Is TellMe dictation just completely wrong ALL THE TIME for anyone else but me...?

[jrdatrackstar1223]

When I first used Windows Phone 7, TellMe worked OK. Didn't support natural language, but speaking like a robot worked maybe 8/10 times. After Mango, dictation accuracy went down a bit, but with Windows Phone 8 it NEVER gets anything I speak right. I have both a Lumia 820 and 920, and maybe it is just the microphones on the Lumias, but using TellMe to make Notes NEVER works; and I'm not exaggerating, as it LITERALLY never dictates anything I say correctly. When I listen to the recording it saves, it sounds perfectly clear what I'm saying, so it's not like I sound muffled or anything.

I know connection is also at play, and I always have either Wifi or am on 4g connection through Straight Talk. Idk if it's just a Straight Talk issue or something, but all my other internet works fast and fine.

 

[Jazmac]

Hard to say. For me, TellMe has almost flawless on the 920 than it was on my 900. And much faster too. Its possible it is straight talk but I can't say for sure.

 

[jrdatrackstar1223]

Hard to say. For me, TellMe has almost flawless on the 920 than it was on my 900. And much faster too. Its possible it is straight talk but I can't say for sure.

I was thinking this as well, but the same thing happens when I am on Wifi....on any Wifi network at that....

 

[fifthGear]

Not sure what you mean by robot talk. However, I speak with a natural flow to my voice and tellMe works quite well on my Lumia 810. Mind you I speak with the accent known as Standard American English (think news broadcaster english). Perhaps some regional accents would be less successfully processed. When I had my HTC HD7 it was pretty poor for using TellMe. My guess is that the selection by the OEM of which mic and A-to-D hardware to use are as important in how well it works as the software. The HD7 had garbage hardward... in the software world we like to say, "garbage in, garbage out". Garbage hardward will digitize mic captured audio less accurately producing garbage input to the language processing algorithms.

 

[slick5150]

It works really well for me actually. I don't have to do "robot voice" or whatever, I just talk normally and it nails it more often than not.

 

[Darkgift]

I use it all the time for texting via Bluetooth, and it gets it right 90% of the time, and I have a hybrid Brooklyn/New Jersey accent.

 

[jrdatrackstar1223]

So everyone having success is not on an MVNO, and are with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint? The weird thing I've noticed is that I have to keep the Lumia 920 REALLY close to my mouth, nearly kissing it. Also, using speech for text messages SOMETIMES works, but using TellMe for taking Notes is literally a 0/10 EVERYTIME (whether my phone is really close to my mouth or not). Using it for Bing searches is usually accurate as well.

Again, taking Notes with TellMe never dictates correctly with Straight Talk NOR Wifi. I've come from an Arrive, HD7, Radar, Lumia 710, Lumia 900, Lumia 820, and now my Lumia 920, and it has NEVER been this bad....

 

[iamtim]

The *only* problem I had with TellMe was when I asked my brother if he had any George Thorogood. It came out as "George Thoreau Good". Other than that, it's been perfect for me on a Lumia 820 using AT&T.

 

[jrdatrackstar1223]

So I guess it must be a hardware problem with my Lumia 920 and old Lumia 820. This sucks because I can't go without a phone, and all Nokia will do is hard reset it and send it back.

 

[Techno-Freak]

TellMe has been improved a lot in WP8.
When I tried it in WP 7.5, it didn't understand my speech most of the times.
But in WP8, it works with 90-95% accuracy.

There's "Speech" in Phone Settings. Try changing the Speech language to other options. For me it makes a lot of difference. For example, when I select English (United Kingdom) or English (India), TellMe has a hard time understanding me, but when I select English (United States), it works.

 

[jrdatrackstar1223]

TellMe has been improved a lot in WP8.When I tried it in WP 7.5, it didn't understand my speech most of the times.But in WP8, it works with 90-95% accuracy.There's "Speech" in Phone Settings. Try changing the Speech language to other options. For me it makes a lot of difference. For example, when I select English (United Kingdom) or English (India), TellMe has a hard time understanding me, but when I select English (United States), it works.

Thanks for this tip. I was born and raised in the United States (live in Indiana), so English was my default anyway. I guess I just have a faulty Lumia 920, or it could be the way I talk. I don't understand how it understands me sometimes, then other times it's completely off...