Speech Commands for Nuvi 855: Extra Terms + Better Organized

 

I have compiled my own list of Nuvi 855 Speech Commands, and organized them into five separate categories, which makes them a bit easier to find (on my custom made sheet) when driving. I feel that my arrangement of similar functions grouped together is easier to reference than the list in the Garmin manual. Well, at least they make more sense to ME! rolleyes

My list contains many terms which are NOT documented in the Garmin online manual, such as Next Turn, Direction Detail, Page Down, Scroll Down, Zoom In, Routes, Yes and No, Backspace, Clear, Delete...and also specifies commands that work with "Find," such as Find City, Find Nearest, Find Recently Found, etc.). Basically, it seems that most commands that are seen on screen, can also be SPOKEN to the Nuvi.

[NOTE: The term "Direction Detail" will bring up the list of ALL turns, when on a Custom Route; credit for this nifty discovery goes to "Garman855," posted in another forum...]

I invite others to post their own discoveries of Speech Commands here. Who knows, perhaps some day Garmin will finally "get a clue," and publish a much revised list in its online manuals! Of course, it would be waaay too much to ever expect Garmin to include a small, plasticized placard inside the 855 box sold to customers... idea

I am unable to reproduce my list here (it is a Word.doc), but my custom list has all terms arranged into THREE COLUMNS on a half-sheet of paper. I offer my summarized commands here, in case others may wish to reproduce something similar with their own word processors.

[I believe that these commands also apply to the Nuvi 885, 850, and 880.]

Here is a summary of all the Speech Commands that I can use on my Nuvi 855:

(column one)
MAIN Menu
TOOLS Menu
View MAP
Where Am I ?
WHERE To ?

Next Turn
Direction Detail
Cancel Route
Detour
Go Home
Help
Routes
STOP Listening
Trip Computer

(column two)
Yes / No
Backspace
Clear
Delete
Page Down / Page Up
Scroll Down / Scroll Up
Volume Down / Volume Up
Zoom In / Zoom Out

Next Turn
Audible Player
Hands Free
Music Player

(column three)
Find Address …
(respond to prompts…or Spell)
Find City
Find Favorite
Find Nearest ( = POI )
…Gas Station…Grocery Store
…Lodging…Rest Stop
…Fast Food Restaurant
Find Place By Category
Find Place By Name
(speak popular Place Name)
(speak Line Number #)
Find Recently Found

If anyone is interested, you are welcome to Email me a request and I would be pleased to send a copy of my list directly to you. My list has many words bolded and underlined, which seems to make it easier to find a specific term when driving.

I can be reached at: userbobmar@aol.com

.

Just curious. Would't it be easier to just use the touch screen instead of trying to read a list of voice commands.

Sometimes

GG wrote:

Just curious. Would't it be easier to just use the touch screen instead of trying to read a list of voice commands.

Sometimes it is easier to use the to use the touch screen (and faster too) but there are times when being able to speak a shortcut command is faster. For the 885T there are shortcuts to get the traffic info and weather by just saying "traffic" or "Weather" or "gas prices" rather than going through the different screens.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Can you tell it to shut

Can you tell it to shut up?
I would love that feature to make it stop saying recalculating sometimes.

--
Nuvi 3790LMT, Nuvi 760 Lifetime map, Lifetime NavTraffic, Garmin E-Trex Legend Just because "Everyone" drives badly does not mean you have to.

TTS Editor

onestep wrote:

Can you tell it to shut up?
I would love that feature to make it stop saying recalculating sometimes.

Use the TTS editor by TurboCCC. Just blank out the phrase or make it something like: "What's the matter? Can't you follow directions?"

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Yep

onestep wrote:

Can you tell it to shut up?
I would love that feature to make it stop saying recalculating sometimes.

You can use turboccc's free voice editor to change the "recalculating" phrase to anything you want. Including silence.

Re Speech Commands...

Hi nuvifan,

I have an 880 and your post helps me understand, a lot better, the voice capabilities of my unit.

Thank you...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

--
Sullivan's Law: Murphy was an optimist!

Re: Yep...

Hi GadgetGuy2008,

Turboccc’s free voice editor is a wonderful piece of software, however, when I see it’s capabilities I drool, because it’s a “Windows“ only application and I use a Mac.

Maybe, in the future, someone out there will create a voice editor application, that will work on the Mac platform.

At this point I can only drool and dream...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

--
Sullivan's Law: Murphy was an optimist!

