# Voice Commands



## ADG (Aug 20, 2003)

Thought I'd start a thread just for voice commands on the new Vox / Hydra interface: questions about how to phrase a command, commands you think are extremely useful, commands that don't work as expected, etc.

I'll start with a question. What command should I use to play a specific recording in My Shows when I'm watching live TV? I've tried several that seemed to make sense, but they all take me to future shows (search), not those already in My Shows.


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## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

I just got mine yesterday, but I think just trial and error for right now as almost all of us are new with it. About all I have done so far is change channels with it. Unless TiVo has some kind of sheet or booklet with words and phrases we can use.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

ADG said:


> Thought I'd start a thread just for voice commands on the new Vox / Hydra interface: questions about how to phrase a command, commands you think are extremely useful, commands that don't work as expected, etc.
> 
> I'll start with a question. What command should I use to play a specific recording in My Shows when I'm watching live TV? I've tried several that seemed to make sense, but they all take me to future shows (search), not those already in My Shows.


Try: "Play the most recent episode of <program name>" - for example "Play the most recent episode of The Walking Dead"

That worked for me. I think "play" is the keyword that makes it look in recordings/streaming instead of doing a search.


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## ADG (Aug 20, 2003)

Diana Collins said:


> Try: "Play the most recent episode of <program name>" - for example "Play the most recent episode of The Walking Dead"
> 
> That worked for me. I think "play" is the keyword that makes it look in recordings/streaming instead of doing a search.


Thanks, but I tried that before posting and it went searching for episodes rather than going to My Shows.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

Hmmm...maybe I wasn't on live TV. In any event it didn't actually start playback, it took me to the episode from which I could press play to actually start the playback.


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## smalaiyandi (Aug 12, 2015)

Hey all, We have provided a list of things you can do with voice under the Help section in "Tips & Troubleshooting".
E.g. you can tune to channels, launch apps, pull up literally any show (an existing recording you may have or a show/movie you might be interested in) by just saying its name or even ask TiVo for recommendations. 

Feel free to follow my twitter handle @shraddhasorte where I give more tips on your new VOX.

Hope this helps.
Shraddha


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## ADG (Aug 20, 2003)

smalaiyandi said:


> Hey all, We have provided a list of things you can do with voice under the Help section in "Tips & Troubleshooting".
> E.g. you can tune to channels, launch apps, pull up literally any show (an existing recording you may have or a show/movie you might be interested in) by just saying its name or even ask TiVo for recommendations.
> 
> Feel free to follow my twitter handle @shraddhasorte where I give more tips on your new VOX.
> ...


Perhaps you could provide a link?


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## modnar (Oct 15, 2000)

ADG said:


> Perhaps you could provide a link?


It's in the TiVo interface.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

More information, but no link: Shraddha Sorte (@shraddhasorte) | Twitter


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

saying cox ondemand or just ondemand no longer brings up ondemand it worked up until this morning all other voice commands work


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## ohboy710 (Jun 30, 2008)

I would like to see a list of things that would save me time because right now, by the time I hold down the button, talk and wait for it, I could have just done it myself. Now, if I didn't have to hold down the button on the remote (like amazon Alexia etc) and I could just say "Hey Tivo, go to CBS" that would be very useful. Since I already have to pickup the remote, I might as well just do it myself. It's not saving me any time so far.


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## JolDC (Dec 21, 2001)

ohboy710 said:


> I would like to see a list of things that would save me time because right now, by the time I hold down the button, talk and wait for it, I could have just done it myself. Now, if I didn't have to hold down the button on the remote (like amazon Alexia etc) and I could just say "Hey Tivo, go to CBS" that would be very useful. Since I already have to pickup the remote, I might as well just do it myself. It's not saving me any time so far.


Things that save me time over directly doing them:

* "settings" to take me to settings menu. 
* "Play Chopped" to bring up a list of my recordings of the show. 
* "NFL RedZone" because I only use the channel once a week so can't always remember the channel number. 
* "Future Man" to go to the Create OnePass for an upcoming show I want to watch.

I think the benefit is for doing things that would require multiple inputs otherwise plus being able to search for things in a fuzzy way ("Martin Landau movies").


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## modnar (Oct 15, 2000)

I had to laugh at the VOX device/remote product descriptions that touted that you could press the Voice button and tell it to Skip commercials. 

