Cell Phone Converter For Trucks?

[almondram]

My new Denali came with the ability to make phone calls simply by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Its really cool as the microphone in the truck picks up my voice and I can listen through the speakers. However this factory service came with only 20 minutes of talk time. After that its like $2.00 a minute!!!

I was wondering if there is any way to convert the factory system to work with my cell phone. As I have unlimited minutes with no long distance charges.

There must be a way!

Thanks

[99silverado1500]

you mean onstar, which like every new vehicle has from GM. Yep its gunna cost a pretty penny, unless you have verizon.

[j.roffel]

Only way I know of is to use an aftermarket deck with bluetooth functionality, an then get the adapter/harness to allow you to use the steering wheel buttons etc. Unless the factory stereo comes with bluetooth, I dunno, if it does your phone should be able to hook up with that...

[topdj]

ya you need to pay for an onstar account and then pay for another family account on verizion which is like 9.99 plus tax and uses your plan minutes. so for somehting in the range of 30 bucks a month

its not worth it, I have the XM too which If I was paying for all 3 it would be like 40 a month

I rather listen to XM and turn my phone off

 

option 2 a Parrot Kit bluetooth

http://www.parrotkits.com/index.html

 

harness is here

 

http://www.parrotkits.com/donotcut.html#QCGM-1

[Rocco715]

I haven't heard of any way to convert it but you can buy more minutes through OnStar and it doesn't costs $2.00 per minute you can buy a bundle of minutes for a reasonable price, I bought more just incase I don't have my cell phone on me and someone might need to get in touch with me. Heres the price chart from Onstars web site

30 $13.99 100 $39.99 300 $114.99 500 $174.99 1,000 $299.99 plus they don't expire

[LF Motorsports]

dumb question on the XM radio. Does it use the same antenna as the on-star? The older models had 2 antennas (on-star and sat. radio). did not know if the NBS has 1 or 2.

 

Thanks.

[BigJayDogg3]

Yes they do expire after a year. And while they are not $2 a minute they are expensive. But for me the price was made up because if you call onstar to subscribe, you get a reduced rate. I think the same goes for XM.

 

In other words don't pay in the mail or online CALL onstar and XM.

[kdogg]

Yes they do expire after a year. And while they are not $2 a minute they are expensive. But for me the price was made up because if you call onstar to subscribe, you get a reduced rate. I think the same goes for XM.

 

In other words don't pay in the mail or online CALL onstar and XM.

 

True there are deals, I just got 100mins for $12.00.

 

I also agree though that there has to be a way to connect the cell to the onstar system. I think it's completly stupid to add a jack for an mp3 player and not a phone. Not to much of a difference. The rest of the equipment is already there. Just like the DIC upgrade, everything was there already. Pisses me off! What else are we missing out on?

 

[BigJayDogg3]

What else are we missing out on?

 

OOH me me pick me umm how about half the power our trucks are making?

 

BTW I like that color kevin. Nice choice.

[tobias]

What else are we missing out on?

 

OOH me me pick me umm how about half the power our trucks are making?

 

 

 

 

[kdogg]

What else are we missing out on?

 

OOH me me pick me umm how about half the power our trucks are making?

 

BTW I like that color kevin. Nice choice.

 

 

Thanks, don't see it much. I'm still laughin about the above also.

 

[-Devil-]

i bought the 'first timer' minutes for it ... but i doubt i will get any more .. came up to about .38$ a min ... it would be nice if the truck had bluetooth built in it .. to allow us to connect our exsisting cellphone up and use the factory setup...

[topdj]

check the links in post 4 you can add bluetooth and use your speakers with the factory stereo.

it will take the call and cut the music out too. you can even send the MP3's from you cell thru the factory stereo

[-Devil-]

yeah i have seen the parrott stuff before and adapter harness's ... but it would be nicer to just have it as an option from the factory .. instead of them locking it into a certain cellphone company ... hmmmmm that does give me an idea tho ...

[2017HD]

I have Verizon and didn't add the truck to the plan for 9.95/mo. For as much as I use the truck's cell phone it was not worth it. I will probably not burn the 130 min I bought in the first year, and even at 2.00/ min 100 min is still cheaper than 9.95/mo. I only use the trucks cell when I am driving solo and need to make a call, or if I am on the road and am out of normal cell phone range - the truck has a higher power signal.

 

While it would be nice to have the ability to install your own cell phone - that is not the american way. Be thankful that On Star and Verizon teamed up to even offer a way to add the phone to an existing plan. We could be stuck with the GM network. If I was using the truck for business and using the phone more I would think about adding it to my plan. But for now I will just buy minutes from On Star