Hands Free - or is it?

[SolarBoy]

Used the hands free today, I had to join a call whilst on a mission of mercy. I generally don't like to chat on the phone whilst driving, it is unsafe.

The call was a conference call with 20 other participants.

What isn't explained in the Outlander manual (is anything explained) was how to mute my microphone without touching the handset.

There doesn't appear to be a mute button on the steering wheel, and the MMCS just complained when trying to change stuff whilst in a call.

Hints or tips gratefully accepted.

Many thanks.

 

[maby]

I'm not aware of any mute function, I'm afraid. That said, our previous Toyota didn't have one either - how many car systems do?

 

[user 816]

There is a button above the 'transfer call' button that looks strangely like a speaker not a microphone that I think mutes the microphone, once pressed you sometimes need to press the 'Tel' soft button to get back to the right screen.

But by far the simplest way is to just press the voice control button on the steering wheel and give the command 'mute' litle miss sexy voice will confirm it, pretty quickly. Use the command 'Mute Off' to restore the mike.

 

[SolarBoy]

There is a button above the 'transfer call' button that looks strangely like a speaker not a microphone that I think mutes the microphone, once pressed you sometimes need to press the 'Tel' soft button to get back to the right screen.

But by far the simplest way is to just press the voice control button on the steering wheel and give the command 'mute' litle miss sexy voice will confirm it, pretty quickly. Use the command 'Mute Off' to restore the mike.

Cheers Bob!

I have just been out to the car to try this ... and spoke to Miss Sexy Voice (MSV) who muted it!

I am off to have another play with MSV and see what else she can do for me.

 

[user 816]

There is a button above the 'transfer call' button that looks strangely like a speaker not a microphone that I think mutes the microphone, once pressed you sometimes need to press the 'Tel' soft button to get back to the right screen.

But by far the simplest way is to just press the voice control button on the steering wheel and give the command 'mute' litle miss sexy voice will confirm it, pretty quickly. Use the command 'Mute Off' to restore the mike.

Cheers Bob!

I have just been out to the car to try this ... and spoke to Miss Sexy Voice (MSV) who muted it!

I am off to have another play with MSV and see what else she can do for me.

Steady fella! those windows are not that tinted... :shock:

 

[SolarBoy]

Further poking of MSV has shown limitations, can't enter a passcode once dialled into my conference tieline, but the mute is good enough, no need to wait for her to say all the stuff just say mute after pressing the button.

Will try storing the passcode in the phone memory, failing that I'll get a phone mount which I think is allowed?

Sound quality is great, both listening to a call and me talking.

Is the tweeter in the A-pillar the microphone?

 

[Claymore]

Used the hands free today, I had to join a call whilst on a mission of mercy. I generally don't like to chat on the phone whilst driving, it is unsafe.

The call was a conference call with 20 other participants.

What isn't explained in the Outlander manual (is anything explained) was how to mute my microphone without touching the handset.

There doesn't appear to be a mute button on the steering wheel, and the MMCS just complained when trying to change stuff whilst in a call.

Hints or tips gratefully accepted.

Many thanks.

'I generally don't like to chat on the phone whilst driving, it is unsafe' - no, it's positively dangerous, even hands free without p*ss*ing about with the buttons!

'A mission of Mercy'....'20 other participants'...were they all in their cars p*ss*ng about with their phones?

Sorry, but I find this behaviour absolutely moronic.

JimB

 

[user 816]

Used the hands free today, I had to join a call whilst on a mission of mercy. I generally don't like to chat on the phone whilst driving, it is unsafe.

The call was a conference call with 20 other participants.

What isn't explained in the Outlander manual (is anything explained) was how to mute my microphone without touching the handset.

There doesn't appear to be a mute button on the steering wheel, and the MMCS just complained when trying to change stuff whilst in a call.

Hints or tips gratefully accepted.

Many thanks.

'I generally don't like to chat on the phone whilst driving, it is unsafe' - no, it's positively dangerous, even hands free without p*ss*ing about with the buttons!

'A mission of Mercy'....'20 other participants'...were they all in their cars p*ss*ng about with their phones?

Sorry, but I find this behaviour absolutely moronic.

JimB

Your of course welcome to your opinion but I don't agree. I work in the field so not having conversations would make life impossible, not least see me regularly driving to the wrong place, regularly pulling off the motorway and stopping starting to make/take calls would make (some days) virtually pointless.

I have also been in a mass conference calls on the road, usually the format of such things is a briefing by someone, only un-muting briefly at the start to let them know your there then a very occasional chip in if something specific needs a response. The majority of the time its no more distracting than listening to a radio chat or debate.

After 20 years of continuous car phone use I would concede two points, 1. some people just can't cope well with it and I regularly see specific driving I know is caused by this activity but tarring everyone with the same brush is unfair. 2. It is a distraction and the driver needs to adjust, slow down, avoid manoeuvres, leave much bigger gaps. All our office staff are trained to ask if its safe to talk at the moment or hang up, also to accept that if there is gap in the conversation then the driver is giving the road their full attention and to wait. Drivers are trained to identify they are driving immediately on the call and end it if they feel uncomfortable or to pause if they need to concentrate for the moment. Its a case of being professional and assessing the risk at the time.

Personally I find a passenger far more distracting, as well as conversation there is the need to concentrate on your driving even more as you have a 'judge' onboard watching your every move

 

[SolarBoy]

As Outlander drivers, we ought to be used to button pushing? :shock:

In agreement with BobEngineer, well thought out summary.

 

[ChrisMiller]

In a perfect world, every driver would give the road and their environment 100% of their concentration, in the same fashion as an F1 racer. In a perfect world there would be no ICE to fiddle with (or even distract yourself by listening to) or other people in the car to talk to, let alone your kids squabbling in the back. We do not live in a perfect world. In reality, drivers sometimes think about matters other than driving - whether they remembered to double lock the door; the 9:00 meeting they're going to; the spat they had with their spouse - any of which could be equally distracting as a phone call.

But police and politicians are very keen on targeting phone use because it's an absolute liability offence, which can easily be proven by the use of mobile phone records. It's the same reason they love to crack down on speeding, but rarely do anything about activities that can be far more dangerous, such as tailgating.

 

[geoffshep69]

Whilst I agree that talking on a hands free kit could be distracting, I think that it depends on the individual circumstances and there are many many people who are perfectly capable of doing so and still being able to drive effectively. Banning hands free kits completely is a blunt instrument which to my mind penalises sensible drivers. If we go down that route, then we should also make it a criminal offence to change the radio station, put in a CD, eat something, talk to another passenger, smoke, etc. All of those things are just as capable of causing a driver to be distracted and to have an accident, so I don't see why hands free kits are demonised more than any of these other actions.

 

[greendwarf]

As multi-tasking is supposedly a female trait this explains why F1 drivers are all male - although I did impress a female friend by carrying on a conversation with her whilst undertaking manual work - and not what you are thinking either