Siri is looking for a way to stop you ever having to listen to your voicemails again, according to a new report.
Apple is reportedly testing a new smart voicemail feature which, among other innovations, would allow Siri to answer your calls and then transcribe the voicemails as text messages.
Having messages transcribed for you would mean that voicemail becomes a more important function. Like many young(ish) people, I don’t use voicemail a whole lot. While I will listen to messages that are left, there are much faster, more foolproof ways of ensuring I get a message quickly.
By turning those messages into texts instead of audio messages, however, it would make it much quicker to find out what a particular missed call was about.
Apple’s iCloud Voicemail feature is also set to let Siri relate different pieces of information to people depending on who is calling. So if I wanted to throw a Cult of Mac party for everyone except my Friday Night Fights rival Killian, I could get Siri to pass on time and location details to Leander, Buster, and the rest of the crew when they call, while telling Killian I’m out of the country.
While this all sounds very nifty, though, don’t get too immediately excited. That’s because the feature is said to be planned for iOS 10 — which means it won’t arrive until 2016.
Given how hit-and-miss Siri’s current dictation can currently be, unless iCloud Voicemail asks every caller to speak very slowly, the company’s software engineers need all the time they can get.
Source: Business Insider
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
5 responses to “Apple wants Siri to take your voicemails in iOS 10”
Apple once again stealing an idea and following instead of leading. There already is a great voice mail service that does that and more. Called YouMail
Yes..
But what Apple do is integrating it for easy usage.. i bet my parents would never figure out there is a YouMail service, nor how to set it up or anything… apple is good at making it user-friendly, and roll things out as a standard..
Took them long enough to start thinking this. I’ve had my Google voice do this for me for the past 5 years
One of the greatest things about GrandCentral and then later Google Voice was this feature. I used GVoice to run a business because it was so useful…
Ive been wanting a feature like that since I first heard of visual voice mail (which in Australia costs like $10 a month if it’s even offered) but I don’t want transcription I just want an IVR built into iOS that let’s some callers (or anyone with a code) access an option to bypass silent ringing mode for emergencies or leave a voice message on the phone itself, having a transcript would be a nifty side benefit (optionally transcribe on demand for times you can read but not listen to messages)