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How to use Voice Dialing

What is Voice Dialing?

Voice Dialing is a calling feature for your Bell Home phone service that lets you say the name of the person you want to call rather than dial their number.

  • You can record 100 voice contacts through your phone and store 1000 contacts in the Web application.
  • You can store up to five phone numbers per contact.
  • You can dial a number that’s not in your contact list by saying “Dial” or “Call” and then the phone number.

What types of calls are supported by Voice Dialing?

Voice Dialing supports the following types of numbers:
  • 10 and 11-digit numbers
  • 411 and 611
  • Toll-free numbers
  • Numbers starting with zero
  • 310-xxxx
  • International numbers
  • Long distance calls

What types of calls are not supported by Voice Dialing?

Voice Dialing does not support the following types of numbers:

  • Numbers starting with an asterisk (*)
  • Any other 3-digit number (211, 311, 511, 711 and 811)
  • 7-digit numbers

Getting more information about a contact

  1. Say "More information," "More info," "More information about John Smith" or "More info about John Smith."
  2. If you haven't specified a contact name, the application will ask you which contact you want information about.

    You can ask for the following information:

    • first name
    • last name
    • nickname
    • company name
    • home phone number
    • office phone number
    • mobile phone number
    • pager number
    • other phone number
    • default number

    For example, you can ask for John Smith's office number or the name of John Smith's company.

  3. Once the system has given you the information, it will ask you if you want any other information.

Getting help with Voice Dialing

  • Once you're in the Voice Dialing application, you can say "Help" at any time to get more information about the choices available to you.
  • Say "Tutorial" or "Instructions" at any time to get information about the different call functions and about managing your contacts.

Using other calling features with Voice Dialing

Per Call Blocking (*67)

To use Per Call Blocking, dial *67 and then *44 to access Voice Dialing. The person you're calling won't be able to see your name and number on their display.

Call Waiting

Call Waiting will work when you use Voice Dialing. You'll be able to hear the beep announcing an incoming call and answer the call if you like.

If you want to deactivate Call Waiting before using Voice Dialing, dial *70 and then *44 to access Voice Dialing. Call Waiting will be temporarily deactivated.

Three-Way Calling

You can use Three-Way Calling with this service. When you're on the line with the first person, press the receiver button and then dial *71.

  1. Next, dial *44 to return to Voice Dialing and then say the name of the third person you want to have join the call.
  2. When you've reached this person, press the receiver button to establish the three-way call.

Busy Call Return (*66)

This service isn't compatible with Voice Dialing

Billing of long distance calls made with Voice Dialing

If Bell is your long distance service provider, your regular long distance plan will apply.

If Bell is not your long distance service provider, you can still use Voice Dialing to make long distance calls but they will be billed by your provider.

Subscribing to Voice Dialing

You can add Voice Dialing to your Home phone service:

Note: You'll have access to the voice application within 24 hours and to the Web application within 48 hours of the date your service is activated.

Voice Dialing basics

To access Voice Dialing:

  1. Pick up the phone.
  2. Wait 6 seconds for automatic access to Voice Dialing. You can also dial *44 or simply # for instant access.
  3. Say a voice command to start using the service.

Common commands include:

Other commands:

  • To redial the last number, say "Redial."
  • To switch languages while using the Voice Dialing application, say "English" or "Français." Note that the next time you use the service, the application will return to the default language you requested upon subscribing.
  • To exit the application, say "Exit."

How to say commands:

The application recognizes several variations of common commands. For example:

  • You can say "Dial 514 786-0000" or "I'd like to call 514 786-0000."
  • You can say "Call John Smith at the office" or "I want to call John Smith, please."

How long is the wait time before I can access Voice Dialing for the first time?

You’ll have access to the voice application within 24 hours and to the Web application within 4 to 7 business days from the date your service was activated.

Making a call

Calling someone on your contact list

  1. Say "Call John Smith" or "Put me in touch with John Smith."
    • If you’ve only stored one phone number or this contact, the system will make the call with that phone number.
    • If the contact has more than one number and you’ve set a default category , the system will make the call with the number in the default category. Otherwise, the application will ask which phone number to use.
    • You can also specify which number to use by saying something like "Call John Smith at work."
  2. The application will confirm the name before making the call. You can then decide to make the call or cancel it.

