Computer voice recites wrong street names

[hobo]

Hi, I'm new here.
Looked around and couldn't find this issue:
Got a 130S and use the Samantha computer voice. The street names on the map are correct. Samantha computer voice reads wrong and weird sounding names. Sometimes, she recites two names, one I recognize and the other I don't. Does anybody know what's going on?

 

[dhn]

Hi, I'm new here.
Looked around and couldn't find this issue:
Got a 301S and use the Samantha computer voice. The street names on the map are correct. Samantha computer voice reads wrong and weird sounding names. Sometimes, she recites two names, one I recognize and the other I don't. Does anybody know what's going on?

What country are you in and what language are you selecting? For the x20 series, the default English female computer voices are Kate (EN_UK) and Susan (EN_US). There is no Samantha

 

[hobo]

Thanks for reply. I'm in the US. Samantha female is the computer voice / Tom is the male computer voice available for the 130S. Like I said, the screen shows the correct name. The voice reads correct interstate names, but local street names that are recited are not the names shown on the map. For instance, Chicago, ILL. is pronounced like: Chicory Hill.

 

[henry865]

Same With One 130S

My One 130S does the same thing. I tried with the Samantha and the Tom computer voices and they both mispronounce street names. They worked fine before and the only thing I did was upgrade my maps from 715 to 720.

I have sent an email to TomTom and hopefully they can figure this out.

 

[hobo]

Thanks. At least I know it's not just me... that's a relief! When TomTom responds, please post here, that would be very helpful. I was going to try the Tom voice, but now I won't bother.

 

[hobo]

For those interested, here's customer service response. I did these things, same problem:

Dear Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to contact TomTom Support regarding the unit saying the wrong street names. It is our goal to provide you with an exceptional customer experience. We are always happy to help.

Upon reviewing your e-mail, we do have a few troubleshooting steps that might fix the problem you are having with your unit. This sounds like it could be a simple software issue. It is quite possible that maybe a update did not get downloaded onto your unit correctly, which could be one reason why the unit is speaking the street names. Down below, we have included 4 important troubleshooting steps that we recommend. We also recommend that you complete all steps in order as follows.

1. Perform a soft reset. This is used to help reboot the unit. You will not loose any information. For your convenience, we have provided the direct link down below, that will guide you through performing a soft reset:

http://www.tomtom.com/support/index.php?FID=7134&Lid=4

2. Perform a hard reset. This step will bring the unit back to the original condition, just like when you took it out of the box.
- Switch on the unit
- Go into menu settings page 1 on the device
- Go to 'Change Preferences'
- Go to the last screen and select 'Reset Factory Settings'
- Select 'Yes' (By performing this hard reset, you will lose any favorites or destinations that you have saved, so make sure you do a back up of your unit)

3. We recommend that you connect your unit and download any updates. Updates are crucial for the unit. Most of the time just by performing updates, can clear up many software issues.

4. One other thing you can try is what is called a clear flash tool, what this does is send a quick flash directly on the TomTom , and sometimes clears any glitches. Down below is the website that will show you how to install the clear flash tool. We ask that you run this at least 2 to 3 times.

http://www.tomtom.com/support/index.php?FID=6211&Lid=4

Hope this helps, if you are still experiencing the same problems, we ask that at this time you please call in and speak one of our technicians one on one. Over the phone we will be able to give some additional steps. When calling in, we ask that you have your unit, a USB cable, and be ready to connect to the computer.

If you have any further questions or comments, please email or call us at 866-486-6866 Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM until 7:00 PM EST. Thanks again for writing. At TomTom we believe in showing you the way the easy way.

With Best Regards,

Becki
TomTom Customer Support

 

[henry865]

No Reply From Support But...

I haven't received a reply from support but it appears that it was updating my map from 715 to 720 that created the speech problem. I copied a backup of the TomTom before I installed map version 720, which had map 715 and the speech problem is gone. I am now going to install updates and then see what happens. I am then going to reinstall 720 and then see what happens.

What map version does your 130S have installed?

 

[henry865]

I went through all the steps in the email you received and same problem. It appears that for me it is the updated 720 maps that are causing the mispronounced names.

I reinstalled the map update after the other updates and same problem. Once I install the new map version the problem appears. Hopefully support can help me out otherwise I am going to stick with the 715 maps or not use the text to speech voices with 720 maps.

 

[21rouge]

I went through all the steps in the email you received and same problem. It appears that for me it is the updated 720 maps that are causing the mispronounced names.

The internet...gotta love it! Same problem exactly.

I purchased the XL 330S a couple of days ago and updated the app to 8.010 and the maps to 720.1802 and now the text to speech makes up the street names. I called TomTom and 'they' said they are aware of the problem and it is related to the new maps . Supposedly they will get back to me by email with 3 business days.

 

[hobo]

If they know they have a software issue with the new map... why do they tell folks to try these other things? I'm going to call them to be sure I get a "fixed" map when it does becomes available – since the "bad" map is the free upgrade they gave me with my new 130s purchase. I didn't know enough to back-up my unit before installing the upgrade map.

