Voice Recognition System

You might want to make sure that your vents aren't pointing in the direction of the microphone and that the windshield defroster is not blasting.

Also, this might seem silly, but are your windows opened when you are trying to "dial by number"? If so that could easily cause interference.

 

The mic is near the rear view mirror...near the map light switches.

 

There's a setting (or maybe just a test?) for the microphone in the diagnostic screen on the MFD. It's the tricky screen that you can only get to by doing a funny little rain-dance that goes something like this:

press Display -> Press the upper-left corner of the MFD -> press the lower-left corner of the MFD -> upper-left -> lower-left ->upper-left -> lower left.

And it has to be done in fairly fast succession. There are other threads that talk about the diagnositc screen, and evevn testing the mic, so search on those for more details about how to do it properly if this doesn't work.

Also, once in the Diagnostic screen, try not to break your computer or change settings if you don't know what they do

With the mic test active you might learn that you need to aim your mouth toward the mic while speaking (toward the little holes near the light switches by the mirror)... you might learn that you need to speak louder... or maybe even that your mic is broken!

It lets you record and play back your own voice, and I think you'll find that the mic level is high, but by the time the signal gets to the navi, it's drastically reduced... Seems like a weird design flaw, but after doing the mic test I picked up a couple habits that improve reception, and now I don't have a problem with voice recognition 95 out of 100 times, and those 5 times are all because of other noise in the car.

 

That is your first problem, if you read the owner's manual you will see that the microphone is in the ceiling near the map lights, but you need to make sure you aren't talking to the dash anymore. In fact, in the owner's manual I remember it saying not to try to project your voice in any particular direction at all, you should just speak normally as you drive without moving around at all (at least that helped me, not only did I feel silly tilting my head back talking to the ceiling, but also I think it works better without aiming your voice, just try to remember that the engineers probably worked that into the feature). If you are still having problems, read the thread started by Cheap! following his installation of a second microphone where I thought the temp sensor was... I also noticed another poster mentioning a less expensive source for purchasing another mic.
http://priuschat.com/Microphone-Mod-t25400.html
Does anyone else recall reading the owner's manual where it says the mic and the temp sensor occupy the two holes near the map lights? I could have sworn it said the temp sensor was up there, and not to aim your vents upwards because it may cause the mic to have difficulty hearing you as well as affecting the auto climate control function. Appearantly Cheap! unveiled that it does not exist there...?

 

At best, the Voice Recognition System, while a laudable effort, is squirelly. While it mutes the radio/sound system when you press the steering wheel button, any interior interfering sounds can disrupt its function. I find that speaking straight ahead [you know, watching the road...], and in a normal tone of voice works best for me.

I have always named my cars from "Gallopin' Gertrude" [My first car: a well-used 1931 Model A 2-door sedan] to "Ernestine2" [My new 2007 Touring Edition Prius]. The funny, sometimes totally unrelated, responses to my verbal requests inspired my Prius names [Ernestine for the 2004, Ernestine2 for the 2007] - named after Lili Tomlin's telephone operator character on Laugh In some years back.

Rather than being irritated, I view the strange responses as entertainment.