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Sync for the Lincoln MKX
I hope the comments below are helpful for those who think Sync is their answer to hands free voice dialing with their cell phones.
Little has been said in cell phone forums or car forums about the new Microsoft Sync system in Ford and Lincoln 2008 models that are supposed to enable the driver to use wonderful hands free dialing ... if only it worked!
Hands free voice dialing is very important for 2 reasons -- the first is some States are banning the use of hand held cell phones and the 2nd is that it is dangerous to take your eyes off the road to dial or answer cell phone calls. After a serious cell phone related wreck I decided that hands free voice dialing was a must for both my car and my cell phone.
I solved this problem for my wife by getting her a Cadillac SRX with OnStar and built in phone. I preferred the styling of the Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX both which have the new Microsoft Sync system which has features not available on GM products.
With voice activated speaker independent voice dialing as a requirement and ATT/Cingular as my carrier I bought a Motorola Razr V3 for my wife and a Krazr for myself. The local Lincoln dealership assured me the 2008 Microsoft equipped Lincoln MKX would work with both phones. The voice dialing feature doesn't work with either! I discovered this after 4 return visits to the Lincoln dealership, 12 hours with Ford/Lincoln and countless hours with Microsoft's Syncmyride.com, ATT and Motorola.
Ford and Lincoln buyers beware the Microsoft Sync's website has no tech support for Sync, no 800 number to call, no live chat with a tech support guy in India, and the Forums page, which should enable users to connect with each, other is not functioning. Sales staff and service staff have no clue on how to use the voice dialing feature of Sync and their training and resources are seriouly lacking (i.e. they have no one at "corporate" to call to get answers and noone at Microsoft to call).
It seems that the Sync system, which Ford hopes will enable them to compete against GM's OnStar System, only works with ATT's Motorola Razr V3xx, the Motorola RAZR V3i and the Motorola V3r .. not the V3 or the Krazr. All these models are made obslete by the just released Motorola V9.
I should add that the local ATT store which is huge and carries over a hundred phones did not have a V3r or a V3r. The V3xx is a heavy ugly phone which sports features I do not need. The Motorola V9 is a much slimmer, lighter phone and I wanted it -- but Sync does not support it!
Now I am stuck with a $40K car that doesn't have the very voice dialing features I bought it for --- so what to do?
1. Buy the Motorola V3xx which I don't want to lug around like an anchor and, which I assume, has been made obsolete by the V9?
2. Try to figure out how to use the ATT *8 voice dialing system with Sync with the V3 or Krazr I have? The *8 system is an extra $5 month but I think you have to program each number separately which is really not an option if you have 250 numbers in your cell phone.
3. Wait until Microsoft, Ford, ATT and Motorola figure out how to get the Sync system to work with either the new Motorola V9 or the two models of phone I have?
If anyone in the cell phone world has any ideas on who to contact at Microsoft, Ford or ATT too get answers to these questions please let me know. The reps I have talked to on the phone from each of these companies do not know what I am talking about.
If anyone in the cell phone world knows whether there are plans for the V9 to work with Sync please let me know!!!!!
Message to Ford --- sell cell phones that work with your cars. Work out programs where the dealer can sell a phone that has voice dialing that works with Sync and have the sales staff trained to get the basic features working when a customer takes delivery of a car. Get Micrsoft to put an 800 number on their syncmyride.com websire. Provide 24 hour tech support on Sync to your dealerships.
Little has been said in cell phone forums or car forums about the new Microsoft Sync system in Ford and Lincoln 2008 models that are supposed to enable the driver to use wonderful hands free dialing ... if only it worked!
Hands free voice dialing is very important for 2 reasons -- the first is some States are banning the use of hand held cell phones and the 2nd is that it is dangerous to take your eyes off the road to dial or answer cell phone calls. After a serious cell phone related wreck I decided that hands free voice dialing was a must for both my car and my cell phone.
I solved this problem for my wife by getting her a Cadillac SRX with OnStar and built in phone. I preferred the styling of the Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX both which have the new Microsoft Sync system which has features not available on GM products.
