[Brainstorm] How do you want to voice activate Cortana?

[SRoshan143]

The words before cortana should be kept configurable like as to personal preferences.. like some may say "Hey Cortana", "Baby Cortana", "Darling Cortana"and so on..

 

[Chregu]

The words before cortana should be kept configurable like as to personal preferences.. like some may say "Hey Cortana", "Baby Cortana", "Darling Cortana"and so on..

That's creepy.

 

[MDMcAtee]

How about Cortana syncs with the phone clock and we use

Good Morning Cortana
Good Afternoon Cortana
Good Evening Cortana

We turn off the listening aspects by just saying

Good Night Cortana..that puts it into sleep mode.....

 

[Robby Herbert]

Being able to put it in sleep mode would be nice, and I suggest something like, "Listen up, Cortana," "Cortana On," or even the ability for you to type/record a phrase, have Cortana say/show you what she heard, and then that can be how you initiate the commands each time.
Ex: Go to settings for Cortana and type the phrase, "I've got a question for you, Cortana." (I know it's long) Cortana replies much like she does when you record your name and asks if that's how it is said. You respond yes. Now all you have to do is say, "I've got a question for you, Cortana," and you hear her either respond in some way or you hear the notification sound that tells you to speak and you ask a question/say a command.
This allows for maximum customization for how you can initiate Cortana and causes fewer people to say the same thing.
Ex: "Okay, Google Now, call home." Anyone with Google Now set to listen starts calling home. But, with people being able to choose what they want to say for Cortana, and someone saying, "Beam me up, Cortana," only that person's phone reacts (most likely). Also, I don't know if its possible to set decibel limits for microphones on cell phones, but if so, then Cortana could only work within close proximity to you. This could work at whatever distance you want to by simply saying a sample sentence for Cortana to listen to and measure how loud you spoke to her. Then she can ask if that is an okay noise level for you to speak at. You can then have it only work when your phone is next your mouth, like a phone call, or only if your phone is in your pocket. Do these seem like good and plausible ideas?

 

[Vitor Salvatore Pierce]

Just, Cortana. Like Xbox. Siri have Hey, so...

 

[Rasetech]

That's creepy.

definitely

 

[Alex Blast]

I actually agree with the guy up there. It might sound a little creepy, bit I do think that the user should have the freedom to choose what they want to say to activate Cortana.

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

I think simply "Cortana, ..." would be nice. Something like "Hey, ...", "Hi, ..." or whatever, sounds like you are waiting for a response, but "Cortana, do this, this and this" might simply speed up the entire process.

 

[Antony Chan]

I think simply "Cortana, ..." would be nice. Something like "Hey, ...", "Hi, ..." or whatever, sounds like you are waiting for a response, but "Cortana, do this, this and this" might simply speed up the entire process.

Yeah, but the concern is you may accidentally activate Cortana whenever you mention her name.

 

[KMV84]

I think we would need a passcode as well when we initiate Cortana, otherwise anyone could pick up my phone and have Cortana start doing things. Just like we need to enter a passcode to unlock the phone to be able to do certain tasks, Cortana should have that same security of some sort.

 

[slick5150]

I think just "Hey Cortana" would suffice as, unlike Google, you're not often going to say the word Cortana in another context. So, while Google Now needs the specific "Ok Google Now" to avoid confusion, a simple "Hey Cortana" would seemingly be simple enough, conversational, and avoid accidental activation.

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

Yeah, but the concern is you may accidentally activate Cortana whenever you mention her name.

The thing is that Cortana will only do tasks in an appropriate manner, e.g. "Cortana, remind me to watch this movie" will create a reminder, while something like "I'm using Cortana very much and I enjoy it" will not trigger anything. Take a look at the syntax, first is the addressing, followed by the request.
It would be great, if Cortana will not do anything (not even a web search) unless you say everything correctly.
I think it will be easier to implement with a more precise addressing, like "Hey, Cortana..." or whatever, but I guess MS is aware about "Hey" (c) "trademark" implemented in Siri.

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

I think just "Hey Cortana" would suffice as, unlike Google, you're not often going to say the word Cortana in another context. So, while Google Now needs the specific "Ok Google Now" to avoid confusion, a simple "Hey Cortana" would seemingly be simple enough, conversational, and avoid accidental activation.

The problem is that Apple already uses "Hey, Siri...", so they could easily sue MS

 

[Torcher Death]

Customisable greetings + voice recognition would go a long way IMHO

 

[tgp]

I think we would need a passcode as well when we initiate Cortana, otherwise anyone could pick up my phone and have Cortana start doing things. Just like we need to enter a passcode to unlock the phone to be able to do certain tasks, Cortana should have that same security of some sort.

The Moto X wakes up & unlocks only by the user's voice. I cannot wake up my wife's Moto X by saying "OK Google Now". During device setup the Moto X has you train it to your voice. Something like that is valuable for an always listening scenario, and I think it would work good for Cortana.

 

[Ankit Nawlakha]

Just Cortana..!!
I just want to say "Cortana"
and would like to hear that little ting and "Greetings, (My Name).."
Or How Can i help you??
Or a simple "Yes?"..!!

 

[Alex Blast]

has anybody come up with "knock knock"?

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

has anybody come up with "knock knock"?

Haha, I love it.
"Knock knock, Cortana".
Best ever

 

[Oliverspin]

Contextual recognition is too hard right now. I think the best route is the option to choose a 'special' word to activate Cortana. Otherwise, She will be activated by accident constantly.

 

[CJ Thunder]

Yo *****!
Knock knock is funny.

It would be great just to customize it.