Motorola auto answere, not.

[jakfrost]

I tried hooking up my Motorola i90c to the Autocom today and I can use the '2-way' and normal calling functions just fine, but I can't seem to figure out how to get the 'auto-answere' feature to work...

 

I tried everything I could think of but since this is all new to me, ( never had a c-phone with that feature before ), I am probably missing some small detail...

 

Anybody got any suggestions beside buying a different phone? I still have 1 year left on the contract...

 

I wouldn't give a s--t, except when I am on 1 hour callout it gets a bit nerve wracking on the bike if I miss a call

 

Jim

[steveknapp]

What have you tried?

 

Edit a ring style, turn on auto answer, set that ring style?

[jakfrost]

Well, I turned on the auto-answer of course but never tried to change the ring style...when the SO calls for a test try the phone just keeps ringing until either I answer it or the message picks up after 7 rings.

 

My choices for the auto-answer are, Off, 1 Ring, 2 Rings, etc. I was trying 1 Ring but no luck. I also tried disabling the 'flip answer', which I normally have activated so when I flip it open it answeres...no luck.

 

Thanks anyway Steve, Jim

[steveknapp]

Make sure that the ring style you have selected is the one that you've changed to "1 ring".

 

Also might only work with the car kit or a headset inserted.

[Toml]

I'm not a phone expert at all and remember having to mess with my LG phone settings to get it to work. But one thing I learned that was not obvious to me was that auto answer only works when something (a cable) is plugged into the earphone jack.

 

I mention this because my last phone (a Samsung)had a really flakey connection with the earphone cable that connected to my autocom. It had to be pushed in just the right distance (but a hair less than all the way). And sometimes even the act of pushing the cable in, caused the phone to reboot. What a hassel.

 

Thankfully, it bounced out of the handle bar pocket I made, while on a ride, so I *HAD* to replace it.

 

I now have a Razr. The autoanswer works fine and as someone pointed out in another thread, different phones handle the ring on autoanswer differently. The motorolas send the ring to the earphone jack which means you hear it in your helmet. My LG and Samsung did not.

 

So check the jack on your autocom cable. And you might need to trim the plastic on the jack a bit to get a good connection. There's a pic of that posted in this forum some where too. Autocom also mentions it on their site. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll find the pic and send you a link.

 

A good first step would be for you to isolate the problem to the phone (versus a faulty cable, etc.). See if you can find an earphone jack and test the auto answer with that.

 

Assuming that fails, go here... http://www.howardforums.com/

And browse to the forum for motorola phones and post your questions. This is the best resource on the internet that I've found for cell phones. There is a main motorola forum, but I think you'll have better luck if you browse to the motorola sub-forum under your carrier. For example, my carrier is verizon, so I go here... http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=294 The forum under your carrier is often better because your carrier installs their own software/user interface, etc. which may be specific to your problem.

 

hope that helps. Hang in there. It's worth it once you get it working. And... ok, this not part of your question... I've been using bluetooth with my phone/autocom for a couple months now and it's a great convenience. It's one on the best gadget additions to my bike so far. I can just jump on my bike and ride off (after pressing one button on my BT module) and the phone is connected in. I see the i90c is not blue tooth enabled. So, once we figure out your autoanswer problem, you gotta think about an upgrade!

[Foot]

I had an autovox that would only answer with the phone flipped open. I just switched to a motorola 815 that can autoanswer closed.

 

Alan

[jakfrost]

Thanks Tom, lots of good info...I finally drove to the distributor yesterday, ( good excuse for a couple of hours ride ), and the tech's there finally figured it out for me. Took 2 of them 'bout 45 mins. since it was hidden in a 'sub-menu' under the 'Styles' menu selection. Selecting 'auto-answer' under the 'Settings' menu does nothing, as I found out...go figure.

 

Anyway we got the 'auto-answer' function up and running but despite their best efforts couldn't get the ring to come thru the autocom. They tried using their computer to access software they thought might work but all to no avail. I thought someone mentioned they had to have their phone plugged into a charger to get the ring thru the autocom so I will try that this morning.

 

I spent last night re-wiring the lead from the autocom to run up to the 'glove box' where I drilled a small hole to alow the lead, ( after I cut the connector off...), to enter below the gasket at the rear. Then re-soldered the lead and now can have the phone in the storage box while riding. If I can just have the 'incoming' ring in the headset...

 

I did find out that my 3 yr contract was up 6 months ago so I am a 'free agent' and so can look at a new contract and new phone. So the Bluetooth thing is interesting. I think it would mean a new autocom as well, no? I just installed this new Active 7 Sport weeks ago .

