Can anyone control servitors with basic voice commands or only tech priest can do it? What talent is needed for that?

I am interested in obtaining and commanding a servo skull with my Rogue Trader.

I would say that it depends entirely on how things are programmed. Given the vast number of servitors active within the Imperium and the imperial administration, there just *have* to be servitors that are controllable by regular clerks and officials.

It would just take techpriests to serve them, maintain them, reprogram them, and so on. So when it comes to that Servoskull, I'd say "go wild".

To put what Fgdsfg said in a different light, you can have them be programed to a single persons voice, a select few, or any other way you deem necessary. Adeptus Mechanicus personnel just happen to have an innate way of doing this thru their Binary language. The servitors just happen to respond easily to it because that is what their basic sub routine consists of - binary code. Of course, certain servitors (like Murder/Combat servitors for example) probably won't accept any Binary command thrown at them. There are probably passwords, or, in computer terms, handshakes, given to verify the command. Fail safes, in-case of Hereteks or anyone else attempting to stop the servitor(s) from doing it's assigned task.

So, just like Fgdsfg stated, it's at user discretion.

I imagine there would be 'user' and 'admin' access too. Even 'users' might need voice id to access command functions.

Essentially the security on a servitor would been whatever the creator thought necessary.

Fresnel said:

And that, my friends, is why you can never trust a tech-priest.

Oh, yes, definitely. Let's be clear here: If the Servoskull or Servitor follows the commands of the Rogue Trader (User), it is purely because there was a Tech-Priest (Admin) there to program it.

I mean, our admins of any computer system in our age is reluctant to relinquish effective control - for admittedly understandable reasons. Imagine if it was a religious tenet to not do so. For equally understandable reasons.

An AdMech uprising on a ship could actually be an interesting event or plot hook, considering that the vast majority of the population on a ship have no idea how things work and effectively speaking, every ship function and all the servitors are more or less directly under their control.

The AdMech probably adds about 50 addendums to Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, it at all possible.

So, yeah. Talk it out with the techs. Get yourself a Servoskull.
Just never, ever, trust the bastards.

I like that the game mechanics are vague on this, but you should take a look at the talent "Binary Chatter" in the core rule book and then you should check out Hostile Acquisitions under Arch-Heretek - there are two class specific skills, vile intrusion and subversive programing that lend to the operation of commanding servitors - unfortunately the actual mechanic is never really mentioned. Is it WiFi? voice, radio wave?? That is up to the GM. We have had a ton of fun with this, because it is so open.