Apple is reportedly working on developing a new feature for Siri, that will allow it to receive calls, provide pertinent answers, and also transcribe calls and voicemails to text. While sending a voice reply is easier in a lot of situations, it has been seen to be more convenient to read received messages, rather than hearing voice replies. To neutralize this, Apple is looking for ways to make messaging more convenient.
The new tool by Apple will also be essential in bridging a generation gap, where older individuals are seen to prefer voicemails, while their younger counterparts prefer text messaging services. To use this service, users will need to be connected to iCloud voicemail service. Once connected, Siri will answer an incoming call, if you are not in a position to receive it. Instead of the call running into a standard digital audio receptor, Siri will provide responses to your present whereabouts, and why you cannot attend to the call. When it comes to transcribing incoming voicemail messages, Siri will use the same speech-to-text technology that it uses presently.
Presently, recorded voice data is transferred to Apple servers, where it is translated to text and displayed on screen. The iCloud voicemail service will possibly function on a similar note, where a received voicemail message will be sent to the same Apple servers, from which Siri will take up and display the message transcribed into text. The move is a part of Apple’s initiative to make usage more fluent and convenient, by making Siri a more convenient personal assistant instead of being all about the sass.
Siri is presently scheduled for an upgrade with the upcoming iOS 9, and Apple is already trying out its competence with the iOS 9 Public Beta program. Siri now has deeper searching capabilities, throwing up related and most-used contacts, along with in-app search suggestions and faster voice-to-text responses coupled with Spotlight search integration. The new voicemail transcription service, that is presently believed to be in testing stages with Apple’s employees, will probably feature in 2016, as part of upgrades in iOS 10.
Source: Business Insider