 

Jim

[Art..]

I remember reading somewhere that Nokia's are the only phones that ring through.

[jakfrost]

Well that is as good a place to start as any...since I have tried everything I can think of to get mine to ring thru and no luck...

 

Jim

[Toml]

yeah, I think it's either going to ring through or not, and it's not something you can set via the phone UI.

 

Poorman's ring through: Not sure whether you have music onboard or not, but at least when you're listening to music, when a call comes in, the autocom will cut out the music which will give you a clue that perhaps you have a call. Then, through the wind noise you listen very carefully for the faint "hello? hello?"

 

someone on this board said a couple months back that "ring through" was manufacturer dependent and that motorolas do ring through. mine does. But I wouldn't be surprisefd if there were variations within a brand.

 

if you buy a phone that supports blue tooth, you do not need to upgrade your autocom. You can either by a blue tooth "module" from autocom (I think it's two pieces that add up to about $150-160) or you can by a blue tooth speakerphone and run the autocom cable that currently connects to your phone, to the earphone jack on the speaker phone.

 

I went this route because it was much cheaper, it was designed to work with motorola blue tooth phones, it has good reviews (including some from other people on this board) it is powerful (wattage-wise), and has some good features. It also mounts inconspicuously on my handlebars

Here's the one I have. It's called the HF 820. I was so pleased with it, I bought one for my car.

 

Here's a link to BestBuys. It's $99. You can get it from Verizon for $79. Best Buy's comes with a car charger, verizon's comes with a wall charger.

 

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7172588&type=product&id=1110266736410

[jakfrost]

Thanks Tom, no luck with my version of Motorola on the 'ring thru', no matter what I try...so your suggestion to use the speaker phone to 'relay' to the blue tooth cell phone sounds interesting. Question, when on the road for more than 5 hours there is a chance it will need recharging. Do you have it plugged into 12v power all the time on the bike or bring it into the house at night for a charge.

 

My luck it would go dead half way to somewhere...can it take charging full time?

 

Jim

[Toml]

The motorola HF 820 has a standby time of 100 hours. It also shuts off automatically when you (your blue tooth phone in your pocket) walk out of range. So this conserves battery life. So, I have not yet been caught wihout power (but I don't even have 100 hours on it yet). Because I have two (and two chargers) I may cut one apart and hardwire it to the bike because I like having things hardwired. But I'm waiting because it hasn't been an issue yet.

 

BTW: There is a older model (the HF 800) that you can still find on ebay for less. I've seen reports in this forum of people picking it up for $20-$35. The difference betweeen this and the HF 820 were stated kind of vaguely. Something like "performance" which I assumed to be either call clarity or better blue tooth range and I think battery life. I went for the HF 820 due to fear of the unknown, but I did it over again, I would ask folks on this site what their edperience with the HF 800 is. Since it's only going to be about 2ft from the phone, I bet it's fine and that'll save some $ to put toward your new phone.

[jakfrost]

Thanks Tom, I looked at the Motorola Razr V3c today, it could be mine for $30.00 U.S. No one at the sales counter could answer my questions about the features I need, and the brochure is a little thin on details but it sure is a slick looking piece of gear.

 

That and a Motorola HF820 would have me hearing the ring, and no wires??

 

Jim

[Toml]

Yes, with the Razr and hf 820, you will have ring through to the helmet and no wires. But I'm sure you can attain this with other combo's too. So, you might want to look around a bit.

 

You do have to push a button on the HF 820 when you want to make a call. That's what gets your phone's attention to listen to your microphone. So you will need to mount the hf 820 within reach. But that's literally the only involvement of your hands for placing the call. And it's a big button that's easier to hit with gloves compared to cell phone buttons.

 

But I will say I love my razr (on or off bike). And for me (and motorcycle riding) I like the thinness because I always keep my phone in my front jeans pockets.

 

If you decide to go for the razr, search the web for manufacturer rebates through your carrier. During feb & march, both verizon and cingular (maybe it was sprint) offered $100 rebates on top of whatever your contract price turned out to be. Those expired in early April. There might not be any rebates right now. But it's worth googling. And your cell phone provider should be able to tell you at the time of purchase.

 

good luck...

[steveknapp]

Thanks Tom, I looked at the Motorola Razr V3c today, it could be mine for $30.00 U.S. No one at the sales counter could answer my questions about the features I need, and the brochure is a little thin on details but it sure is a slick looking piece of gear.

 

If you have any specific questions let me know.