Hey Cortana with multiple devices in the room?

[DaveSC]

I am sitting here with my Windows Phone, Surface Pro 3 and my Desktop. I say "Hey Cortana Email John that I am on my way".

Does John get 3 emails?

 

[DaveSC]

I am trying to think of possible solutions.

Define priority list like Desktop, Tablet, Phone. Then when all 3 devices hear a command the highest priority device can be the one to execute that command.

That means relying on the live account to check/wait for devices to respond that they got the same command which would add a lot of latency to responses.

Define a priority list like Desktop, Tablet, Phone. Then allow the end user to say "Hey Cortana use my desktop (or tablet or phone)" which defines which device executes the command. This means that the other devices are no longer listening but in order to switch back the current device can set a flag on the live account so that they start listening again.

So the problem with this is that it is not "automagic" and the end user could potentially forget that they needed to say "Hey Cortana use my Phone" when they leave their desk.

I am not sure how this should be done to make it a good user experience but maybe you guys have some ideas.

 

[etphoto]

I am trying to think of possible solutions.

Define priority list like Desktop, Tablet, Phone. Then when all 3 devices hear a command the highest priority device can be the one to execute that command.

How will that work. How does one device know if the others heard that or not? lol

 

[DaveSC]

How will that work. How does one device know if the others heard that or not? lol

It would have to use the live account so all 3 devices would have to check in on the live account before executing and only the highest priority device would execute.. But like I said it adds latency.

Basically they would make a database entry in the live account that says I was told to process this command

 

[etphoto]

I agree about the latency and I believe it will be such a delay it wouldn't get used. Just a guess though.

 

[JamesDax]

I'm sure MS has thought of this scenario and is working on solutions. However, feel free to voice your concerns using the feedback app. That's why it's there.

 

[PepperdotNet]

The elegant solution would be to allow the user to specify a name for the computer other than "Cortana."

"Hey, Computer! Send an email to... "
"Hey, Lumia! Send a text..."

 

[DaveSC]

I hear you but the marketing....

 

[bigtlb]

This is becoming an issue. I have a phone and desktop with "Hey Cortana" active, and they both listen and answer.

Say "Hey Cortana! Tell me a joke.", and both of them start talking. Humorous - but,I wish there was a way to either address a specific device, or easily, quickly and temporarily have one stop listening.

Maybe if they are near each other I can get an option to move listening from one device to the other.​ I am guessing that right now this will be considered low enough occurrence that it isn't on the board. You can disable the feature on Windows 10 in 4 clicks.

 

[Alex Rodriguez Jr.]

Just imagine the cluster f* once the Xbox gets this. I'll have my surface, desktop, 1520, & Xbox doing the same command.


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[Alienhead95]

The solution I would propose for this scenario is, let us use custom phrases to initiate Cortana e.g. Hey Cortana, for mobile, Hi Cortland desktop, Hello Xbox xbox and so on.

 

[pavvento]

I'm not running Windows 10 yet, but when you train Cortana, can you differentiate the command enough so that it wouldn't be picked up by the other device?

Phone: Hey Cortana
Computer: Hey...Cortana

 

[bigtlb]

You can optionally train it to your voice (by reading a series of sentences), but not to change what you call Cortana. So, I imagine if you use a "funny" accent while training - you could accomplish this. But, then you have to remember which sort of funny accent you were using and for which device.

 

[bikermunda]

I am sitting here with my Windows Phone, Surface Pro 3 and my Desktop. I say "Hey Cortana Email John that I am on my way".

Does John get 3 emails?

Very interesting question

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[bikermunda]

This is becoming an issue. I have a phone and desktop with "Hey Cortana" active, and they both listen and answer.

Say "Hey Cortana! Tell me a joke.", and both of them start talking. Humorous - but,I wish there was a way to either address a specific device, or easily, quickly and temporarily have one stop listening.

Maybe if they are near each other I can get an option to move listening from one device to the other.​ I am guessing that right now this will be considered low enough occurrence that it isn't on the board. You can disable the feature on Windows 10 in 4 clicks.

I don't think Microsoft have thought about this issue and able to fix it. Till then somehow everyone will have to live with it.

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