Is there a way to SPEAK the phone number to be dialed if its not in your contact list? I get paged and have to type in the number on touch screen.
I've never tried that, but did you try using the voice command function (hold down the voice button on the steering wheel) and saying something like "call 123 446 7891" ? Easy to try...
EDIT: Ignore this. I apparently can't keep my cars straight in my head: "call 123 456 7890" works pretty smoothly. Its best if you pause briefly between call and the numbers and try to talk like a robot.
This must be new because this used to not work, but admittedly I haven't tried it since something like the 4.5 or 5.5 release.
Hmmm... Voice number dialing might be enabled. Elon suggested there's a new easter egg in the latest firmware.... <runs to car to dial 867-5309...>
Most smartphones can handle this task on their own these days. On an iPhone you can just hold down the home button until it beeps, then say "call 1234567890." If it's paired with the car, it'll use the car's speakers and microphone. Android phones should be similar, I just don't know how you activate it there. Just requires reaching into your pocket instead of using the button on the steering wheel, which is slightly more annoying, but not bad.
In iOS 8, you can turn on "Hey, Siri" and you don't even have to press the button. This is how I make most calls these days. Just requires that your phone be connected to power, so you'll have to have the phone out of your pocket and plugged into an adapter for it to work. Works much better than trying to use the Model S voice commands.
Somehow I managed to completely forget about that feature, even though I'm a professional iOS developer. If you're in the habit of keeping your phone plugged in while you're in the car, this does indeed work very nicely.
Thanks all. I will try the iPhone plugged in.next time I am driving around at 2 am on call. Sure would be nice to skip the step and have Tesla expand its voice commands.