Google Calendar

[mparks]

I have a Plantronics voyager pro bluetooth headset the UC version ( http://www.plantronics.com/us/product/voyager-pro-uc ) I found one on ebay for half the price and so far it works perfect with my phone and Vox, the range in my home is nice.

In the mornings the first thing I check before starting the day is my emails, Vox does this perfectly, it would be nice to also check my meetings and or todo list in google calendar.

[jitterjames]

I have a Plantronics voyager pro bluetooth headset the UC version ( http://www.plantronics.com/us/product/voyager-pro-uc ) I found one on ebay for half the price and so far it works perfect with my phone and Vox, the range in my home is nice.

In the mornings the first thing I check before starting the day is my emails, Vox does this perfectly, it would be nice to also check my meetings and or todo list in google calendar.

Thanks for the report.  It is good to know it works well, although the price is a bit prohibitive.  For some people it would be well worth the price as long as the quality is good enough.  I'm thinking Paraplegics, or Quadriplegics who really have got to use a headset, but can't use a wired one for some reason, or anyone else that really wants/needs to use a headset. 

Can you please tell me;  Is the quality good enough to get decent results with dictation as well?  For example can you do google web searches with decent results?  Or use it with MS dictation?

The link you sent shows a retail price of $200.  Do you know of a cheaper place to find them?

I think this must be one of those hybrid Bluetooth headsets.  It uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone but when it connects to the pc it is using some other (better) protocol.  In their bullet points they are saying "PC Wideband delivers heightened speech clarity, providing the best possible PC audio quality."

I like it.  I would maybe buy this on sale if it's good enough for dictation and can handle a certain amount of background noise.  It looks like a good compromise of size, but still with a reasonably long boom mic.

[mparks]

I bough it on ebay for $79.00 Here is the link. The seller is very responsive and I got it within a week in perfect condition.

( http://www.ebay.com/itm/150660646531?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_2145wt_1028)

I have a Samsung Galaxy S android phone and it paired with it right away with no difficulty at all. It also comes with a USB bluetooth connector that is already paired so as soon as you plug it into your computer it is ready to go, windows 7 picked it and installed the default drives. There is also a batter indicator icon which is located on the windows notification bar. The unit has built in voices that tells you when it is turned on, what it is paired with, the battery level, if you are in or out of range and a few others.

You can download software from there site which lets you access the sensors in the unit, this gives you some extra features, like sensing whether you have the unit on your head or not. It pairs with both the computer and phone at the same time and will auto switch between the two depending on which one the call is coming in on. So far I have not had any issues and no one can tell the difference between the phone and the headset.

I original got it to work with Dragon which it did perfectly, and so far it seems to work just as well with Vox.

The unit has a 6 hour constant talk time, but it also has a button on the mic so you can put it in standby mode which seems to last for days.
the same button is used to switch between computer and phone.

Here are some youtube clips I found that will explain it a bit better, so far it works as advertised.

Here are the links:

Plantronics Voyager PRO UC v2 Bluetooth headset with Skype integration
http://youtu.be/mqnpTSETnKk

New Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Quick Review
http://youtu.be/bxh1yS6G1P0

Plantronics Voyager PRO UC V2 Review
http://youtu.be/aO-Sh5_6Q4A
This video was a bit misleading, they have the camera zoomed up on the unit, so when I got it I thought it was going to be huge on my ear, in fact it is very very small and light, I also wear glasses so I thought it would be uncomfortable but after wearing it for a bit, I forgot I had it on and took it off so that I did not look like one of those guys that always wear these things.


One small thing that might not matter to anyone but me. It does not have the blue light blinking all the time, which I hate when I am at the movies and someone has there headset on with the bilking light, I can see it bilking out the corner of my eye, very distracting.


+Update: Yes you can switch between Wide and Narrow band in the bluetooth settings. I always have it on Wide so I have no idea what the difference is on Narrow.

[jitterjames]

In the mornings the first thing I check before starting the day is my emails, Vox does this perfectly, it would be nice to also check my meetings and or todo list in google calendar.

I have been intending to create some calendar and maybe some to do, or shopping list plugins.  If you don't see any developments in this area in the next month or so, please give me a poke.

[mparks]

Consider it done. 

[jitterjames]

could you outline a couple typical usage scenarios for the google calendar.  I'm looking into it, but I may as well get some idea of what you are looking for.  I'm assuming that number one on the list would be to

- list today's items, list tomorrows etc.

and perhaps

- add an item for today at a certain time

- add an all day event for today / tomorrow / any date

that sort of thing?

I guess we may also need to be able to specify which calendars we want to access...

anyway if you have any thoughts on this please share them.

[mparks]

What I would eventually like to do is this:

Event: VC triggers an x10 event to turn bedroom lights on at 7:30am
TTS: "Good Morning, it's 7:30am"
Event: Checks weather
TTS: "The temperature outside this morning is 10 degrees"
Event: Checks email
TTS: "You have 8 new email message"
Event: Checks Calendar
TTS: "You have 4 appointments and it's James Birthday"
Command: Read email titles
TTS:
Command: Read appointment (titles/headings whatever)
TTS:
Command: Read appointment details
TTS:
Command: Are there any birthdays this month
TTS: "There are 2 birthdays, this month"
Command: Create new event, 2:30pm to 3:30pm, Monday September 26 , dentist checkup
Command: Create new task, pick up dog food

Something like that.

