Traffic information in real time (RTTI) - "upgrade"
 

Hi all,

I recently received an email from Volvo advertising an RTTI software upgrade for £50 for sensus connect. I thought I had this already but these seems different.

Does anyone have it? Thoughts?

Thanks

You can find a discussion here:
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=284843

For what it is worth , my opinion was:

I got mine done before Christmas.
The inbuilt TMC which updates via FM radio is quite hit and miss when it comes to getting good, regular reception. The TMC symbol on screen only appears to be on screen about 50% of the time.
The RTTI software allows you to receive traffic updates via a linked mobile phone or, I presume, an inbuilt modem, so it is available and providing data practically continuously, just like on my standalone Tomtom in the old BMW.

Shortcomings - I would like an on-screen icon to show that I am still connected to the traffic update website because it can be difficult to trust it when headed into a notorious bottleneck without even amber warning on the track ahead. It has happened once or twice when, as expected, there is heavy traffic but turns out the phone had disconnected itself.

Mine cost just under 30 euro when done alongside towing module software (76 euro inc vat, total for both). I was happy to pay 30 euro for it to give it a go but not sure I would spend £50 for the amount of time I need it. I definitely wouldn't pay £80 for it.
The actual RTTI software costs less than 20 euro retail price so worth negotiating doing it alongside any other work at a dealer.

Is it me or is it a statement of

'Our software isn't really as good as we said it was, so we would like you to pay to fix it'

I don't think so. The new Volvo models got this feature so Volvo obviously started paying for subscription to the rtti providers. They then decided they could also offer the service to owners of the older models (fitted with sensus connect), if they wanted to buy it as an accessory, or 'upgrade'.
That is what it is; a new additional feature to the package, rather than an 'update' to correct 'bugs'.

They could have said, "Mmmm, nice new feature we've got here but why bother offering it to these guys with older v/xc60's or v/xc70's. If they really want the ability to get live traffic they can use a seperate smartphone stuck in the windscreen for their nav and ignore the expensive built-in one. Or, better still, they could just buy one of our new cars to get it".
This software upgrade is just the same as offering a later model steering wheel or cruise control as an accessory because they didn't exist when your car was made.

I get your point but it is not a new feature because the functionality is available with the older version of Sensus, I have it on the V40 but not on the XC60, The V40 has VOC and a SIM slot the XC60 does not but they both use the same version of the Sensus unit. The feature functionality is already there. All someone is doing is making money by flipping an electronic switch.

What is new is the use of your own mobile phone instead of a dedicated SIM slot. If Volvo had offered a hardware dedicated SIM slot then I would pay.

What I do not know but want to is the following. Does the download of traffic data and the upload of your cars location and speed use part of the data allowance or does it work through the mobile without impacting the data allowance like WhatsApp and other apps?

I don't know about whether RTTI was available on the V40 but I was glad to have the option of installing it on my XC70 to supplement the original TMC.

RTTI does use data allowance but I believe it is a very small amount of compressed data, more akin to simple SMS text messages than Apps. I don't use a smartphone so my data allowance is minimal and I have never had issues with over use whether tethered to the Volvo or my stand alone Tomtom in my other car.

So does this explains why the sat nav in my V60 performs far worse than my old Garmin for avoiding traffic hold ups?

I'm generally disappointed with the performance, it also forecasts unachievable ETAs. But that's a separate problem!

I have just collected an XC40 and we inserted our SIM for some of the RTTI functionality. Two days ago it rerouted me real time from a collision that had bought the M25 to a halt, it took me back on at the next junction and we missed the car park feature that the M25 often becomes. Not sure about when its on, I do agree it would be nice to have that visually displayed somewhere on the Nav screen.

I really need this update for mine.

I've got a 30Gb a Month SIM in the Car already & am running the required Sensus SW (2015 MY XC60)

Guess a trip to the dealers is in order, unless I can get it over the air

You can't get it over the air, has to come from a dealer or Independant with link to VIDA Online.