Loquendo is now part of Nuance. Learn more >

Dillo! Loquendo Voice Dialer: FAQs

WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 1.4:

With this new version you can launch the message editor by voice, either from the home screen or via your contacts. Just say a command (e.g. “message”) after you say the contact’s name.

You will now find a ‘Send Message’ button at the bottom of each contact’s details. On the dial pad, you’ll find this message icon bottom left.

Push-to-Talk, marked by the presence of a large RED BUTTON, is also found on version 1.4. Push-to-Talk improves accuracy, especially in the presence of conversation or background noise.

WHAT IF I UPDATE TO iPHONE VERSION 3.1 OR 3.1.2 OR 3.1.3?

Dillo! will still work if you install version 3.1 or 3.1.2. After selecting a contact to call, however, you're no longer asked to confirm you want to make the call: Apple has removed this restriction introduced in version 3.0.

In versions 3.1 and 3.1.2, Apple doesn't allow the application to launch automatically after a call: Dillo! must be relaunched to make a new call.

WHAT IF I INSTALL iPHONE SOFTWARE VERSION 3.0?

If you install version 3.0 of the iPhone software, Dillo! will work. However, we have found the following operating differences w.r.t. the previous version (2.2.1):

- Once you've selected the contact to call, a dialog box pops up on the touch screen, asking your explicit confirmation for the iPhone to dial the number. Apple added this confirmation step to any auto dialing app in the 3.0 OS update as a security enhancement. Please note that Loquendo has no control over this function, as this confirmation step is now hard coded by Apple. Please contact Apple with any concerns about this OS change.

VERSION 1.0

Product Description
Dillo! is based on Loquendo Speech Recognition technology and is speaker-independent – there’s no need to train the technology to your voice.

How does it work?
Whether you have hundreds of contacts or only a few, just say the name you want to call and Dillo! finds it in your phonebook and makes the call for you. You can also make a call by simply saying the number.

When should I speak?
Dillo! ‘opens its ears’ when the word ‘listening’ appears at the top of the screen. During recognition the volume indicator is white, and the length of the bar helps you to speak at the correct volume. Once you’ve finished speaking, wait a moment for the bar to turn green – this indicates that the command or name has been recognized. If Dillo! fails to recognize what you said, the bar turns red. Once it changes to white again, wait a moment and try again.

We have also introduced two audio alerts: the first indicates that the speech recognizer is ready and listening, or that recognition was successful; the second indicates that recognition was unsuccessful.

How can I help to improve recognition?
Dillo! has been designed to work under all conditions. A quiet environment produces the best performance, but Dillo! also works outdoors, in the car (it has been trained to be resilient to engine noise), and with music at a reasonable volume. In the car, use the ear piece supplied for the best performance. If you or any other passengers are chatting, Dillo! will not be able to distinguish your voice from other voices; therefore, when searching for a contact or making a call, make sure Dillo! can hear only one voice at a time.

What if I have a lot of contacts?
To be able to identify your contacts’ names, Dillo!, the first time you start it up, analyzes and converts your entire phonebook into a format the recognizer can understand. This is then saved onto your iPhone. If your phonebook is very large, the operation may take a few seconds. Only once completed will Dillo! be able to recognize your contacts’ names. At successive startups, Dillo! will use the copy already converted - until you next modify your phone book - so saving time.

We have cut application download time, and the time for phonebook conversion (only carried out following edits). Conversion time for very large phonebooks has been greatly reduced .

Why does Dillo! sometimes not recognize certain contacts?
Dillo! uses the fields in your phonebook exactly as you’ve entered them into your iPhone, or as you imported them, for example, from your contacts in Outlook. In the latter case, always check that those contacts which Dillo! does not recognize have been correctly transferred into the ‘First name’ and ‘Last name’ fields. In fact, Dillo! is able to recognize a ‘First name’ and a ‘Last name’ either on its own or as a pair, and in any order, but double-barreled names must be said in full: e.g. John-Paul; Cove-Smith. It’s advisable to ‘tidy up’ your phonebook because if, for example, you’ve inserted contacts containing initials, then you must pronounce them exactly as written. Non-alphabetic characters may also cause problems.

Is it possible that, even though a contact has been recognized, the call is not made?
Dillo! will display a contact when requested, but to make the call you must say “Call” once the contact has been displayed. “Call” can be followed by the type of phone (home, office, cell phone), but you must have associated that phone type with that number in your phonebook, otherwise the call can not be made! If this problem should arise, check you have filled in the fields in your phonebook correctly.

Does Dillo! work with iPhone OS version 3.0?
Dillo! also works with version 3.0 - which requires that all applications ask for manual confirmation before making a call.

WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 1.3:

What’s better about version 1.3?
A new way of interacting has been added, called Push-to-Talk, marked by the presence of a large RED BUTTON. This method improves accuracy, especially in the presence of background noise or conversation. When your phonebook is very large, Push-to-Talk is set up automatically.

How do I use Push-to-Talk (RED BUTTON)?
If you've configured Dillo! with the RED Push-to-Talk BUTTON, you select a contact or number by holding down the RED BUTTON until you've finished saying the whole name/number. Release the red key as soon as you've finished (like on a walkie-talkie). If, on the other hand, you've configured Dillo! with the BLUE BUTTON, you can speak – always after the Beep! - without having to press any keys.

What are the other configuration options in Dillo! version 1.3?
To improve performance, Dillo! now counts your contacts: with very large phonebooks, ‘One-Shot’ calling is set up automatically, which generates the contact list permitting names to be recognized only as NAME+SURNAME, and to be pronounced exactly as they've been saved in the phonebook. This simplifies and speeds up the creation of the contact list.

How do I adjust settings manually?
Finally, Dillo! settings can now be manually changed in the Set-up page at any time. ('Push-to-Talk'’ 1=Activated/0=Deactivated, and
'One-Shot' 1=Activated/0=Deactivated).

The application closes unexpectedly. What should I do?
If possible, send us the relevant information so that we can replicate the problem. We will take it into account for the next update, which we are already working on.
The address for Dillo! technical support is: iPhone_apps@loquendo.com