Bluetooth is a mature technology and has evolved far beyond what was originally planned for it. Today it has become the industry standard for hands-free telephone technology in cars yet it still has problems. Miscommunication between vehicles and phones is still common. If you’re buying a new car, the compatibility of your cellphone and your car is likely a very important topic. So to make sure your phone and your new car will get along, here is a checklist of items to look at before you make your purchase.
Compatibility
- Check the vehicle manufacturer’s Web site to ensure that your cell phone is compatible with the car you are looking at!
- Are the steps easy to understand when pairing up the devices?
- Does the phone reconnect automatically if the vehicle is stopped and restarted?
Making Calls
- How easy is it to place a call using the system?
- Are the hands-free controls on the steering wheel or on the dashboard?
- Does the vehicle allow hands-free calling using voice commands ?
Address Book
- Does the vehicle allow you to download your cellphone’s address book or does it have its own Bluetooth address book that requires you to add entries one at a time?
- If the system downloads your phone’s address book, how easy is the process? Do all the information fields for the address book display?
- If the system has its own address book, how easy is it to add entries? Does it have different fields for multiple numbers for the same contact?
Other Bluetooth Features
- Does the vehicle support Caller ID? Is the Caller ID easy to read and understand?
- Are you able to transfer between hands-free mode and privacy mode?
- Does the vehicle support call waiting?
- Does the vehicle support text messaging? If yes, where is the message displayed? Does the vehicle convert the text to voice? Is it easy to understand?
In general, you need to make sure your phone and your car can communicate with each other easily and that the Bluetooth system is easy to use. Otherwise, you may be tempted to just pick up the phone instead and that’s neither convenient nor safe when driving.
Source: Deery Ford