Voice Commands

I do not see any of the Dial commands for Bluetooth phone calls.

--
Allan Barnett - Garmin nüvi 885T/765T/Pharos GPS (bluetooth) w/MS Maps on PPC

Safety and ease of using Speech Commands

To be truthful, I don't really need my list when driving anymore. I encourage others to PRACTICE using the list in the comfort of their living rooms, literally trying out the commands while "driving a Custom Route" in GPS "Simulation" mode: It's a good way to get comfortable with speaking Commands and responding back-and-forth to operate the GPS remotely.

I have studied the list enough that I now know what the specific commands are (and I need only a few of them, when driving). I find that the familiarity with the specific terms helps my interaction with the Nuvi, and I can easily keep the green "On" screen indicator active throughout my "transaction." Practice Does Make (nearly) Perfect!

I like to speak my several commands without letting the "On" indicator become inactive, due to uncertainty of which words to use...like the dreaded "um, what do I want to say?"...and then the green indicator turns off...Aaargh!

I still reach over to press some screen items, but usually for just a single keypress here and another keypress there. I do feel, however, that the distraction of glancing at the list while driving (and the entire process of a MULTIPLE step interaction with the GPS) CAN be done more safely than frequent reaching over and keypressing. Once you become familiar with your most frequent Commands, you shouldn't even need to look at the list very often.

With interactions involving multiple screens and ongoing Voice Commands, I feel that my driving is safer than if I were to reach and manually press on the Nuvi. I can easily glance at the screen as it changes menus, and decide what step is next, with about the same level of attention that anyone gives to changing radio stations...or chatting on a cellphone. [I shudder to think that there must be thousands of drivers, without Voice Command units, who are always reaching over and over again to press on their GPS units. Of course, the safe drivers just forego "multiple presses" until they are stopped: Which one are you?]

I also limit "multiple interactivity" to situations where traffic conditions are less complex: I avoid ALL Nuvi interaction when facing near oncoming traffic, busy freeway traffic around me, etc., and generally wait to use the Nuvi until I expect traffic complexity to ease up.

Even though my wife can often operate the Nuvi as my "co-pilot," I still have to sometimes glance at the screen and instruct as to successive menus and procedures. I have come to enjoy operating in remote mode, and delight in doing it myself. It's no trouble to say...Zoom In multiple times (and Zoom Out, when I want to know more about the surrounding highways and towns), preview Next Turn "until I get it," and Page Down or Scroll Down until I find what I want. On the other hand, SHE actually enjoys performing the many "Find" functions by herself...and is gaining a much better familiarity with the 855 as she operates it.

When I first used the 760 and 755, I remember doing LOTS of reaching and pressing, and sometimes scaring myself by becoming so absorbed in the screen that I was an unsafe driver. I found that it can occasionally be difficult to stop oneself from trying to finish a GPS interaction with several steps, go back to both hands on the wheel, and then back to finish the rest of your GPS transaction. It's natural to want to finish an entire sequence of presses, even when driving conditions mean that you SHOULD get back to full concentration on DRIVING. I no longer wish to let myself get carried away trying to reach and keep pressing on my Nuvi. No more Stupid Guy Tricks for me!

I hope that the above explanation is useful to understanding how much I enjoy and use my Remote Speech Commands.

Generally I do not mind. It

Generally I do not mind. It just gets annoying when it trys to get you to turn on every side street to go the other direction.

--
Nuvi 3790LMT, Nuvi 760 Lifetime map, Lifetime NavTraffic, Garmin E-Trex Legend Just because "Everyone" drives badly does not mean you have to.

Maybe they do (have a clue)

nuvifan wrote:

I invite others to post their own discoveries of Speech Commands here. Who knows, perhaps some day Garmin will finally "get a clue," and publish a much revised list in its online manuals! Of course, it would be waaay too much to ever expect Garmin to include a small, plasticized placard inside the 855 box sold to customers... idea

My Nuvi doesn't have voice command feature. I've always thought that a GPS device with voice command is easy to use. Your post changes my opinion about voice command. It makes it sound so difficult to use (no offense). Perhaps that is why Garmin doesn't include all possible commands in the owner's manual. Prospective buyers would get discouraged if they think that they have to memorize so many commands.

the transition to voice commands on my 885T has been intuitive

I have found that the transition to voice commands on my 885T has been pretty intuitive. The more I have used it the easier it gets and in turn the more I use it. From that standpoint it has been a pleasant surprise and much easier to use than I had anticipated when I bought it.

