Do you remember Orange Wildfire?

Thine Wonk · 26-09-2010, 23:57

I just had a little flashback. When I was an Orange customer many moons ago I remembered that voicemail service that I took for a bit.

It was a female voice that introduced herself to every new caller and remembered them after that, it had speech recognition and stuff!

Is it still going? did it get turned off? does anyone miss it? why didn't it catch on elsewhere.

Have I even got the name right !?

old bill2 · 27-09-2010, 00:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

I just had a little flashback. When I was an Orange customer many moons ago I remembered that voicemail service that I took for a bit.

It was a female voice that introduced herself to every new caller and remembered them after that, it had speech recognition and stuff!

Is it still going? did it get turned off? does anyone miss it? why didn't it catch on elsewhere.

Have I even got the name right !?

I remember it well. I was on my first contract Everyday 50 . It was great when it worked. She was a little bit temperamental . I think Orange turned it off about 9 years ago now

Thine Wonk · 27-09-2010, 15:18

Come on I'm not that old, other people must remember it!

Jon_S · 27-09-2010, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

Come on I'm not that old, other people must remember it!

Don't remember that but a few mobile operators had a craze for speech recognition a few years back.

I remember trying to activate a vodafone mobile through a speech recognition system and dealing with a very bossy "woman" that kept saying I must have spoken my surname wrong because she couldn't recognise it. Took something like 5 goes before she gave up on me and transferred me to a human.

Speech recognition don't work too good

plymouthbloke1974 · 27-09-2010, 18:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

I just had a little flashback. When I was an Orange customer many moons ago I remembered that voicemail service that I took for a bit.

It was a female voice that introduced herself to every new caller and remembered them after that, it had speech recognition and stuff!

Is it still going? did it get turned off? does anyone miss it? why didn't it catch on elsewhere.

Have I even got the name right !?

I used Wildfire every day - the voice recognition was awesome for it's time! You could ask it loads of stuff, some serious, some funny.

Orange bought the Wildfire company (USA based), and within 6 months it was closed down, with the promise of something similar.

Still waiting....

chaos77 · 27-09-2010, 21:57

i find most speech recognition systems a pain with my scottish accent

Sat_nuts · 04-06-2014, 14:47

I remember wildfire, She worked perfect for me. Orange got rid of the service due to it only understanding the English/American accents, as for indian and pakistani customers it wasnt so good but due to there complaints, Orange pulled it. Now when we ring orange its one of that race that answers the call. Shame they cant bring it back. They would get me back as a customer and my 4 contracts i have with 3 would be ended soon after.

Regards OrangeBox

davethorp · 04-06-2014, 15:51

Thanks for resurrecting a nearly 4 year old thread to tell us that.

On topic I subscribed to wildfire for a short time but found that it actually deterred people from leaving messages so unsubscribed

paulbrock · 04-06-2014, 16:36

hell yeah, I remember wildfire. Shiny technology and utterly unfriendly to new callers. People took a bit of time to get used it certainly, but it was v cool

Wildfire:"xxx isn't available right now, but I can take a message for you.first please state your name"
Caller:"Hi its John the builder here I'm just calling to let you know....."
Wildfire:"Thanks. Now please leave your message"
Caller:"err... what? I thought I did. Anyway what I was saying was..."

later that day
Wildfire:"You have a new message from Hi its john the builder here I'm just calling to let you know".
Me:"throw it away"
Wildfire:"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that..."

26-09-2010, 23:57	#1
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Do you remember Orange Wildfire? I just had a little flashback. When I was an Orange customer many moons ago I remembered that voicemail service that I took for a bit. It was a female voice that introduced herself to every new caller and remembered them after that, it had speech recognition and stuff! Is it still going? did it get turned off? does anyone miss it? why didn't it catch on elsewhere. Have I even got the name right !?

04-06-2014, 14:47	#7
Sat_nuts Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 1	Wildfire on Orange I remember wildfire, She worked perfect for me. Orange got rid of the service due to it only understanding the English/American accents, as for indian and pakistani customers it wasnt so good but due to there complaints, Orange pulled it. Now when we ring orange its one of that race that answers the call. Shame they cant bring it back. They would get me back as a customer and my 4 contracts i have with 3 would be ended soon after. Regards OrangeBox

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27-09-2010, 00:22	#2
old bill2 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 621	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk I just had a little flashback. When I was an Orange customer many moons ago I remembered that voicemail service that I took for a bit. It was a female voice that introduced herself to every new caller and remembered them after that, it had speech recognition and stuff! Is it still going? did it get turned off? does anyone miss it? why didn't it catch on elsewhere. Have I even got the name right !? I remember it well. I was on my first contract Everyday 50 . It was great when it worked. She was a little bit temperamental . I think Orange turned it off about 9 years ago now

27-09-2010, 15:18	#3
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Come on I'm not that old, other people must remember it!

27-09-2010, 15:55	#4
Jon_S Inactive Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 166	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk Come on I'm not that old, other people must remember it! Don't remember that but a few mobile operators had a craze for speech recognition a few years back. I remember trying to activate a vodafone mobile through a speech recognition system and dealing with a very bossy "woman" that kept saying I must have spoken my surname wrong because she couldn't recognise it. Took something like 5 goes before she gave up on me and transferred me to a human. Speech recognition don't work too good

27-09-2010, 18:55	#5
plymouthbloke1974 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Destination: Hard Brexit Posts: 6,368	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk I just had a little flashback. When I was an Orange customer many moons ago I remembered that voicemail service that I took for a bit. It was a female voice that introduced herself to every new caller and remembered them after that, it had speech recognition and stuff! Is it still going? did it get turned off? does anyone miss it? why didn't it catch on elsewhere. Have I even got the name right !? I used Wildfire every day - the voice recognition was awesome for it's time! You could ask it loads of stuff, some serious, some funny. Orange bought the Wildfire company (USA based), and within 6 months it was closed down, with the promise of something similar. Still waiting....

27-09-2010, 21:57	#6
chaos77 Guest Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 757	i find most speech recognition systems a pain with my scottish accent

04-06-2014, 15:51	#8
davethorp Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Preston, Lancashire Posts: 7,255	Thanks for resurrecting a nearly 4 year old thread to tell us that. On topic I subscribed to wildfire for a short time but found that it actually deterred people from leaving messages so unsubscribed

04-06-2014, 16:36	#9
paulbrock Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Wapping, London Posts: 16,222	hell yeah, I remember wildfire. Shiny technology and utterly unfriendly to new callers. People took a bit of time to get used it certainly, but it was v cool Wildfire:"xxx isn't available right now, but I can take a message for you.first please state your name" Caller:"Hi its John the builder here I'm just calling to let you know....." Wildfire:"Thanks. Now please leave your message" Caller:"err... what? I thought I did. Anyway what I was saying was..." later that day Wildfire:"You have a new message from Hi its john the builder here I'm just calling to let you know". Me:"throw it away" Wildfire:"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that..."

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Do you remember Orange Wildfire?