I agree Voice sounds like it will be super convenient for many functions. Skipping commercials does not seem like one of those functions.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

smalaiyandi said:


> Hey all, We have provided a list of things you can do with voice under the Help section in "Tips & Troubleshooting".
> E.g. you can tune to channels, launch apps, pull up literally any show (an existing recording you may have or a show/movie you might be interested in) by just saying its name or even ask TiVo for recommendations.
> 
> Feel free to follow my twitter handle @shraddhasorte where I give more tips on your new VOX.
> ...


Hello, Shraddha, and welcome!  Perhaps you could introduce yourself? It appears that you are in Product Design at TiVo. We look forward to interacting with you here!


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## PSU77 (Nov 3, 2017)

I like the Vox remote however I can't get certain commands to work that are given as examples in the instructions. For instance, it won't recognize "Show me the Guide" or "Go to My Shows", "Go to Home"


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## marhil (Oct 14, 2015)

I noticed the same thing with "Go to My Shows". Vox works great with some commands but does not work with some simple commands. Would think that a simple command like "Go to My Shows" should work. Discovered if you want to change a channel you can just simply say "576" to go to channel 576. No need to say change or go to channel, just say the channel number.


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## mishafp (Nov 8, 2006)

Is there a way to make it go to the last RECORDED episode for a show (or a list of all the recorded episodes of a show)?


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## PSU77 (Nov 3, 2017)

mishafp said:


> Is there a way to make it go to the last RECORDED episode for a show (or a list of all the recorded episodes of a show)?


I think you would just say "play the current episode of x show"


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## Noelmel (Nov 6, 2014)

PSU77 said:


> I like the Vox remote however I can't get certain commands to work that are given as examples in the instructions. For instance, it won't recognize "Show me the Guide" or "Go to My Shows", "Go to Home"


Exactly none of those work for me either along with "Settings" which as far as I read it is supposed to do. The ONLY thing mine will do is go to the folder of recorded shows when I say the show....... and "skip" if u hold it and say skip but its easier to just hit the skip button anyways (wont pause, play, ff or rew though)


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

It doesn't seem to like the History Channel.

I've tried "History Channel" get the I'm sorry....
I've tried "History Channel East"  same thing
Tried "History" well that brought up lot's of shows about history 

I could just delete post, but:

I just tried Channel History and it worked.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

It’s because voice for things that have full interfaces and remotes are still mostly a gimmick. There are few things that work better with voice in that situation.


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

I got mine today and it's pretty good. It c should use some refining. Simple things you'd expect it to be able to do don't work like my shows or play specific recording. I have figured out though if i say a show that i know is in my recordings it will take me to the screen where i can then play it.


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## defond (Dec 14, 2004)

For me “Go Home” or “go to my shows”, and other “go to” menu commands that used to work, don’t anymore. Now it just says “Sorry I can’t help with that”. This is a little frustrating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

defond said:


> For me "Go Home" or "go to my shows", and other "go to" menu commands that used to work, don't anymore. Now it just says "Sorry I can't help with that". This is a little frustrating.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I wonder why they worked at first but don't now. Maybe Ted can shed some light on this.


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## defond (Dec 14, 2004)

tim_m said:


> I wonder why they worked at first but don't now. Maybe Ted can shed some light on this.


Right, because commands like "Launch Netflix", or "watch discovery channel" still work fine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

defond said:


> Right, because commands like "Launch Netflix", or "watch discovery channel" still work fine.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I find with mine you don't even need to say watch. You can just say Netflix. Saying the channel name isn't working for me now and it was a few hours ago.


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

Now stuff that was working isn't. Like i can't say ESPN. I can't say the name of a recording in my shows and be taken to it. So they're still having many issues with this. It's also having trouble understanding me right now. The service must be having problems.


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## georose3 (Oct 3, 2015)

It doesn't help around the house either. Last night I asked, Tivo - get me a beer. Nothing.


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

FYI voice commands that weren't working are again. Such as go to home or my shows, to do list etc.


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## buildersboy66 (Dec 9, 2016)

Just when do people here think all these issues will be fixed? Seriously think about it. TiVo advertises VOX like it is something wonderful and working! What BS this is really.


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

And now the service is down again.