[jitterjames]

Thanks.  That's seems pretty good as something to shoot for.  Do you have x10 btw?

[mparks]

Yes, I have x10 but I don't have the computer interface anymore, I lost it sometime back when I was doing renovations.
I have the lamp modules, wall outlets, key chain remote and ir remote.
I need to get a new usb controller, do you have any suggestions ?

[jitterjames]

yeah, I recommend you send me all your x10 stuff if you aren't using it

I have a cm15A and you can directly talk to it and listen to it from voxcommando via the x10 plugin.  In that sense I can recommend it.  There are plenty of reasons not to recommend it but you probably already know about that.  If my laptop is plugged in anywhere near a module it stops working.  Presumably there are other devices that can cause similar problems by filtering or "gobbling up" the signal.

I initially tried programming some macros into the cm15A using the activehome software and was met with utter disaster (it would crash and turn EVERYTHING in the house on at 3AM - the wife was really impressed let me tell you, especially the second time it happened!  ).  Once I gave up on that and stuck with only doing stuff via VC or EventGhost I have been pretty happy with it, except for the laptop issue.

If you have a CM15A and set up VC to use the x10 plugin then you can :

A - control lights etc. from VC
B - trigger events in VC from the CM15A.   These could be from pressing a button on an x10 remote, or presumably via a motion detector or such thing, though I don't have any so haven't tested that. Could be fun though.

I have also found that trying to set lights to a specific brightness level with x10 is pretty impossible.  You first need to set it to zero or 100 and then adjust it relative to that, but you never really know if it will go to 50% when you ask for 50%, especially if you own a laptop, and there is no way to query a device to see what level it is at, at least not with the standard modules that I own.

[mparks]

There are other x10 like devices out there but all are too expensive for my needs. It's too bad x10 does not play so well with others.

My house is very old (150 years) I had to replace a lot of the electrical system last year but there are still a lot hard to reach areas that are still outdated. However, so far my x10 seems to work in most of the areas I have put it in. Some of the rooms don't have light switches because the house was built for lamp lighting so after rewiring those areas I put x10 on them and the lamps to have a bit of fun.

I will look into that cm15A, see how it goes.

[jitterjames]

I have a Plantronics voyager pro bluetooth headset the UC version ( http://www.plantronics.com/us/product/voyager-pro-uc ) I found one on ebay for half the price and so far it works perfect with my phone and Vox, the range in my home is nice.

In the mornings the first thing I check before starting the day is my emails, Vox does this perfectly, it would be nice to also check my meetings and or todo list in google calendar.

Hey is it the same as this one?

http://www.buy.com/prod/plantronics-voyager-pro-uc-bluetooth-headset-system/212710372.html

it is important to note that the one in this link has no plus   +   in the name.  Does yours?  This seems like a safer cheaper option than ebay, for those living in the states.  Only $60 and free shipping!

[mparks]

The one I have is the UC version 2.
I am not sure what the + means and I did not get a meaningful response from Plantronic. I do know that the UC2 has the sensor tech which lets it know when you have the headset on your head or off and the usb dongle is much smaller and comes pre -paired. I don't think the original UC does, at least that is what I have been told.

Going by the image on that link it looks like the older and larger USB dongle so I am assuming it is version 1. Version 2 is much smaller and comes pre- paired and it does not have a sync button like this one does in the image

As per Plantronics there are two variations, the B230 and B230-M the M version is rated as compatible with Microsoft unified communications suite and the sales rep said I might as well get that one for the same price just encase and windows 7 will already have the drivers for it. I can only assume that the plus stands for version 2 which has the sensor tech built into the set.

Either way make sure it is pro UC and not just pro, I have heard a lot of people having problems with trying to get the pro drivers for windows while windows finds the UC version without problems and installs the default drives which works just fine.

[mparks]

I just got confirmation on my guess, someone made a comment / review on the link
here is what he/she said:

"Don't confuse this with the Plantronics Pro + UC (note the little plus sign). The + version has all the good features like A2DP and the sensor indicating whether you are wearing it. Ordered this by mistake and learned the hard way."

I can confrim that the A2DP feature comes in very handy. It shows up in windows as an audio out device so you can send TTS out to the headset or whatever you want while still using your computer speakers to play everything esle. I use this when I want vox to play confirmation to the headset instead of speakers.

Also I use A2DP while doing the dishes to play my podcast, the audio will pause when I take the headset off my ear and start playing again when I put it back on.

[jitterjames]

yeah I saw that which is why I was asking you.  But the + and the version 2 appear to be two different things.  I don't care about the extra iphone features.  Really just concerned about the microhphone quality for VC.  If it turns itself off when you remove it that would be useful to save the battery without having to worry about a switch.  As usual the only way to know for sure is probably to buy it.