It is so much quicker to find a address using voice control than using the touch screen it amazes me everytime I do it.

It has gotten to the point now the voice control has spoiled me and that when I use the 760 I really miss the voice commands and have decided to just sell it and only use the 885T.

--
Garmin Drive Smart 55 - Samsung Note 10 Smartphone with Google Maps & HERE Apps

So just use a PC

tailspin wrote:

Hi GadgetGuy2008,

Turboccc’s free voice editor is a wonderful piece of software, however, when I see it’s capabilities I drool, because it’s a “Windows“ only application and I use a Mac.

Maybe, in the future, someone out there will create a voice editor application, that will work on the Mac platform.

At this point I can only drool and dream...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

Hmmm... There has to be a PC somewhere you can use? Download the program to a mem stick either from your machine or when at their PC, plug in your GPS. Copy the original files if you wish to a folder on the mem stick, then change them and save the changed ones to another folder on the mem stick. Now copy the changed files to the GPS, take your mem stick and your done.....

Spoken Commands only in Nuvi 800 series Manuals

chewbacca wrote:
nuvifan wrote:

I invite others to post their own discoveries of Speech Commands here. Who knows, perhaps some day Garmin will finally "get a clue," and publish a much revised list in its online manuals! Of course, it would be waaay too much to ever expect Garmin to include a small, plasticized placard inside the 855 box sold to customers... idea

My Nuvi doesn't have voice command feature. I've always thought that a GPS device with voice command is easy to use. Your post changes my opinion about voice command. It makes it sound so difficult to use (no offense). Perhaps that is why Garmin doesn't include all possible commands in the owner's manual. Prospective buyers would get discouraged if they think that they have to memorize so many commands.

chewbacca,

Not To Worry! Manuals for units BESIDES the 855/855 (and 850/880) models do NOT have any reference to the Voice Commands. Manuals for each of the different Garmin models, such as the 200, 700, and 800 all have slightly different manuals, and refer to features found only on their particular models.

Thus, owners of all Nuvis besides the 800 series do NOT have to worry about being overcome by learning unnecessry Remote Control commands: Lucky You!

Spoken Commands list seems popular

I have mailed out (as an Attachment, in MS-Word.doc) the list of Spoken Commands to about 10 persons so far. I am pleased that so many persons want to take advantage of the list.

I also look forward to reading new contributions of Spoken Commands, as discovered by other Nuvi 800 series owners, and posted HERE.

I agree....

rjrsw wrote:

I have found that the transition to voice commands on my 885T has been pretty intuitive. The more I have used it the easier it gets and in turn the more I use it. From that standpoint it has been a pleasant surprise and much easier to use than I had anticipated when I bought it.

It is so much quicker to find a address using voice control than using the touch screen it amazes me everytime I do it.

It has gotten to the point now the voice control has spoiled me and that when I use the 760 I really miss the voice commands and have decided to just sell it and only use the 885T.

I second these thoughts.

I was not much of a fan of voice activation and commands but after using my 855 it is great. I use it much more than I thought I would.

I agree with nuvifan, there are a lot more commands you can do than are in the book. Just about anything on the screen can be voice activated. All the commands on the mpg player can be voice activated including the fm audio output.

I too would miss it if I did not have the voice act. system.
Chuck

I get the feeling that you

I get the feeling that you misunderstood my reply. I was trying to say that perhaps Garmin left out so many possible voice commands for a good reason. Nuvi 855 owner's manual doesn't look good if it includes so many commands like the ones you posted. It confuses end users more than it helps.

Keeping a list of commands on a piece of paper in the car also won't help much. I just can't see the benefit of it. It's easier to look at the GPS display than it is to read the list of commands.

Step into the world of change

The Nuvi with voice prompts is what sold me on the 885T.
I now have a secretary that obeys my commands and I do not have to write her a paycheck every two weeks, and where she used to say recalculating previously; she now says, come on Maxey, you can trust me;
This gives my wife and others in my vehicle a good laugh, and the not so smart ones thinks that the GPS has a mind of it's own. I try to change the recalculating line everytime we go on a trip which is at least every three to four weeks.
Thanks to TTS editor.
Go ahead have fun with your toy and do not put down others for thinking outside of the box.

Whether it works for you or not, some of us like the idea of living life with a little humor and don't mind change.
Thanks TurboCC, keep up the great work!!!!

