MI Ford Dealers Learn Ford Adopts OnStar-Like Technology; Backup to Unreliable Voice Recognition

July 14, 2011 - PRLog -- DETROIT, M.I. – MI Ford dealers may have heard complaints about the new Ford SYNC technology since before it was released. Critics were displeased with the technology and those concerns were backed up by Ford vehicle owners.
The biggest problems have been the difficulty to learn the interface along with a complicated system of keys. Analysts of the technology believe these problems may be the reason why Ford’s quality rank dropped in June from 5th last year to 23rd this year.
[Rewind: MI Ford Dealers Hear Ford Quality Rank Drops 5th to 23rd; MyFord Technology to Blame]
One of the direct complaints—for not only Ford’s technology, but many in-car technologies—in the Quality Survey completed by J.D. Power and Associates was the voice recognition system. With this and other problems, Ford Motor Corp is finding ways to solve the problems.
How Ford is Changing SYNC
1.   …changed the font size up to 40 percent and added thickness to the SYNC interface fonts to make it easier for owners to read the information on the screen.
2.   …did some tweaking to the voice-recognition software to try and fix some issues complained about by owners.
3.   …added Operator Assist to SYNC to give owners the ability to speak to a live operator like OnStar.
The last change started last week with a testing period scheduled to finish at the end of summer. Operator Assist will give owners direct contact to a MyAssist operator if the driver is having difficulties attaining directions after three attempts.
“Our customers asked for additional assistance in situations where their voice request was not understood,” said David Gersabeck, product manager for Sync Services, in an article by The Detroit Free Press.
MI Ford dealers learned that should Ford Motor Corp decide to keep the service permanently, the service will be free for three years with a $60 annual fee every year thereafter. This may be a lower price than OnStar, but the reliability of the new system will not be known until the trials are completed and analyzed.
It may be a few months before it is decided whether the new Operator Assist will remain for owners, and MI Ford dealers may hear more complaints until more changes have been completed to the interface to make it easier for drivers to operate.
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[Source(s): The Detroit Free Press, Ford Media]