Please accept my apologies for not responding to the e-mails I've received about the voice-activated phone. Between my job and my computer having a glitch I was not able to get to my e-mails.
As far as I know, the Bluetooth earpiece (to be totally hands-free) will only work with cell phones, and the cell phones must be equipped with voice dial and can be activated by a "Magic Word" type of cell phones that Cingular has. We have not been able to set it up without using the microphone that comes with the Sony Ericsson W600i, the Jabra A210 and a Radio Shack adapter from the microphone to the Jabra 210, and then I chose Plantronics Headset Voyager 510 for its lightweight and absolute comfort. I do believe that Cingular has two or three phones that utilize the Magic Word to activate the phone.
Since I wear my wheelchair controller on a collar around my neck, it was very simple to set up the phone on a bracket in!
front of
my left hand, Velcro the Jabra 210 to the control: collar, and then bring the microphone up in front of me. I was originally very disappointed that I could not use the system without using a corded microphone. But the thrill of being able to use the phone independently has definitely outweighed that concern. I use the Plantronics in my right ear.
IT IS TOTALLY HANDS FREE! Sorry for shouting, but I love the set up, and I see from some of the posts that people do not realize this. I do not have to push any buttons, my Plantronics is on, and the phone is on hands-free. The Sony waits for my Magic Word, then asks me to choose the name I wish to call, and then it dials the number. When I am finished with the call, the Sony Ericsson hangs up by itself. It then reverts to waiting status, and sits there quite good manners until I need it again. LOL. I have tried two different magic words, and this one seems to be working better. I have found that if I am in the van I ne!
ed to
turn it off because I have to speak louder and the van noise appears to make it very sensitive and it will pick up a so-called Magic Word and dial out. Because there is noise in the van I do not hear the beeps in my ear that I hear when there's not so much noise, so it turns itself on and then chooses a Word that sounds like something on my address book -- I got a nice call to my sister one day by accident --, so I just turn it off. I also turn it off when I'm with a big group of people and it is quite noisy.
To receive a call, I just say answer. If I am sitting at the desk I cannot see the screen light up, but the Bluetooth signals in my ear. It also is programmed so that I can say busy, and it will not pick up.
When I use voice connect by Cingular, it will not hang up by itself, but just keeps buzzing the busy signal in my ear. Cingular is working on this, and has contacted me several times that they haven't forgotten me and they are trying !
to
resolve the problem. It would be great if I could use voice connect all the time, because it would eliminate all of the outgoing calls that are mistakes, about two or three a week, as I would only have voice connect in my address book. I could then use voice connect to dial all my numbers. If it turned itself on, it would only go to voice connect, and then voice connect asks what number you want to use, or what service want to use. So I really hope they will be able to take care of this.
I hope this clarifies things, and I hope that some of you out there will be able to utilize this. I am so pleased to have it, and feel much safer now that I'm able to dial directory assistance (thanks to the person who posted the 1 800 -- free 411), emergency 911, and the other necessary numbers in my life. If you have already bought a Cingular phone that is not capable of voice dial and Magic Word perhaps you could call Cingular and talk with them and explain the problem. Who k!
nows,
maybe there is a sugar daddy in the system! Or talk to your local center for independent living and see if they would be willing to fund the phone. Good luck Joan C4 Quad 1990
