sarahw

So by your reasoning if your telephone service in your home is disconnected, you have a heart attack and are unable to call for help, the phone company can be sued? Um, no. (Well, you COULD sue, but you'd be wasting your time.)

The flaw in your reasoning is in the "payment for service." With airbags, there is no service provider to pay; they either work or they don't.

in2pro

I agree/relate to what SabrToothSqrl is saying that if GM/OnStar can provide a critical service such as calling 911 if your airbags go off why not provide that as an outright option at no added cost other then the option itself.
Something like that could save lives and you should'nt have to pay monthly for it, but then that is what OnStar is capitalizing on that you will pay for that extra sense of security.
From an insurance stand point itscheaper to have you dead then incapacitated for life....

EDIT

Just an FYI, ANY cell phone that has a charged battery even without service WILL dial 911. I tried it on a very old starTac phone I had and dialed 911 and got an operator and she confirmed that yes any cell phone active or not will dial 911. Its the law... should try seeing if an inactive OnStar will still dial 911.....

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts...ss911srvc.html

"
Basic 911 rules require wireless service providers to:
[ul][*]
transmit all 911 calls to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the provider's service or not. "[/ul]

I wonder if I just found a loophole in OnStar's service....guess they are not required to call on your behalf but can't stop you from calling yourself?

SabrToothSqrl

I agree with paying for optional and or additional GM OnStar services, I have no issue with that. However 911 is a FREE cellular call (by law), even deactivated cell phones can make this call.

Your home phone argument is just, however I do not know the laws governing home phone disconnections in regard to 911 services.

There is no cost to GM to call 911 from the car if the airbags go off, there is no lost revenue, it is a life saving feature disabled by some dorky accountant...

Next up, is a life boat fee for the remaining 15 on the Titanic... its going down! but no, wait, did you pay your $14.99 life boat insurance policy?

NO? Crap! you must go down with the ship! We have the capacity, and the ability to save your life, but no thanks.... its just too much bother...

and to get one other thing strait, I am the LAST person who would 'want something for free', but i'm fairly sure that my money paid for the GM car, paid for the CDMA cell phone in the dash, and my money paid the E911 tax on my current cell phones... and my health insurance would pay for the ambulace / heli ride... so, I dont think GM flipping a software switch is asking to much...

OMG; i just had a GREAT idea for a gizmo... that Lock Pick thing... it could totally do this without too much work... right? it interfaces w/the OnStar box right?

I'm gonna give those guys a call....

No, if you can 'dial' then I guess you could call your self, but the whole idea is that if your unable to call, the car does it for you.

according to Ford's web site, the Sync (which is so kick ***) will (after a crash) verbally ask the occupants if they are 'okay' they then have X seconds to press that 'i am ok' on the screen, else it calls 911, plays a message, can relay the GPS coordinates, then put the phone on speaker phone! my god, that's amazing, and should be freaking standard in every car!

rruelas

Thanks shawnvw for responding. I might try it in a few months and see if i can still keep the cell phone part of my equipment active. When I do, I will let everyone know of the outcome.

shawnvw

The major difference between the sync, and OnStar, is that Sync, is basically a bluetooth piece of equipment that has the ability to dial 911 automatically. Onstar DOES NOT dial 911. It is not a bluetooth unit. It it merely a link between your vehicle, and the OnStar call center. When your airbags deploy, the onstar module contacts Onstar, not 911. It is then up to the onstar operator to call the apropriate authorities if you need them.

SabrToothSqrl

Right, I understand that; but say you don't have OnStar and your in a wreck... what happens....

OnStar in a GM vehicle is a CDMA (Verizon, correct?) phone... could it simply not dial 911 instead of OnStar?

The 09 tahoe+ has blue tooth (finally)...

this whole thing could be fixed with a software patch that says:

1. airbags went off
2. call 911
3. play recorded GM message (or let customer record it, like an answering machine)
4. turn on speaker phone

entirely software, NO hardware costs...

what irks me is, it has the ability, but they don't enable it... its not like i'm asking the car to fly over traffic... unless it had thrusters underneath

I'm saying that the vehicle has the ability to contact rescue personnel. PERIOD. Obviously you can't take the vehicle to court for its 'lack of action'.... but I image you could take the company / programmers / dork who made that call...

In the future, I could see a '911 alert' system mandatory in all cars... heck that would have made much more sense than the stupid TMPS crap that got pushed through... I know my tire pressure, I check it... I'd rather have spent $100 / per car to know that in an accident 911 would automatically have been called than to know that my left rear tire is 28 PSI, while the front left is 29!

lol...

all good points by everyone, but obviously its a new system, so upgrades are always a possibility...

I personally won't subscribe to OnStar in my next vehicle, but if others choose to, thats fine...

sarahw

Hmm, well. I've seen posts from individuals whining that OnStar is "spying" on them, watching their every move, etc. and wanting to have it disconnected. I guess there's just no satisfying everyone, lol. Personally I never use the OnStar in either of my vehicles, but I like knowing it's there.

SabrToothSqrl

True, I wonder if any have been used in accident investigations.... like "I swear I was doing 45"..... (speedo said 99, but I swear it was 45!) lol

yarom

Wow, so much wrong information in one thread...

Every GM car comes with a built in phone, which is CDMA and the OnStar service is carried on the Verizon network.

Each phone is assigned an ESN (hardwired, likea MAC address) that is pre-programmed/activated with a number and can be disconnected (disassociated) from the center (NOC).

Each phone sold in the US has to abide by the 911 rule and therefore, has to be able to dial 911 even if not activated, associated or is without a SIM.

I agree the service is crock and not worth the money, but it's quite important when really needed (unlock the car, emergency, trace, etc.).

If you want to use it without using your minimal minutes on OnStar (to keep the service on), just install the GM Lockpick from Coastal Tech. It allows you to plug a Bluetooth kit to the OnStar and does not disable it.

maynard7

Were you able to set up your OnStar to make phone calls?