--
Being ALL I can be for HIM! Jesus. Kenwood DNX9980HD Garmin 885t

Send me a list please Nuvifan

Nuvifan, I would appreciate a list of your voice prompts for my 885T. I might not use all of them, but I applaud you for taking the time to compile them.
E-mail to pastormaxey@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance

--
Being ALL I can be for HIM! Jesus. Kenwood DNX9980HD Garmin 885t

Re: So Just Use A PC...

tampa8 wrote:
tailspin wrote:

Hi GadgetGuy2008,

Turboccc’s free voice editor is a wonderful piece of software, however, when I see it’s capabilities I drool, because it’s a “Windows“ only application and I use a Mac.

Maybe, in the future, someone out there will create a voice editor application, that will work on the Mac platform.

At this point I can only drool and dream...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

Hmmm... There has to be a PC somewhere you can use? Download the program to a mem stick either from your machine or when at their PC, plug in your GPS. Copy the original files if you wish to a folder on the mem stick, then change them and save the changed ones to another folder on the mem stick. Now copy the changed files to the GPS, take your mem stick and your done.....

Hi GadgetGuy2008,

Thanks for the suggestion...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

--
Sullivan's Law: Murphy was an optimist!

I agree...that most people

I agree...that most people won't need to use all the shortcuts...but lot of these were not document...and I'm glad that this was posted so I can just learn them....they're preetty intuitive and easy to remember

Print Your Own Copy of "Speech Commands"

I am pleased at the interest shown in this discussion for my expanded version of "Speech Commands" for the Nuvi 8xx series.

I have since sent about 20 copies of my version of "Speech Commands," to persons requesting it.

However, I invite all persons with an interest in this topic to read a REVISED ARTICLE about "Speech Commands," smile at Gary Hayman's web site, entitled "Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hints, Secrets & Ideas" which can be found at:

http://bit.ly/garmin_gps_tricks

You will find the revised article on the "Recent Additions" page. It is also viewable within the section titled "7/8x5 Page 2." An exact copy of the expanded list is viewable as you read the article discussion: Very handy!

A great benefit of viewing the "Tricks, Tips, etc." page is that now you can PRINT YOUR OWN COPY of the expanded Commands, per instructions in that article. exclaim

Every Nuvi user should explore the hundred or more articles at "Tricks, Tips, etc." to get waaaay more out of their GPS. It's a great place for Nuvi newbies!

Great info...

Great info, nuvifan. I just got an 855 and am initially very pleased with it. I didn't get it specifically for the VR but mostly for the advanced features and map detail that Garmin is cutting left and right from new units. Playing with the VR, I am pretty amazed at the functionality of it. This has so far been in the house. I have yet to try the VR in the rumbly V8 Mustang...

--
nuvi 760, nuvi 765T, nuvi 855, nuvi 3790LMT, nuvi 3490LMT - SoCal area

Nuvi 855 $189

Both Walmart online and Amazon have the nuvi 855 for $189 right now. This has to be one of the best nuvi bargains of the season. I ordered an 855 from Amazon last week and hope to have it in the next few days.

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

old VR guy, new 855

DorkusNimrod wrote:

I have yet to try the VR in the rumbly V8 Mustang...

My 855 is about a month old, but I've used voice recognition on PC's for about ten years (many versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking).

In general, I'm pretty impressed with the 855 VR success, given the unfavorable combination of remote microphone and noisy ambient. Still, some things work far better than others.

As to ambient noise, I find I generally need to turn the radio off, and hope my passenger does not speak. Even so some pretty common temporary sounds can cause it to miss my words (though they very rarely get detected as a false positive).

More than that, some functions just are better adapted to VR use than others. Street address input works remarkably well. It nearly always hears the number I meant, and when I speak a street name, it usually offers me the correct one on the first page of trial matches.

On the other hand, searching of favorites or POI's for a voice-entered name has often not worked well for me. Particularly in searching POI's, it can appear to hang up. The thing(s) it thought it heard not appearing in the (few) nearby POI locations, I think it expands the search area, and even the fast processor in the 855 can just go away for a minute or two. The contrast to the really quite good character substring matches in text searches on the same machine is marked, and makes me wish that the 855 allowed spoken character input for "spell" entries.

So, along with speaking clearly, and curbing ambient noise, I'd say learning the knack of which operations work well with voice is one key to 855 VR happiness.

--
personal GPS user since 1992

I programmed my wifes GPS to

I programmed my wifes GPS to say "You missed the turn again!" She hates it.

--
jvandas

...

jevandas wrote:

I programmed my wifes GPS to say "You missed the turn again!" She hates it.

I like it!