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Apple Testing Service That Allows Siri to Answer Calls and Transcribe Voicemail

Posted by samzenpus on from the you-mean-just-like-google? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Apple is reportedly testing a new feature which would allow Siri to answer your calls and then transcribe the voicemails as text messages. The iCloud service would then send users the text of that transcribed voicemail. Apple employees are testing a voicemail service currently and a public release isn't expected until sometime in 2016 in iOS10.

15 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Answering calls? by nine-times · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It sounds like they're really just talking about transcribing voicemails, but by saying that Siri will "answer calls", it made me wonder if there might be a future in Siri (or something like it) replacing phone tree systems with something a little more intelligent. For example, could you have a system that didn't just look for certain keywords, but ask the caller what kind of issue they're calling about, and then route the call appropriately. In some cases, Siri might route it to a live phone operator, in others she might automatically transcribe the caller's statements and route it to the right person's email, or attach it to the correct trouble-ticket. Maybe if the system were smart enough, it could even prioritize incoming calls, or interrupt current phone calls, (e.g. "Excuse me Mr. Nine-Times, but there is an urgent phone call from one of your most important clients. Can you take the phone call right now?")

    I hadn't really thought about that before, but it seems like a market that could really use a better solution. Phone trees suck.

    1. Re:Answering calls? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Like everyone else, I'm getting an increasing number of spam calls on my business cell. I can't whitelist (block all calls not in my Contacts) because some unknown numbers represent new customers. But if Siri can be programmed to recognize spammers and send them packing with a stream of choice expletives, this would be a godsend. To being with, spam calls usually begin with a short delay. Then there are the speech patterns advertisers and political wheedlers commonly use. Siri could even feed you through a "translucent" piece of the caller's spiel overlaid by its own "Shall I take this call?"

    2. Re:Answering calls? by nine-times · · Score: 2

      Then there are the speech patterns advertisers and political wheedlers commonly use. Siri could even feed you through a "translucent" piece of the caller's spiel overlaid by its own "Shall I take this call?"

      This reminds me of Grand Central, the service that eventually became Google Voice. It had features where you could say, for example, "Right now, if someone in my family calls, route them them directly to my cell phone. If one of my work contacts calls, route them to my work voicemail. If an unknown number calls, ask them to leave a voicemail, but let me listen into the the voicemail and I'll decide whether to take the call."

      I think it was a great feature set, but it was probably too complicated to be workable for most people. It'd be nice if Apple (or someone else) could work out a way to do this in a naturalistic way.

    3. Re:Answering calls? by cjb658 · · Score: 2

      Whitepages Caller ID app does this for me, but I'm on Android. Also, it does not respond with expletives.

    4. Re:Answering calls? by SoCalChris · · Score: 3, Funny

      Also, it does not respond with expletives.

      They need to fix that, it's a great app otherwise.

  2. Not Ready For Prime Time by multimediavt · · Score: 2

    Ok, when Siri can get my basic music playing instructions correct I'll think about maybe letting it try to transcribe my voicemails.

  3. Google did it by OhPlz · · Score: 3, Informative

    Isn't this basically Google Voice? Google records the message, transcribes it to text.

    1. Re:Google did it by Jon_S · · Score: 2

      And, if you set it up the way I do, sends you an e-mail, so if you are like me and use lots of e-mail (I hear the young-un's don't use it so much any more), you can easily reply with an e-mail.

      Works great. Not sure what's so new about this.

    2. Re:Google did it by Hadlock · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It is about 70-85% perfect with all callers, and about 97% perfect with people who regularly leave voicemails like family members. In either case it's good enough for me to know what's going on and if I need to call back in the next 15 minutes or not. If there are four sentences and it picks up 3 out of 4 nouns and verbs generally you can figure it out. And that's all I really care about. If I save 30 minutes per week not listening to voicemail, that's a huge win for me. Listening to voicemail ranks up there with getting a root canal for me.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    3. Re:Google did it by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      I am a Google Voice user and that functionality is there. I can mark a caller as spam and have them get a "This number is no longer in service" message in the future. Other Google Voice users marking callers as spam means that I'll often be notified that a spammer called me but my phone won't ring.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    4. Re:Google did it by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 2

      I can do that on my iPhone without the voice component. I just block the number, and the phone rings forever on their side without my phone ever picking up.

    5. Re:Google did it by Mr_Silver · · Score: 3, Informative

      Isn't this basically Google Voice? Google records the message, transcribes it to text.

      I doubt the people living outside of the USA are going to care about that ... considering it's been 6 years since Google Voice launched and not even a subset of that functionality has made it over the Atlantic Ocean.

      As far as we'll be concerned, SpinVox did it first and then (hopefully) Apple did it.

      --
      Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
  4. hello by zlives · · Score: 2

    This is John Doe's personal assistant Siri, see how nice it is to have a personal assistant which comes with the iPhone. from the number you are dialing it is apparent that you do not have an iPhone, you too can be hip/cool with an iPhone, buy an iPhone now. btw John is in the john taking a dump he thought it was way better to impress you with this knowledge than a casual unavailability notice. Buy an iPhone...you can leave a message after the BEEP and be sure to enunciate clearly for the transcription to text. BEEP

  5. Re:Google Voice has been doing this for five years by aaron4801 · · Score: 2

    Don't be silly, Apple will never get Apple Maps fixed.

  6. Android users missing the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know Google Voice has provided this for some time. I know you can use 3rd party service YouMail. You're missing the point.

    Apple is pushing for user privacy. This means that the voicemail would be transcribed by Siri on *your* phone. Nobody else would have access to it to store it or scrape it or learn from it. Not in "the cloud".