S40 (New) Electrics : Communications pack - car kit

[ljsalter]

Sorry if anybody has already listed this but cant find search field on this site.

Anyway, I purchased new S40 about 8 months ago and selected the option of the communications pack. Think it was about roughly 2k.

Included SAT NAT (rti), Volvo on call, and also in car kit.

Had option of just selecting just SAT NAV (£1,600) and not the rest but wanted the phone kit

Didn't realise upon purchase that you had to manually swop SIM card from mobile phone, to glove box, to mobile phone, every time you get in/out of car. The upgrade option was not what I expected but by the by.

Anyway, before i commit to Volvo dealer charging me another £300 for bluetooth car kit, is there anyway i can covert this 'in car phone' to bluetooth.

I am very begrudged paying additional £300 for Bluetooth kit when originally paid additional £400 for upgrade for car kit that is useless unless you want to spend 5 minutes pulling back off your phone, getting SIM card out etc etc everytime you get in your car.

If no solution I will end up paying £700 in total to use bloody mobile in car. Great stuff.

If i could convert it in anyway it would be great news.

Any advice welcome.

Cheer

Lee

[Solarin]

Have you spoken to your mobile provider? You should be able to get a second SIM to put in your car, then the problem disappears.

[36016v]

vodafone qouted me £10/month for an extra sim card, only trouble is you have to turn your mobile off when in car as you cant have both on at the same time. I ended up putting a parrot 3400ls gps in the car.

A really cheap option would be to buy a pay as you go sim card and just use that number in the car, you can set your mobile to divert to the car number when driving if thats not too much hassle, used to do that with all business calls anyway

[HeliFella]

I have a similar option in my current Saab 93. It takes a full size credit card sized sim in the boot - mounted module. I have the Vodafone "Multi-sim" option which is a 2nd sim on the same phone number. You just nominate which you want active with a short code stored as a speed dial.
You can have both switched on at the same same time and even make calls / sms from the unnominated sim.

Unfortunately Vodafone UK are stopping the Multi-sim as there is very little demand for this and you cannot have any data usage, purely voice & sms, as Vodafone are wanting to progress the 3G route.

Personally i'd 2nd the idea mentioned above, of a PAYG sim and just divert your mobile while you're in the car.

Then again is a phone call really that important you need a H/F kit in the car?
Don't get me wrong, I love gadgets but when there is a risk to road safety i'd think twice, do you make / receive enough calls whilst driving to warrant the cost of the phone option? I know I don't so haven't selected it on my new car order.

[ljsalter]

Cheers people.

I am actually with Vodafone and have discussed the issue with some monkey on the end of the phone. They confirmed that multiSIM is no longer available given lack of interest, as you mentioned Helifella.

Unfortunately, I make and receive a great deal of phone calls whilst driving and thus the requirement for hands free is important.

I have however just managed to persuade HR department that handsfree kit is vitally important for my role and productivity, and as a result, they will be forfeiting the costs of hands free kit. ha ha. Mugs!

Anyway, I just need to decide now which I would prefer, or which is superior; parrot's Ck3100 (or any other version?), or Volvo's own bluetooth kit?

Any suggestions?

Many thanks all for your help.

Cheers

[Aeron]

I have used the Volvo (Motorola) kit in my V70 and recently changed car for a V50 so had to buy a new kit. I opted for the Parrot and must say that it is much better. My phone synchronises with it flawlessly so I can access all contacts that are on the phone, with the Volvo kit this didn't work and I could only store up to 20 voice tags.

I can also re-route TomTom directions through the parrot kit so have much better volume for voice guidance and you also get the little screen with CK3100 so you can select contacts if no voice tags are stored.

I purchased the kit for around £60 off Ebay and had to get Autoleads adapters which cost around about the same again so complete kit around £120 - fitted myself.

In my view go for a Parrot kit.

Aeron

[mhon72]

Originally Posted by ljsalter

Sorry if anybody has already listed this but cant find search field on this site.

Anyway, I purchased new S40 about 8 months ago and selected the option of the communications pack. Think it was about roughly 2k.

Included SAT NAT (rti), Volvo on call, and also in car kit.

Had option of just selecting just SAT NAV (£1,600) and not the rest but wanted the phone kit

Didn't realise upon purchase that you had to manually swop SIM card from mobile phone, to glove box, to mobile phone, every time you get in/out of car. The upgrade option was not what I expected but by the by.

Anyway, before i commit to Volvo dealer charging me another £300 for bluetooth car kit, is there anyway i can covert this 'in car phone' to bluetooth.

I am very begrudged paying additional £300 for Bluetooth kit when originally paid additional £400 for upgrade for car kit that is useless unless you want to spend 5 minutes pulling back off your phone, getting SIM card out etc etc everytime you get in your car.

If no solution I will end up paying £700 in total to use bloody mobile in car. Great stuff.

If i could convert it in anyway it would be great news.

Any advice welcome.

Cheer

Lee

Unfortunately no way of adapting the controls to fit an aftermarket HF kit.
Annoyingly (for you) Volvo have introduced a factory fitted Bluetooth option which uses the controls on the steering wheel on the latest models.
This is integrated into the centre stack like that found in the new V70/S80 models. Not sure of the functionality, if you can dial up numbers using the stereo controls as I only briefly saw it fitted to the display models at my Volvo dealer.
Whether there is a feasible way of retrofitting this is debatable. Volvo would say no but anything's possible £££.

[bigmick]

I am having ioplay fitted tomorrow as my bluetooth option - will keep you posted.

M

[davidcutting]

Hi all,
I have a Saab 93 (2005 model)
It has Infotainment Plus factory fitted
It also has the Integrated phone in the trunk/boot.
I would love to get this phone working.
I have a new O2 pay as you go sim card still in its credit card size adapter.
This sim has been tested in another phone and it makes and receives calls.
I slot the sim card in the sim card reader with the metal contacts facing towards the sky
Then I press the phone button on the dashboard
On the Infotainment Plus screen its shows that its searching.
After a while the searching promt dissapears and the display returns to its previous screen
When I try and use the phone the incar voice tells me that the phone is not available.
Please could someone post detailed instructions on how to get this phone working and what i should expect to see on the screen at each stage.
I was wondering if i need an old GSM sim card as i have a 3G sim card, but O2 tells me that all new 3G cards work on all old GSM phones
When i go to the Saab dealers in Lincoln UK they say they dont have any knowledge of the integrated phone as they dont sell them anymore
They sold them up to two years ago, so i dont know if head office has wiped their memory.
Please help anyone.

[Hashluck]

My experience:

Had the integrated phone in S60 and also got fed up swapping SIM so went the PAYG route and diverted phone. Worked well and nicely integrated.

Bought a C70 and went for the Volvo BT Kit. Not integrated well imo and still looks added on. Did not pair with several of my phones and is not a great solution in my opinion for sound quality etc. Wish I went the integrated route to be honest.

Now of course Volvo have proper integrated BT but that involves buying a new car!