Contacts in iDrive

[southern6er22]

I kinda asked this in an earlier post, but I figured I'd start a new thread about it:

Is there a way to create a contacts list/address book for phone numbers within iDrive that is separate from the contacts synced via bluetooth from your iPhone, etc.?

I have hundreds of contacts in my address book, but there are maybe only 20 that I would be likely to call from the car. I set a few of them as "speed dials" using the iDrive shortcut keys (1-8), but that's not quite enough, and I hate to use all of those quick access buttons for phone numbers. A smaller address book would make the searching process a lot easier.

I think I may be asking for something that is impossible, but I thought I'd ask. Any suggestions for alternatives to make the process easier with less searching? Can you use the voice control to call up a specific contact, or will it only work if you dictate the actual number? Thanks!

[Itinj6]

Yes you can... Click the voice command button on the steering wheel. When you hear the "ding" say "phone book." You will hear the soft female voice repeat your command. Then say the name of the contact, e.g. "Johnson, Mike". It will automatically highlight Mike Johnson in your phone book. You will hear the female voice say, "Do you want to dial Johnson, Mike?". Then you say "yes" and it will dial. Cool thing is, if you have multiple numbers stored for any one contact, it will ask you which number you want to dial. Also, try to pronounce the name of the contact the way you think the voice command will understand it. For example. I have a friend with the last name Dayan. It is pronounced Die-On but I have to say Day-Ann for it to understand me. It's really not as complicated as I'm making it sound lol

[southern6er22]

Thanks! That's what I was hoping to hear. Much easier than searching with the iDrive controller.

[southern6er22]

Works perfectly! You're a life saver. Lol.

[Itinj6]

It's been a month since I had my car so I wasn't sure how accurate I was on the order of commands but glad I can be a service :)

The voice command can be used for all types of things including inputting Nav destinations and stuff. It's pretty awesome.

[Itinj6]

Another cool thing, when you are in the phone book and you scroll using the thumb wheel on the steering wheel, it will scroll through your recent calls on the dashboard, same like it does with music.

Another thing I would like to add is I added a contact in my phone book labeled "Voicemail" and use my own cell phone number as that contact. You can use the voice command to check your voicemail that way. It works awesome with IPhone but I can't speak intelligently for other cellphone platforms. I know you have the iPhone 4S though, same as me.

[southern6er22]

Thanks for the tips! I'm gonna look through the voice commands and play with that more this weekend. Now if we can just get them to incorporate Siri!

[Itinj6]

:)

[Itinj6]

No problem... But seriously, I think I would ask the car to marry me (through Siri of course lol) if they can work that in.