Every Blackberry I've had will not switch over to my HF system when I make a call from it. Even when it's connected to my bluetooth. I can make calls from my system fine, I can receive calls fine but not make them from my phone.


I would like to do this b/c it's a lot faster with speed dial then it is having to confirm the name etc. But now I have to say "transfer" which takes about as long. Any way to make it so it will automatically switch when making a call from the phone?

 

The only way I know of to switch calls from the handset to the car and vice versa is to use the 'Transfer' HFL voice command.

I believe if you are in a call and shut off the car, it will automatically transfer the call to the handset.

By your description, it sounds as your HFL & Blackberry are operating as expected with HFL.

Have you had other phones paired to the RL that did NOT require the 'Transfer' command to switch the call?

 

My Instinct would switch automatically if I made a call from it while in the car...that's the only other phone I have tried though

 

I do not think HFL technology being that intuitive is yet available, or intentionally unavailable. I could imagine the Bluetooth connection switching devices unexpectedly to the surprise and or frustration of the operator.

It takes a bit of set up effort, but perhaps it is best to enter those numbers from your handset into the RL's HFL phonebook and label them with the same labels on your speedial. The purpose is to be 'Hands Free' and picking up the handset to select a speed dial defeats that purpose.

 

I believe it does not switch automatically by design. That way you can make a call (even answer a call) without others in the car hearing. Easy enought to initiate call from speed dial on phone and then say transfer. I do it all the time.

 

so last night I call voicemail by pressing 1 on my phone and it switched over automatically...baffled I tried it again and it didnt work....go figure

I understand what you guys are saying however I think it matters what phone it is what how they have the BT set up....maybe?

 

My Blackberry Pearl was pretty predictable. If I made a call directly from the handset (as opposed to voice dial) I wouldn't hear the ring, but would immediately have the call routed through the handset when connected. I would then have to use the "Transfer" command to go to HFL.

When I switched to my Blackberry Bold, the results haven't been as consistent. When my wife calls from her iPhone (she's on AT&T as am I), the phone number doesn't show up on the MID, I have to look at the phone to ensure it's her. Same thing when my boss calls me and he's using a Bold also on AT&T, and also with an employee using a Palm. I once answered the phone saying "Yo" when the MID showed up blank thinking it was my wife, only for it to be my boss. Luckily he and I have a pretty informal relationship so no harm, but you can see how this can be problematic if you're not careful.

The rest of the time the phone number does appear in the MID. When I dial using the handset it acts as my Pearl did. I won't hear the ring and when the call is connected It remains on the handset. I have to say "transfer" to get it through HFL.

One thing that is different with the Bold. If I am already on a call when I get in and start the car, the call is automatically transferred to HFL when the Bluetooth link is established. With my Pearl it stayed on te handset until I used the Transfer command.

I attribute these irregularities to the fact that the Bold is running a newer version of BT.

I wonder if the dealers have the ability to upgrade the BT software in the older cars?

 

I have tried several phones (Treo 650 and 700 and Motorola 9q) and they all had similar results. I needed to say transfer anytime I wanted to dial out using my phone. When calls come in they are automatically put out over the Bluetooth. Several times (out of a thousand) it will pick up and I will dial out with BT, but it was an anomaly. This is quite frustrating because I rode in my friends M35x and it was nice to see have the Bt on all the time without having to say transfer.

by the way, you can toggle out of it using the BB if you hit the menu button while on the phone and using the BT.

 

I also have the same problem with my wife's 09 TL Tech. She used to have the Samsung UpStage and I have the Instinct. Both act the same way in my 05 TL and her 09 TL: If we made a call from the phone, it would automatically ring and go through the HFL. Now she has a BB Tour and when she dials from the phone, it stays on the phone and she has to transfer it to the HFL. Im trying to pin down if this is a BB software issue or something else.

 

I never knew about the transfer feature. (Saying "transfer) What I've been doing when I use the handset to dial.. is push the "blackberry" button after the other party has picked up and the options menu appears. I select "activate bluetooth TM" or something of that sort.

I do the same thing when im using HFL and I want to transfer back to the handset.

This worked on my BB pearl and my current BB Storm. I don't know of any automatic way.

