Hands Free Calling...

[KenEE]

During the test drive I forgot to ask about Hands Free Calling and I don't see any threads on the topic or see it in a FAQ.

How is this accomplished in the Model S? Is it Bluetooth only and dependent on the abilities of my phone? Does the car have its own number and calling plan like my GM/Onstar cars?

I hope it works like our GM cars (CTS and Volt) with its own number and excellent voice recognition.

Thanks for any info - especially a review if you've tried it out.

Ken

 

[contaygious]

It uses your phone paired with bt. I saw it. There is a button on the wheel to answer calls. You can scroll calls, contacts, etc. in the phone screen, it's like a blown up version of your phone. I did not see voice recognition and assume this is still coming although I'm not a fan of talking to my car.

 

[spleen]

Does the car have its own number and calling plan like my GM/Onstar cars?

I hope it works like our GM cars (CTS and Volt) with its own number and excellent voice recognition.
Ken

by default, if it has its own telematics and using cell phone infrastructure to access data, then it must be using its own SIM card and data plan to access that (with corresponding data plan fee). This also implies that the car will have its own cell phone number though I doubt that it will be activated for voice conversation (the same way that an iPad that has a cell data plan has an assigned cell phone # though you can't call it or use it to make outgoing calls). For voice connectivity, Bluetooth pairing with my smartphone would be my preference - don't need yet another voice number to hand out to people.

 

[MikeK]

I paired my iPhone with a Model S the other day and tried it out.

My contacts and Recently Called list synced over, and I dialed a friend using the steering wheel control to navigate the Recently Called list. She said that she could hear me clearly, and I certainly heard her very well.

If I could request an enhancement or two, I would like to have a way to trigger the iPhone's Siri feature, which is useful for voice dialing and other things as well. And, I would like to be able to sync my phone "Favorites" list in addition to Recently Called and the general contact list.

 

[aviators99]

During the test drive I forgot to ask about Hands Free Calling and I don't see any threads on the topic or see it in a FAQ.

How is this accomplished in the Model S? Is it Bluetooth only and dependent on the abilities of my phone? Does the car have its own number and calling plan like my GM/Onstar cars?

I hope it works like our GM cars (CTS and Volt) with its own number and excellent voice recognition.

Thanks for any info - especially a review if you've tried it out.

Ken

No, it doesn't work that way. It is Bluetooth, so will use your phone and phone number.

 

[Francis Lau]

I paired my iPhone with a Model S the other day and tried it out.

My contacts and Recently Called list synced over, and I dialed a friend using the steering wheel control to navigate the Recently Called list. She said that she could hear me clearly, and I certainly heard her very well.

If I could request an enhancement or two, I would like to have a way to trigger the iPhone's Siri feature, which is useful for voice dialing and other things as well. And, I would like to be able to sync my phone "Favorites" list in addition to Recently Called and the general contact list.

Mike, I am constantly amazed about what you know and have tried with the Model S. Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

[KenEE]

Thanks for the info. Mike, nice to know its clear. (I've read other cars will be including a Siri button soon - would probably be trivial for Tesla to add to the touch screen or even the steering wheel call list)

One nice thing about the phone being built into the car is the reception is much better due to the larger antenna and more powerfull transmitter. BT is just remote control of your phone.

Perhaps an app will be written to access the built-in phone for people who want the improved reception.

 

[MikeK]

Mike, I am constantly amazed about what you know and have tried with the Model S. Thanks for all the helpful info.

I had to do something while I was the Menlo Park showroom for three hours agonizing over color!

 

[chmod a+wrx]

Mike, I am constantly amazed about what you know and have tried with the Model S. Thanks for all the helpful info.

I think MikeK is a mole....planted by Tesla....! Dropping hints here and there about the car for us to learn

 

[cinergi]

 

[MikeK]

I think MikeK is a mole....planted by Tesla....! Dropping hints here and there about the car for us to learn

Oh geez, if that were true I'd have my car by now. ;-)

Seriously, I happen to have the Menlo Park showroom on my way to the office, so it's easy to drop by, and I get good ideas for stuff to look at from reading the discussions here. Plus, I went to two extra Get Amped events in an effort to pick a color...

 

[MikeK]

@Cinergi: Great video. Man, that matte carbon fiber looks hot, doesn't it?

It looks like his phone hadn't synced its contact database to the car. When I played around at Menlo Park, I did let it pull my contacts over (which took probably a couple of minutes), and then you get a nice scrolling list of names that you can navigate and tap to dial.

It's nice to see the audio and phone both working via Bluetooth. When I paired up my phone with the car in Menlo Park, I was able to use the hands-free calling, but for some reason I couldn't get the Bluetooth audio to work. I did get it to work at the Palo Alto event, so I'm not sure what I did differently. Obvious from this video that they interact nicely when set up right.

I wish that the Bluetooth control protocols had more functionality, though. You can skip to the next/previous track, pause and resume, but you can't fast-forward or rewind as far as I know. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I'm frequently rewinding a bit because I missed something while I was focused on the road. For this reason, as convenient as Bluetooth is, I often use my iPhone connected via USB to my car, because then I have full transport controls. I would be in hog heaven with a simple 7-second "instant replay"

 

[KenEE]

I'm hoping they will add support for AirPlay. It's much easier to use than BT, (no pairing), doesn't downsample/resample like the A2DP profile.
It's especially nice for passengers who won't need to pair their phones to access their playlists.

 

[MikeK]

That's a great thought! And there's some support for transport controls baked in as well.

There was a rumor on a Mac rumor site that Apple is working on a new variant of AirPlay that works over Bluetooth, so Tesla could have two avenues to supporting it (WiFi and BT).