Voice commands in cars on increase

In the near future, you'll be able to do a lot more talking to your car.

Smartphone personal assistants, such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant, can be used for a variety of tasks. And thanks to greater availability of the Android Auto and Apple Carplay smartphone integration systems — just about every new vehicle you shop for this year will offer them — these features can be used in your vehicle for voice commands and personal assistant tasks.

Automaker-specific personal assistant systems are arriving, too. BMW and Mercedes-benz unveiled their systems at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Other automakers are likely to come out with similar systems in the

next few years.

But what’s it like having smartphone integration and voice personal assistant systems in your car? Are they truly useful, or more of a gimmick?

Smartphone voice commands

Android Auto and Apple Carplay allow you to connect your phone to your car and use many of your phone’s apps, such as map navigation, text messaging and online music streaming. These systems are standard equipment on some vehicles and optional on others.

Many of these features work both on your car’s central display screen and through voice

commands. You can either press a button or say a simple initiation prompt (“Alexa” or “Hey, Google”) and ask to play your phone’s music, check and adjust your calendar, keep up with the news cycle and order whatever product just popped into your head.

These systems are largely restricted to vehicle models that have come out in the past few years. But it’s possible to add the technology even if you have an older auto.

Overall, smartphone integration is a worthwhile feature. Just connect your phone to the car, typically with a USB cord, and you’re ready to go. These systems help you keep your eyes on the road rather than on your phone.

Vehicle-feature interaction

Basic automotive voice

command and speech recognition functionality has existed in vehicles for years. But these new systems from BMW and Mercedes take it to a new level. Mercedes’ MBUX is available in a few all-new vehicles such as the entrylevel A-class. Conceptually, the system works similarly to Siri and Google Assistant. You say a command prompt and then state a question or request.

The main advantage is that MBUX allows you to interact with your vehicle’s features, something the smartphone assistants can’t do.

BMW’S Intelligent Personal Assistant system, which debuts in the redesigned 2019 3 Series sedan, works in a similar fashion. As with the Mercedes system, checking vehicle status is another useful feature.

Useful for the tech-averse

Overall, in-car assistants are surprisingly useful, especially for drivers who dislike learning complicated vehicle interfaces. In general, we’ve found the Mercedes system easier to set up than BMW’S and better at recognizing specific requests.

Downsides are few. It can get a little frustrating when the system doesn’t act on a spoken request because it can be hard to know whether the system didn’t understand you or you arrived at a functional dead end. In the latter scenario, no matter how you say the request, the vehicle won’t be able to comply.

Also, these systems require a cellular connection to work, either through your phone or a dedicated 4G data connection provided by the vehicle. If there’s no connection, you won’t be able to use most of the voice command functions.