With voice activated speaker independent voice dialing as a requirement and ATT/Cingular as my carrier I bought a Motorola Razr V3 for my wife and a Krazr for myself. The local Lincoln dealership assured me the 2008 Microsoft equipped Lincoln MKX would work with both phones. The voice dialing feature doesn't work with either! I discovered this after 4 return visits to the Lincoln dealership, 12 hours with Ford/Lincoln and countless hours with Microsoft's Syncmyride.com, ATT and Motorola.
Ford and Lincoln buyers beware the Microsoft Sync's website has no tech support for Sync, no 800 number to call, no live chat with a tech support guy in India, and the Forums page, which should enable users to connect with each, other is not functioning. Sales staff and service staff have no clue on how to use the voice dialing feature of Sync and their training and resources are seriouly lacking (i.e. they have no one at "corporate" to call to get answers and noone at Microsoft to call).
It seems that the Sync system, which Ford hopes will enable them to compete against GM's OnStar System, only works with ATT's Motorola Razr V3xx, the Motorola RAZR V3i and the Motorola V3r .. not the V3 or the Krazr. All these models are made obslete by the just released Motorola V9.
I should add that the local ATT store which is huge and carries over a hundred phones did not have a V3r or a V3r. The V3xx is a heavy ugly phone which sports features I do not need. The Motorola V9 is a much slimmer, lighter phone and I wanted it -- but Sync does not support it!
Now I am stuck with a $40K car that doesn't have the very voice dialing features I bought it for --- so what to do?
1. Buy the Motorola V3xx which I don't want to lug around like an anchor and, which I assume, has been made obsolete by the V9?
2. Try to figure out how to use the ATT *8 voice dialing system with Sync with the V3 or Krazr I have? The *8 system is an extra $5 month but I think you have to program each number separately which is really not an option if you have 250 numbers in your cell phone.
3. Wait until Microsoft, Ford, ATT and Motorola figure out how to get the Sync system to work with either the new Motorola V9 or the two models of phone I have?
If anyone in the cell phone world has any ideas on who to contact at Microsoft, Ford or ATT too get answers to these questions please let me know. The reps I have talked to on the phone from each of these companies do not know what I am talking about.
If anyone in the cell phone world knows whether there are plans for the V9 to work with Sync please let me know!!!!!
Message to Ford --- sell cell phones that work with your cars. Work out programs where the dealer can sell a phone that has voice dialing that works with Sync and have the sales staff trained to get the basic features working when a customer takes delivery of a car. Get Micrsoft to put an 800 number on their syncmyride.com websire. Provide 24 hour tech support on Sync to your dealerships.
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This discussion has been closed.
Comments
There are only 2 ways to figure this out.
1. Go to www.syncmyride.com and you will see lists of phones.
2. Go to the dealer with your phone and make the sales person pair your phone to a car with Sync. If you sales person can't do this or get you a person at the dealership who can, do not buy a car there. If you do pair your phone to a car and you don't buy that car, make sure someone does a "master reset" on the Sync unit in that car.
If you are going to replace your phone after you buy the car, then buy a phone based on www.syncmyride.com OR take your car to the store and see if a demo phone is available in the model you are considering and Sync that to your car.
If you are having problems with your phone and you do not want to replace it, check with your carrier as the phone my have a firmware update available.
One other catch, the same model cell phone likely has different features from different carriers. ATT might order something different than t-mobile.
Mark
This means you cannot use the command "phone home" etc.
You should still be able to use the command "dial" and then speak the digits of the number you want to dial.
This firmware is required FIRMWARE VERSION: R26111LD_U_96.71.95R
Mark
Nokia 6133 from T-Mobile.
Mark
Mark
You will be able to do these updates yourself with a flash drive
Mark.
Sync seems to have momentum and when the exclusive deal between Ford and Microsoft expires in a year it may leave GM/Onstar scratching its head.
The main complaint I had is that it took a lot of commands to dial a number ("phone" then "dial" then "XXX-XXX-XXXX" then "dial" again) when it should have been as simple as being able to dial from anywhere in the menu (and not needing to switch modes first), saying "dial XXX-XXX-XXXX" then responding yes/no if it got it right.
It was a rental, I probably should have deleted that data before returning it...
Without Navigation, you can just say "dial"
Mark