On the Move

Page 1

Monday, July 25, 2011

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Aftermarket mirror makes OnStar available for non-GM vehicles By Mark W. Smith Detroit Free Press

Camry, meet OnStar. General Motors’ OnStar service, a longtime leader in safety with its army of live on-demand advisers, is now available in the form of an aftermarket rear-view mirror called OnStar For My Vehicle that can be installed in almost any car. OnStar FMV will be available Sunday for $299.99 plus a $75 installation fee at Best Buy stores nationwide. Service plans for the OnStar FMV unit start at $18.95 a month, or $199 a year. GM says the mirror is compatible with more than 90 mil-

lion vehicles. The mirror provides access to OnStar services such as automatic crash response, hands-free calling, turn-byturn navigation and help in finding a stolen vehicle. An accelerometer inside the OnStar FMV detects when a car has been in a crash and automatically rings an OnStar adviser who can locate the car and direct emergency personnel to the location. “We can now package everything into one unit and contain it in that unit,� said Vijay Iyer, director of public affairs and corporate communications at OnStar. There are quirks to the

OnStar FMV’s approach, though. The unit is not integrated with a car’s sound system. So as commands issue from the mirror, such as turn-by-turn directions or an incoming call, the car stereo is not briefly quieted as it is in an OnStarequipped GM car. This can make the prompts a bit hard to hear. OnStar FMV does not allow for some of the service’s more advanced features such as vehicle diagnostics, which can deliver instant warnings on things like tire pressure and send drivers a monthly email detailing the car’s condition.

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The one snag I hit during my testing in an OnStarprovided Ford Explorer was when OnStar FMV had trouble confirming that I wanted directions to get to work, and it offered to take me to a live adviser. The adviser was having computer issues and couldn’t help send the directions to the unit. She apologized and politely asked me to call back in to the system for help from another adviser as she was unable to transfer me. By the time I reached a second adviser and vehicle directions were downloaded to the mirror, the whole process took 4 1/2 minutes. But that delay is a fluke

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among OnStar’s 3 million calls each month, Iyer said. More than half of GM drivers keep OnStar once the promotional period expires, and 60 percent of those drivers renew later, he said. The real power in OnStar, though, isn’t in navigation or hands-free calling — tasks that several other gadgets do much better without a monthly fee. Rather it’s the safety features, which first wowed consumers in 1996. The mirror’s emergency button can be used for health emergencies or if a driver witnesses an accident. The service can also be used to quickly ask for roadside assistance for

breakdowns or flat tires. Ford, which leapfrogged ahead of OnStar with its focus on the smartphone and Bluetooth technology, is now testing its own network of live operators — an admission of sorts that customers value connecting directly with a real person. Among OnStar’s 6 million subscribers in the U.S., Canada and China, there are 20,000 emergency service requests each month, Iyer said. It’s that peace of mind that will draw people to the OnStar FMV, even as the service works to catch up to an increasingly technology-hungry customer base.

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