New Ford cars will soon be able to respond to spoken commands thanks to new technology that will enable drivers to change radio station, adjust the climate control or even control the satellite navigation system without taking their eyes off the road or hands off the wheel.

Ford says its new Voice Control enhances driving all Ford models in a number of ways.  For example, stating a few simple commands enables a phone number to be selected and dialled by a bonded mobile phone with Bluetooth.

Markus Pazina, Ford navigation and connectivity engineer, said the Ford Voice Control was designed to be easy and intuitive to use. 

He went on to explain that drivers need to remember just a few simple commands, like phone or dial name, and the system guides them step-by-step.

The system also uses powerful voice recognition software which is designed to accommodate a wide range of different speech types and regional accents. It does not require any teaching to learn the driver's voice characteristics.

To simplify Voice Control operation, drivers can create personal voice tags to recall frequently dialled numbers or favourite radio stations. 

Once these tags have been recorded, the system will recognise the name and select the required phone number or station frequency without the need for further information.