've played around with her some more and checked all settings again, there does not seem to be a way to solve her performance with this issue? The best I have been able to discover as a go around solution is the commands "next page" and "previous page". Using those commands repeatedly seem to keep her happy which does allow for safer viewing, although far from ideal it is an improvement. If anybody into the future finds a better solution I'd like to hear it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I don't think it's a feature many people use. I think I've only used it once. But I'll try to play with it and see. What are the exact commands you're using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayman Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I don't think it's a feature many people use. I think I've only used it once. But I'll try to play with it and see. What are the exact commands you're using? The exact commands are: "next page" or "previous page" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I mean - the commands to get TO the POI list...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayman Posted October 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 I mean - the commands to get TO the POI list...... Oh, I see. That information as it applies to this threads topic was contained in my first post to this thread, for clarity: User: “I’m hungry” Samantha: "Would you like to search nearby or in a city" User: "Nearby" It’s at this point she displays the on screen list. Further info, over and above this topics issue: The “I’m hungry” command is a global command and it can be used to start that conversation with Samantha. However you can also access the POI system using voice commands that are not related to food. Here is a sample conversation: User: “Navigation” Samantha: “Navigation, say a command” User: “Destination POI” Samantha: “Do you want to search by name or category” User: “Category” (or “name”) Samatha: “Would you like to search nearby or in a city” User: “Nearby” (or “city”) It’s at this point the listing of choices appears on the touch screen. Hope that helps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 13, 2014 Report Share Posted October 13, 2014 Sorry - I should have re-read the topic. I'll see if I can give it a shot on the way home today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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