Why isn’t it in the manual?

I got a new LG Lotus cell phone from Sprint back on Jan. 8 and figured I was pretty much up to speed with its features by now.

But one thing baffled me. Is there some kind of shortcut to the voice dial feature?

The User Guide has this to say about Voice Control:

1. Highlight [Home}and press [OK]> Tools > Voice Control.

2. After hearing the message “Call: please say a
command,” simply say, in a natural voice, “Call” and
the name of the person you'd like to call. (For
example, you can say, “Call Jane Smith work,”“Call
John Bakermobile,” or“Call Bob Miller.”)

3. Your request will be repeated and you will be asked
to verify. Say “Yes” to call the number or person.
(The number will automatically be dialed.) Say “No”
if you wish to cancel.

That’s the User Guide’s entire explanation of the Voice Control feature.

The whole point of voice dialing is to be able to place a call with a minimum of taking your eyes away from the road or whatever you’re doing to look at the keyboard and menus. It is clearly pointless to have to highlight the Home icon, press the OK button and navigate to Tools and then to Voice Control. Especially, since I need my reading glasses to see the freaking menu.

Maria got a new phone last week. It’s a different model, but it’s also an LG and has a similar menu architecture. And guess what. Its User Guide lists a shortcut to Voice Control. Just press the Speaker key and the Talk key simultaneously and voila, there’s Voice Control asking you to speak the name of the person you want to call. I tried it on my LG Lotus and it works like a charm. Who knows, I may be the only Lotus user who knows the trick and can use Voice Control safely.