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## Noelmel (Nov 6, 2014)

^^ Working for me for the first time ever... how exciting! I wish it could take me to "recording activity" or "network settings" tho.. seems to just be the main category screens


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

I was able to go to to do list and one pass manager. Try wording it differently.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

ADG said:


> Thought I'd start a thread just for voice commands on the new Vox / Hydra interface: questions about how to phrase a command, commands you think are extremely useful, commands that don't work as expected, etc.
> 
> I'll start with a question. What command should I use to play a specific recording in My Shows when I'm watching live TV? I've tried several that seemed to make sense, but they all take me to future shows (search), not those already in My Shows.


Has anyone figured out an answer to this? How does one use vox command to play a specific recording in my shows - probably the most important and essential command we need?


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Skanter123 said:


> Has anyone figured out an answer to this? How does one use vox command to play a specific recording in my shows - probably the most important and essential command we need?


We haven't upgraded but you might check out the

Voice

https://support.tivo.com/articles/Installation_Setup_Configuration/TiVo-Voice-Features-Benefits

The first seems to indicate you can use the following for at least the latest episode.

Watch a show: "Play the latest episode of Modern Family."

Scott


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

HerronScott said:


> We haven't upgraded but you might check out the
> 
> Voice
> 
> ...


Thanks for the links. But, the above does not work; Vox always searches for a -future- show, never for a program already recorded. There does not seem to be a way to vox command it to play a show alreay recorded in My Shows list.


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

Skanter123 said:


> Thanks for the links. But, the above does not work; Vox always searches for a -future- show, never for a program already recorded. There does not seem to be a way to vox command it to play a show alreay recorded in My Shows list.


The best i've been able to get it to do is to select the recording in my shows. You still have to hit play though.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

You mean you say “select —- recording in my shows” and it goes to that program? When I say that it goes to “create one pass”, not the program. 

What would you say for a baseball gme or tennis match of which there are more than one recorded?


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

Skanter123 said:


> You mean you say "select -- recording in my shows" and it goes to that program? When I say that it goes to "create one pass", not the program.
> 
> What would you say for a baseball gme or tennis match of which there are more than one recorded?


It won't work for everything but with most you can simply say the name of your show or movie and it will take you to the watchlist.


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

It works best when you are already in my shows.


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## Skanter123 (Feb 28, 2015)

tim_m said:


> It won't work for everything but with most you can simply say the name of your show or movie and it will take you to the watchlist.


Strange - semms to work for some things, but for others takes me to "create one pass". Is there rhyme or reason to this?


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## tim_m (Mar 8, 2017)

Skanter123 said:


> Strange - semms to work for some things, but for others takes me to "create one pass". Is there rhyme or reason to this?


Yep definitely not 100% reliable.


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## Jerry Hagan (Jul 11, 2018)

modnar said:


> It's in the TiVo interface.


I don't have a link, but found this:
Here is a start from the Dish instructions, but it is not complete. You must press and hold the microphone button on the remote for these to work. Add any more that you know of and I will add them to the main list.
*Voice Commands *
*Example Commands*
*Categories*

Actor: "Liam Neeson"
Genre: "Movie"
Movies: "Blades of Glory"
Shows: "Big Bang Theory"
Sport: "English Premier League"
Sports Team: "Broncos"
Year: "80s comedies"
*Natural Language*

"Free movies starring Tom Cruise" (name of actor)
"On Demand TV Shows from HBO" (name of network)
"Show me movies I can watch now"
"What live sports are on right now"
(name of actor) "Johnny Depp movies from the 90's"
"You can't handle the truth!" (other popular movie quotes)
(name of actor) "Eddie Murphy movies rated PG-13 and below"
(name of actor) "Movies with George Clooney and John Turturro"
*Navigation*

"Tune to channel 140" (channel number)
"Tune to Animal Planet" (name of channel)
Launch VOD: "On Demand" (when watching a show)
Launch Home Screen: "Home" (when watching a show)
Launch Main Menu: "Main Menu" (when watching a show)
Launch DVR: "DVR" (when watching a show)
Open Guide: "Guide" (when watching a show)
Page Up (in guide)
Page down (in guide)
Go to Live TV: "Live TV" (from delayed play, DVR playback, Menus, etc)

Show Program Info: "Info" (when watching a show)
*Configure Settings*

Picture in Picture On/Off "Picture in Picture" or "PiP" or "Swap" or "Side-by-Side"
Set Recordings "Record this" (when watching a show)
Playback "Play this" (when in the DVR screen)
*Other*

"Skip Forward"
"Skip Back"
"Fast Forward/Rewind"
"Pause/Play/Stop"


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