How to Talk to VCR Instead of Yelling

Comedians have joked about it, but to many people, programming a videocassette recorder is no laughing matter.

A Canoga Park electronics company hopes that its hand-held device will solve the problem: It lets you talk to your VCR to tell it what programs to tape.

“There’s a huge percentage of people--about 80%--who can’t program their VCRs,” said Michael Bissonnette, chairman of Voice Powered Technology Inc. Some 60 million Americans own VCRs, he said.

Sales of the $169 device are better than expected, said Bissonnette.

To record a show with the VCR Voice Programmer, a person calls out the channel, the day, and the start and stop times. For instance: “Seven, Friday, 9 p.m., 10 p.m.”

Bissonnette said the initial setup of the VCR Voice Programmer takes 10 to 20 minutes. The device can accommodate orders from four different voices.