Dialling a phone number that’s not in your contact list:

Say "Dial" or "Call" and then the number. For example, "Dial 514 555-1234" or "Call 416 555-1234."

  • In the majority of cases, you'll have to provide the 10 digits of the phone number, starting with the area code.
  • You can also reach 411 and Bell customer service (1 866 310-BELL).
  • You can call toll-free numbers (800, 866, etc.), 900 numbers, international numbers and numbers that require an operator (0+).
  • If you want to call 9-1-1, we strongly recommend that you do so by dialling 9-1-1 immediately after picking up the receiver, rather than using Voice Dialing. This will ensure you get the best possible 9-1-1 service.

Make a long distance call:

Say "long distance" before asking to call a specific contact.

  • If you've already stored the number in your contact list as a long distance number, there's no need to say "Long distance" before making the call.
  • If you've activated the Long distance prefix in the My Profile section of the Web application, there's no need to say "Long distance" before making the call.

Calling 9-1-1

If you want to call 9-1-1, we strongly recommend that you do so by dialling 9-1-1 immediately after picking up the receiver. This will ensure you get the best possible 9-1-1 service.

Is Voice Dialing compatible with equipment using built-in diallers such as alarm systems and lifelines?

Voice Dialing allows 6 seconds of dial tone before making a call. For most equipment with built-in diallers (including alarm systems, lifelines, faxes or modems), this 6-second interval is sufficient for it to start dialling when required.

However, Voice Dialing may not be compatible with all equipment using built-in diallers. We recommend testing the equipment's compatibility with Voice Dialing.
  • For lifelines: Press the " Help" button.
  • For alarm systems: Set off a test alarm.
In each case, you need to let your provider know in advance so they do not mistake the test for an actual alarm and charge you unnecessarily.

Adding or deleting a contact

You can manage your contacts, including adding or deleting names from your list.

Adding a contact:

You can store up to 100 voice contacts through the voice application.

  1. Say, "Add a contact."
  2. The application will ask you to record the name of the new contact twice, ensuring that both recordings are identical.
  3. It will then ask for the category (home, office, mobile, pager, etc.) and the phone number. You can add up to 5 numbers per contact.

Deleting a contact:

  1. Say "Delete a contact" or "Erase a contact."
  2. The application will ask you for the name of the contact you want to delete.
  3. The application will repeat the contact's name and ask if you really want to delete this contact.
  4. The contact will be removed after you provide confirmation.

Modifying a contact

  1. Say, "Modify a contact."
  2. The application will ask you for the name of the contact you want to modify.
  3. It will then confirm the contact's name and ask you what kind of change you want to make.

You can make the following changes.

Add a number:

  1. Say, "Add a number" or "Add a new number."
  2. If you haven't specified which category (home, office, mobile, pager, etc.) you want to use, the application will ask for the category.
  3. The application will then ask for the phone number you want to add.

Change a number:

  1. Say, "Change a number" or "Modify a number."
  2. If you haven't specified which category (home, office, mobile, pager, etc.) you want to use, the application will ask for the category.
  3. The system will then state the existing number for this category and ask for the new number.

Configure the default category:

  1. Say, "Configure the default category" or "Change the default category."
  2. The application will ask for the category you want to assign by default (home, office, mobile, pager or another category). If you don’t want to assign a default category you can say "None."

If you choose "office" as the default category for John Smith, this means that if you say "Call John Smith," the application will dial his office number.

Delete a number:

  1. Say, "Delete a number" or "Erase a number."
  2. The application will ask which category you want to delete.
  3. It will then state the phone number stored for this category and ask for confirmation before deleting the information from the database.
  4. If you answer "Yes," the number will be deleted. If you answer "No," the operation will be cancelled.

If you confirm the deletion and this number is the default number, the application will inform you that no default category is configured.

If only one phone number is configured for the contact in question, the application will inform you that the last phone number for this contact can't be removed.