Sometimes, when I make calls on my handset (vs. using the screen which you can't do when you're moving), I lose connectivity with the bluetooth in the car, and the only way to re-connect is to shut the engine and re-start. To make matters more interesting, if I get a call while my bluetooth is in this weird state, the person on the other side can only hear the radio playing at a very high volume, and I hear nothing in the car. I have a Motorola Razr, and other than this weird, unpredictable behavior, the bluetooth works fine.
You didn't mention who your service provider is, but Verizon phones are notorious for dropping calls when on the phone and another call comes in; kind of like call no-waiting! Although that's not what you're describing, losing the bluetooth connection sounds like a phone issue. Try a new phone and if it still does it, then it may be the car. Or, if you have a laptop with bluetooth, perhaps you could try syncing it with your phone and monitoring the laptop/phone to see if the connection gets lost.
Service provider is Cingular (AT&T now), but the problem is not that the signal is being dropped (at least I don't think that's the problem), but rather that the connection between the phone (Razr) and the car (via Bluetooth) is somehow getting disconnected. I tried a different phone, same results. Personally, I think it's a bug in the software that controls the bluetooth interface in the car, as it only seems to happen when I try to control the phone call connection via the phone (as opposed to via the touch screen, which is deactivated while the car is in motion). My lease is up in Sept., and I'll be trading it in for a newer version. Hopefully, whatever the problem is got solved in the later models.
Current gen cars allow dialing by voice: name or number, so you can now dial while the car is in motion. I suspect you're right; using the handset controls is the source of the problem. Have you used all your
17 one-touch slots for dialing while in motion? What exactly are you doing with the handset that you can't do onscreen while in motion?
Does the Lexus Bluetooth phone system allow programming of 1-touch dial positions? These are the only ones that can be dialed while in motion on the Prius' Bluetooth phone system. (and I think that there are voice commands to dial these...)
You can use one touch, and I do have several of them programmed, but often I've got customer calls I'm making while on the road, and their numbers aren't programmed. The other problem is that the software only allows me to transfer one number at a time (yuck), and it's only the "default" number (first entry on the phone), so if I want to put a cell phone number on one touch, and the cell number isn't the default, I have to enter a new (different name) entry on the phone, and then transfer that. There's no way to enter a number directly into the phone database on the car (yuck again), so your only choice is to either transfer one at a time, or dial from the handset when you're moving (and yes, it is pretty difficult and dangerous to do that). Voice activated dialing wouldn't be bad, but it won't fix all the other problems I've just described.
That's a phone issue. The Cingular Blackberry Pearl will send all contacts at once. Although it's got to be impossible to keep up with all the phones as quickly as they are released, lexus.com has a chart that outlines what features work on each phone they've had a chance to test.
That's still the same on the latest gen nav, unfortunately. "John home, John work, John Cel" all need their own entries (as you've discovered).
(yuck again),
You can enter name/phone #s directly into the phone database on the latest gen nav, but then you'd also have to enter it into your phone, so you're entering it twice?
Has anyone firgured out how to use the transfer button?? It only seems to be lit, and thus able to press, if I get two calls coming in at the same time. (Talking to one person, and then another callcoming in.) However, the book says it is used to have a private conversation by transfering the call to your cell phone....
Thanks for the insight. Sounds like there's been some improvements in the next gen Nav, and that I need a new phone. In the meanwhile, I guess I'm stuck with what I've got! The idea of entering the phone numbers twice (once in the phone, once in the car) isn't as bad as having to transfer one number at a time (which takes forever, as the bluetooth link needs to disconnect, transfer, and re-connect with each number, which takes somewhere in the vicinity of 30-45 seconds). The voice dial by number sounds great as long as (a) you know the number you're calling (rare for me, as many of them are international and REALLLLLLY LOOOOONNNNG) and (b) the voice recognition software actually recognizes what you're saying (also rare, as the software is still kind of rinky dink). Oh well. Still love the car, and can't wait to get my next one in September (LS 600h L).
To clarify, the one-at-a-time is a phone software issue. lexus.com lists all the phones they've been able to test along with the features that work. For example, the Cingular Blackberry Pearl allows entire phonebook transfer instead of one at a time.
That hasn't changed with the latest gen nav... :(
(yuck again)
You can enter a name/number directly with the latest nav, but why enter it into both your phone and the nav when you only need to enter it once into your phone and then transfer to the nav?
If you don't have a stored entry, voice activated dialing by stating the numbers wouldn't be bad? What's not to like? That being said, you'd still have to read off the numbers from a scrap of paper while simultaneously driving. Any type of dialing, by hand into a keypad or even by voice, diminishes your concentration while driving.
Well, the transfer one number at a time thing is actually phone- dependent, and not a fault of the car. Some phones can do the entire phonebook at once (my husband's old Sony Ericsson T68i for example), while others can only do one contact at a time (his current Motorola RAZR for example), while some cannot transfer at all (like the notorious Verizon V710).
Yes, there is the issue that the first number attached to a name is the one that is transferred. The only real way around that is to only have one number attached to a name in your phone book, something like John Smith H, John Smith W, John Smith C (one entry each for John Smith at his home, work, cell numbers). Hopefully the first number you entered isn't a fax machine! ;-)
On the Prius and several other Toyotas (Camry, Sienna, Highlander HV, and Lexus RX400h that I've heard of), depending on the implementation there may be a screen hack that'll disable the navigation/bluetooth speed lockouts. (The display used on the 2004-2005 Prius uses this, but it is not available on the 2006-current Prius...) Give
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Is there any chance that you can program your customers as a POI if you have a navigation package? I think that you can dial a POI while moving, if you can still access the POI.
You can enter a phone number into the phone book of the car without the use of downloading from your phone, but it is kinda tricky. On the newer display I mentioned (for a Prius it's on the 2006 and newer models, I don't know when the crossover is/was on other Toyota/Lexus models), you can directly add in a number to the phonebook (while car is stopped). Otherwise (either display version), you can transfer a number from the quick-dial location that stores the previous outgoing or incoming calls and place that stored number into the phonebook (although without a description). Alternately, you can add a phone number to a POI in the navigation system and dial it from there.
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