 

I do the same thing to manually connect, I might try saying transfer but my BB is hit or miss on the autoconnect.

 

It appears to be hit and miss. My BB 8900 will switch from time to time automatically. My Memoir as well. My Iphone does not, nor did my Pearl, G1, etc. I will check my Touch Pro 2 once that arrives. What is odd is that up to a few months ago I could transfer a call while it was still ringing. I can no longer do that and instead get a 'no call in progress' error. It will only transfer once the call is answered. Problem here is that the transfer command takes a while to kick in and transferring only after the call is picked up on the other end is disruptive and annoying to the other party.

 

I can do this with my iPhone. I hit the answer button on the steering wheel then select the HFL source and it transfers fine. No need to say anything.

 

Answering an incoming call is fine. The issue is dialing from the actual phone and having the sound immediately come out through HFL. I tried posting this question on crackberry.com and no one answers. I may try a different forum as I asked in the "Tour" forum but all BBs seem to act this way.

 

I recently got a blackberry tour (previously had motorola razr that worked fine) which initially worked fine with the HFL link. For some unknown reason, the HFL got hung up while I was on a call and another came in. From that point on, whenever I tried to use the HFL to place a call, it would say the blackberry was "in use." I deleted the phone, and reinstalled, paired it up again (successfully) and when I went to use the HFL to place a call, it again said the blackberry is in use and put me back to the main menu! I can place a call dialing from my blackberry and it automatically goes to the HFL. I have no idea how to fix this and go back to the way it was before when the handsfree placed and received calls using voice command.

Any ideas? Anyone?

 

my blackjack 2 worked perfectly. most likely, it comes down to the bluetooth version on your phone. my newer propel pro with newer bluetooth version needs to use the transfer command.

basically, there is nothing we can do about it.

 

The call screen on my Motorola Droid has a Bluetooth toggle button that I can use to quickly transfer the call to/from the HF. Combined with the superior Voice Dial of the phone, I think that'll be my solution for outgoing calls. Also, unlike my old phone, I can dial numbers on the phone while in HF mode, which makes operating voice mail, etc. possible.

 

I use transfer with my BB and sometimes my htc hero too. Another cool feature, I suppose, is "NEXT PHONE" when you have 2 phones in the car with BT enabled. Next phone will go to the 2nd phone and use it. My instinct picked up too. I would dial and it would go right to BT.

 

Just bought an '09 MDX, and was APPALLED at this problem with the HFL system. Makes it practically unusable for me - can't have the clients saying "hello, hello" before I can say "transfer". Can't use the phonebook, because I typically call people back who called me! I have to go back to the Motorola RAZR that clips to the visor, which picks up calls as soon as they are dialed. Like the way the car drives, but am completely unimpressed with Acura's engineering of the bluetooth system, they really need to upgrade it or I will likely sell this beast in a couple of years and go into something else.

Also having an issue with the Cellular phonebook - when you put in a letter and then hit "LIST", why in heck does it search for a letter anywhere in the word, not the entries that start with that letter (same as the CITY or STREET fields in NAV)? I wouldn't hit "H" if I wanted to search for "antHony" now, would I? Stupid!

 

A partial solution is to voice dial the number of the person who just called you. It's less than ideal but it works without having to worry about the transfer command.

 

After more testing with my Motorola Droid, calls made with the phone are automatically transferred to the car every time.

 

I think this problem is on the BB side. My wife's Tour (BB9630) had a weird issue the other day. She called me and said that since I updated her phone (installed a few updates for apps she already had from BB Appworld) when she dials from the phone it now automatically goes to the HFL! I couldnt believe this as her intial complaints were that it wasnt. She wasnt able to use any of the steering wheel HFL controls and if she went into the cellular info screen, it showed as it was on a call, even if the phone wasnt. One of the apps she had on her phone is called "BuzzMe". It allows the BB to ring and vibrate at the same time and was one of the apps I updated recently on her phone. I decided to remove the app to see what difference it would make and to my surprise, everything went back to the way it was. The steering wheel controls worked again and no phantom call on the cell info screen but when making a call from the phone, it didnt go straight to the HFL.

So to me, this is a BB software issue...