I wanted to learn how to build a voice assistant, so now there is an add-on for CellarTracker that anyone can use to access their inventory handsfree by calling handsfreeCT at +1-619-215-0789.
Voice is a better interface than app when you are driving, cooking, or heading to the cellar, and the assistant is able to answer questions that the CT apps can’t.
There are a lot of really bad voice agents out there (CVS and Verizon, I’m talking to you). This one aims to be better. Enjoy!
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handsfreeCT: voice access to your CellarTracker wine inventory
(Not affiliated with CellarTracker)
WHAT IS HANDSFREE CT?
handsfreeCT is a voice assistant that can answer questions about your CellarTracker wine inventory.
Call and ask things like:
- How many 2014 white Burgundies do I have left?
- Which bin has that Châteauneuf from Beaucastel?
- What ready-to-drink Barolo are stored at home?
- What should I open with my aguachile dinner tonight?
- What red Savigny-lès-Beaunes scored over 91 points and valued under $50 are ready to drink at my home cellar?
- Do I have more Krettnacher Euchariusberg or more Niedermenniger Herrenberg?
handsfreeCT has the answers.
PHONE TIPS
When you call handsfreeCT:
- Speak naturally; handsfreeCT understands wine words from many languages
- If handsfreeCT misunderstands, give more detail or spell words out
- Interrupt handsfreeCT if you want to move on.
- Give feedback on handsfreeCT answers using touch tones: * for thumbs up, # for thumbs down, ## for flag/report
INSTRUCTIONS
Sign up for handsfreeCT on the web and link your CellarTracker account. We will use your credentials (always encrypted) to sync your inventory daily. Our access to CellarTracker is a “read-only” data export. We don’t log into your account.
If you don’t want to link your account, you can manually upload your CellarTracker XML data but then handsfreeCT won’t stay up-to-date with changes to your holdings.
Add handsfreeCT to your contacts and call in. Ask questions in plain language. The assistant understands wine, knows your inventory, and answers aloud. For a completely handsfree experience, use voice to dial (“Siri, call handsfreeCT”).
You can unlink handsfreeCT from CellarTracker or delete your handsfreeCT account on the website to leave the service.
CONTACT
3 Likes
Can I spell the wine names? I’d be ashamed to have even the AI agent hear my pronunciations.
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Spelling out words is fine, but the assistant is trained on both English and native language pronunciations of wine terminology and is pretty tolerant of variations. (Certainly, many times better than Siri or Alexa.)
Give it a try and tell us how it goes.
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Me: “Do we have any G-E-W-U-R-Z something-something?”
handsfreeCT: “I do not have any Gewürztraminer in your collection, and I remain at your service should you need assistance with anything else.”
Wow, that’s brilliant.
Can you make the UI a mobile app?
I think it would get more traction with an app interface. It’ll certainly get more visibility residing in the app store.
All the sign up / permission stuff handled up front with the app and it’s just a “push to talk” interface.
Thanks for explaining. Yes, dial-in is old school tech and app stores can provide visibility. I could see doing this for users that want it.
There are some advantages to dial-in, though.
- You can dial your phone by voice when it’s locked, but have to unlock your phone to launch an app (not fully handsfree).
- Mobile carriers prioritize dial-in traffic over data traffic, so it’s more resilient to bad reception areas.
- Finding and downloading an app is a multi-step process, phone dialing comes pre-installed.
Dude, I am just going in the cellar and grabbing a bottle without announcing to some internet bot what I’m drinking today so it can store my information.
Kind of amusing as I post this the interface literally states, ‘Do not sell or share my personal information.’
If you need tech to pick a bottle, stop drinking.
Privacy and data protection are definitely a legit concern. The policies of this service are posted on the site and, in short, your data won’t be used for any purpose other than providing you the service.
It’s an add-on to CellarTracker, which is for storing your wine info in the cloud and using tech to navigate it. If you aren’t someone who is already doing this, then there’s not much reason to use the voice assistant anyway.
So I can pick a bottle while driving home from work? Can it also text my wife to open and decant it and tell her what to prepare for dinner?
And reserve a room for me at the local Holiday Inn?
4 Likes
David,
In a couple of years, instead of calling your wife, you will call your robot who will do all of that for you. Except you won’t need the Holiday Inn reservations
Just the “pick a bottle” part for now. 
But you can also link your wife’s phone to your CT holdings if you want her to find something. In addition to having inventory details (drinking dates, storage locations, etc.), the assistant also has broad knowledge of food and wine so the caller doesn’t have to know what’s in the cellar to find something that will work.
It’s kind of like using the new CT app with the built-in AI assistant. But handsfree and, at least for me, better for everyday lookups.
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So in a couple of years your wife will be a robot?
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I wasn’t thinking of the robot replacing wives for all purposes.
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I suppose it depends on the quality of the robot you can afford.
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For anyone interested in trying out voice access without linking their CT account, you can now just dial in and browse a 500 bottle demo cellar.
It’s not as much fun as accessing your own cellar, but lets you see how it works without a signup. (While I was setting up the demo cellar, it explained what pintxos I should pair with my Txakolina and corrected my naivete on rice polishing ratios of sake.)
The demo cellar contents are publicly viewable on CT under account handle “handsfreeCT” (use “Members” search).
The phone # to call is in post 1.
(Btw, the Txakolina overdelivered by a mile…and the pintxos were marinated anchovies, feta, and cured black olives, all topped by the world-class Moulin Cornille olive oil)