I originally called them about a "flashing red X" I was getting after I made some updates. They told me to ignore the instruction that says "unplug and re-connect" the tomtom... they said that's an error and they're trying to fix that. Oh really??

I paid more to get the text to speech feature...and by damn, I want to be able to use it without laughing at the goofy pronunciations.

Thanks for the update!

 

[dassub]

I just called in regarding this exact same issue on my XL330s.

Same problem as everyone, updating to the 720 maps makes the street names pronounced wrongly.

I've called support a few times now, and no one has admitted that it's a known issue, and I keep having to go through hoops.

I just got off the phone with support, and they told me to try this:
http://www.tomtom.com/7323/

I highly doubt that will work, but it's worth a shot.



Here's an interesting one for you guys:

If you use the Reset to Defaults from the menu, the street names will be pronounced correctly even with the newest map versions! Try it out! ..... unfortunately, once you turn the device off and back on, it breaks itself again!

So... currently stuck using the old maps for now.

 

[dhn]

I just called in regarding this exact same issue on my XL330s.

Same problem as everyone, updating to the 720 maps makes the street names pronounced wrongly.

I've called support a few times now, and no one has admitted that it's a known issue, and I keep having to go through hoops.

I just got off the phone with support, and they told me to try this:
http://www.tomtom.com/7323/

I highly doubt that will work, but it's worth a shot.



Here's an interesting one for you guys:

If you use the Reset to Defaults from the menu, the street names will be pronounced correctly even with the newest map versions! Try it out! ..... unfortunately, once you turn the device off and back on, it breaks itself again!

So... currently stuck using the old maps for now.

Have you actually tried the Clear Flash tool in the link as they suggested? If not, try it.

 

[hobo]

I didn't try the Clear Flash tool because of this warning in the instructions:
Note: After running the TomTom Clear Flash tool you may need to activate your map again. You need your Product Code card to activate your map. I don't know what that is or where to find it. TT customer service walked me through the new map install.

 

[dassub]

I'm actually at work right now, so can't try the clear flash tool until I get home. Although the instructions look to be talking about different models, not to mention the fact that my XL330s does not have a card slot, I'm not sure if it'll even do anything at all.

Edit - didn't work (obviously)

 

[henry865]

I tried the clear flash utility, 3 times as the instructions say, and nothing. The streets are still mispronounced. For now I have reverted back to the 715 maps. Hopefully TomTom will have a fix for my 130S.

 

[hobo]

I called TT tech support again. At first the tech said he hadn't heard of the voice problem. He put me on hold... returned 5 minutes later and said "Wow, I guess it's a problem with the map". He said corporate is aware of the problem and they're working on it.

He said the fix is this: Drag the map folder "USA_and_Canada" to the desktop from the TT icon. Let it copy over to the desktop (took 20 minutes). Then, delete the same folder from the TT. Then drag the folder from the desktop back to the TT (took another 20 minutes).

Well, I did it and re-installed the computer voice as well. And the new voice is just a bad as the other. No fix. No solution.

Obviously, TT has problem they don't know how to fix.

 

[dassub]

Well I guess the good news is that we ALL have this problem, so it might make them release a fix sooner rather than later, since it affects a lot of users.

I am using the 715 maps now again, awaiting a fix.

 

[cputrdoc]

Obviously, TT has problem they don't know how to fix.

Essentially yes, but not surprising. In any software company, the support engineers are not the same people that fix the bugs. Support is charged with keeping the customer happy. A bug gets filed in a bug tracking database, and some programmer has to be pulled off of something else and assigned the task of fixing the bug. Meanwhile support has to do a little dance and feign expertise because customers don't like being told they'll have to wait; they want support to at least attempt to fix it. Thus the little hoops. ...and admittedly, the procedures they're suggesting do often fix the random problems that pop up now and then.

I'm not being critical, it's just a reality of the industry, and TomTom is not exempt here.


As for how quickly the bug will get fixed, it depends on how they are internally organized and how bugs are prioritized. Not to put too fine a point on it, but compared to other product lines, the ONE series has relatively low margins for TomTom. If they prioritize based on per-unit profitability, it's not going to be a high priority fix. ...but the ONE probably has a larger customer base as a result, so a fix would affect more of their customers, possibly making it a higher priority. ...but more often, software groups that follow business-driven prioritization favor the former case. The highest priority is likely to be TomTom's fleet customers.

 

[dhn]

Very insightful and stated by someone who has or does work in the software or related industry.

I work full time as a QA testing software for a company here and would like to add to what was just stated. Any new release of software is made up of two things: enhancements and bug fixes. Right now at TomTom, the software developers are not sitting around waiting for Support to document the most recent bug; they're working on some future release for one or more of the models. It is more than likely a QA Review committee that goes over the most recent batch of support calls and determines the priority. The most critical (according to them) issues will result in some developers working on them now. The lesser ones will be put down for a future release or just 'forgotten'.

It all depends upon developer cycles and, of course, money -- something TT seems a little short of recently.

It is true that the squeaky wheel often gets the grease. Somebody bitching about an issue here or in some other forum may feel better about venting but if he or she doesn't complain directly to TT, well you know ...

 

[hobo]

Ah yes... the corporate bull shit echo. I've heard that before.