Saab: Onstar Phone

I am not very well versed in OnStar, so this answer might just be wasting
bandwidth. But since nobody else has answered yet, here goes:

It is my understanding that the OnStar phone is supposed to be an
alternative to any currant cellular phone service you might have, in case
your cell phone doesn't work. Why might your cell phone not work when
OnStar's would? (OnStar marketing guys went into full spin on this one).
- Your battery might be dead and you don't have a cigar lighter cord to
charge it.
- You are in an area where your cell provider doesn't provide service.
This last point is where the spin comes in. OnStar is based on "obsolete"
analog cell phone technology. It is cheaper because no worthwhile cell
phone company uses analog as their primary transmission method anymore -
everybody has gone digital. The analog towers are still out there to
support the customers with old phones or for the phones that switch to
analog when there is no digital service (Those phones are now obsolete I
believe). The secondary benefit is that because analog cell technology has
been around so long, towers have been put up everywhere, so pretty much the
entire country is covered (except really hard to reach parts with mountains,
etc. and even many of them have coverage).

The bottom line is that OnStar probably thinks of themselves as competition
with your current cell provider (which may explain the rudeness), and there
is no way to associate your current cell phone service/number with the
OnStar server - they are incompatible. BTW, even among the various cell
phone providers, there is very little compatibility. Even though there is
now phone number portability, you most likely have to throw out your old
phone and get a new one if you switch to a different cell phone company.

One way you can come close to what you want is to sign up for OnStar's voice
service, and have the calls from your cell phone forwarded there when you
don't answer. Most cell phones use this already to forward unanswered calls
to voice mail. Another alternative would be to use the number portability
provision to switch your cell phone service to OnStar -- probably not a good
alternative since it is difficult to clip a 9-3 to your belt and carry it
around in case you get a call.

Walt Kienzle


"Bryan Roma" <rr.com> wrote in message
newsdDDb.163319$rdc-kc.rr.com... 
the 

"Bryan Roma" <rr.com> wrote in message news:<pdDDb.163319$rdc-kc.rr.com>... 

Other than unlocking your doors or being a monthly cost lo-jack
service, I see no benefit in having onstar.

I have it in my car and my service expires in May. I won't be
renewing.
And I definetly won't be buying stock in the company.

On 16 Dec 2003 13:57:12 -0800, com (Wiseman) wrote:
 

"Mr. Wiseman, we see that your on-Star account has not been
renewed. Would you like us to renew it now while you are driving ?
Please be aware that your door locks might accidentally lock
you out repeatedly if you do not renew before expiration".

Oh, yeah, I want onStar... I'll get it right after I have the
government tracking chip implanted in my brain.

:-)

Actually I don't believe Onstar is able to unlock the Saab locks.....The
locking system is too sophisticated. If you're on the road a lot, in strange
areas, the system is very handy. The only time they track you is when you
push the onstar button..........Don't be so paronoid!!!

One of the advertised features. Call onstar from a phone, give them
your code, they unlock it.

Still dropped them after a year.

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 14:27:45 -0500, "Kevin Brewer"
<myactv.net> wrote:
 



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On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 14:27:45 -0500, "Kevin Brewer"
<myactv.net> wrote:
 

There was some discussion a while back in the news about them tracking
and storing the information. They claimed that it wasn't available
to anyone but them, but that's just a court order away. I'd be
surprised if they weren't tracking you for marketing purposes.

FWIW, under the Patriot Act, they could go to On-$tar central, get
your tracking information and/or start tracking you full time with
no evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever on your part. On-$tar would be
prevented by law from disclosing the fact that you were being tracked
and/or your information reported to you.

Not that I'm that paranoid, just making the point. I honestly can't
see one single reason to justify On-Star.

> FWIW, under the Patriot Act, they could go to On-$tar central, get 

That's it with the free and the brave.....

-------
MH

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 17:01:00 -0500, User <com> wrote:
 

And what exactly are the odds of locking your keys _in_ your car
these days ? A little difficult to do, since we most always lock
the car with the remote these days.
 

Good choice. :-)