Aargh. OnStar Phone --- How??

Lawnmower2020 · July 9, 2015

After searching all the documentation I could lay my hands on, I still can't figure out how to use the blasted OnStar built-in phone to place a call. Jeez. "Complicated" and "unintuitive" doesn't begin to cover it.

The scenario goes like this: I have a Bluetooth phone paired with the system. Works great. Really. Contacts, incoming and outgoing calls, even the music files in a nonstandard folder work. No complaints about that at all. But sometimes I don't have the phone and want to use the minutes I've bought for the OnStar built-in phone. Now you'd think that pushing the "Phone" icon would do the trick, wouldn't you? Nope. All that wants to do is insist that I connect the usual Bluetooth phone. There's no mention or path to the prepaid OnStar phone.

I'm sure there must be some simple way to do this, I just haven't found it or guessed it.

Can someone help me out with this and maybe share any tips on how to make it easy to use? I'd be most appreciative.

Oh, BTW, I've actually answered a call to my truck's phone because it rings through to the Infotainment system as you'd expect, to the best of my recollection, and seems to behave about the same way you'd expect a paired phone to behave. It's just the outgoing process that has me feeling like a total idiot.

newdude · July 9, 2015

Are you pressing the "guy sitting with the voice bars on his head" button in the mirror itself?

atxboehlke · July 10, 2015

^^ what he said. I just figured mine out today, press the left onstar button with the guy talking then select onstar phone call

Lawnmower2020 · July 10, 2015

Are you pressing the "guy sitting with the voice bars on his head" button in the mirror itself?

Hahaha! Nope. Didn't even know there was such a cursed individual in that location. Are you suggesting that I should in some way add to his torment?

Lawnmower2020 · July 10, 2015

Thanks to both of you. I'll try it ASAP.

(I don't know why that quoted-post immediately above is behaving that way.)

Lawnmower2020 · July 10, 2015

DANG! It worked!! And it was easy/intuitive to boot. Even the voice command worked. Thanks to you guys.

Likarok · July 11, 2015

Until recently I though On-Star was a good thing! Until I got into a situation in Montana and the girl at On-Star was a dumb as a post! I don't even think she knew were Montana was or at the very least were Great Falls was. An then they got hung up because I was a Canadian! Yes Canadians visit the US! Then they transferred me to the Canadian On-star to help me in Montana!

Anyways at the end of it all I was not impressed and have not renewed any of my On-Star services! IMO it is way over rated!!!!!!