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VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 5:24 pm
by Dermottdog
Hey
Does anybody check the VOC system (pressing the button) on a regular basis?
I’ve not tried it but can see how it might not work. Being a former elevator engineer, working for the ‘Big O’, the system they employed was called REM - Remote Elevator Monitoring. The lift monitors many inputs from the controller, drive, load weigh device etc, etc and the data is sent to a computer. So therefore Otis was aware of direction of travel, load in the car, position of the lift within the shaft and speed etc, etc. However, all this data was dependent on something outside of the companies control, namely the phone line. You would be surprised the amount of phone lines cut off by customers because they think they are paying for a phone line that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Obviously, if someone gets trapped, contact cannot be made to the outside world.
I just wondered if anyone checks the VOC system and if so, how regularly.
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 7:34 pm
by Moss
Dermottdog wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 5:24 pm
Hey
Does anybody check the VOC system (pressing the button) on a regular basis?
I’ve not tried it but can see how it might not work. Being a former elevator engineer, working for the ‘Big O’, the system they employed was called REM - Remote Elevator Monitoring. The lift monitors many inputs from the controller, drive, load weigh device etc, etc and the data is sent to a computer. So therefore Otis was aware of direction of travel, load in the car, position of the lift within the shaft and speed etc, etc. However, all this data was dependent on something outside of the companies control, namely the phone line. You would be surprised the amount of phone lines cut off by customers because they think they are paying for a phone line that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Obviously, if someone gets trapped, contact cannot be made to the outside world.
I just wondered if anyone checks the VOC system and if so, how regularly.
I do not check Volvo On Call (i.e. pressing the button) on a regular basis, but I have contacted it several times for info. It works perfectly in Belgium and in France, so I suppose it's no different in the UK. I have no idea what data is sent to the VOC computer, but they sure seem to know just about everything there is to know about your vehicle (mileage, where the vehicle is exactly, etc....), "they" being the person responding (because yes, it's a real person indeed, and ready to help with anything you may need).
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 7:46 pm
by Dermottdog
Moss, thanks. Good to know.
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 8:11 pm
by squint
I have had so many problems with my car since collection 7/3/2020 that a few weeks ago I decided to check SOS button. I got an automated message "The number you have called is not recognised - please check the number and try again". The red end call button was greyed out meaning I could not end the call. To make matters worse this caused my iPhone to freeze meaning I was unable to make a call. Even turning engine off and on, locking and unlocking car did not end the cycle. After about 40 minutes the call eventually connected to SOS operator - I was still unable to end call so operator had to. For about another 20 minutes I was still unable to make a call on my phone. I then tested the VOC button - this then tried to connect to the emergency SOS operator and cycle was repeated. The next day I tried the VOC button which connected perfectly.
I took car to dealership who assured me they had fixed it - so I tried it before I left - was exactly the same!
Dealership then contact Volvo - after a few days dealership rang me to say Volvo have advised them that the problem is because I had not pressed the SOS button for 2 seconds - so while dealership is on phone, I go out to my car, press the SOS button and count out loud 2 seconds - guess what - same problem!!
Dealership has now had my car for 10 days in an attempt to fix the SOS button plus numerous others. The only thing they apparently can't fix is the SOS button - they have had to pass this on to Volvo technical who can't fix it. Volvo have told dealership they think the cause is a "network problem". I suggested that if it is a network problem then surely every Volvo car will be affected? - dealership have said "Mine is the only case which is why it is proving so difficult". To me that doesn't make sense unless I am the only person who has tried it.
I had assumed Volvo SOS call centre was in the UK because each time I have been eventually connected the operator sounded English - dealership think it's "abroad somewhere"!
I have asked dealership if they would try the SOS button on another car - they have refused. I asked if I could try the SOS button on the XC60 I have been loaned - they have asked me not to .
My concern is that if I am in a bad accident and airbags are inflated, the SOS call centre should be automatically connected and also transmit my coordinates - it won't - if I was able to reach my phone I would be unable to dial 999 as it would be frozen. I live out in the sticks so there is not always much other traffic.
Has anyone else ever tested their SOS button or - heaven forbid - been in an accident when airbags have inflated?
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 9:06 pm
by DarrenF
squint wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:11 pm
I have had so many problems with my car since collection 7/3/2020 that a few weeks ago I decided to check SOS button. I got an automated message "The number you have called is not recognised - please check the number and try again". The red end call button was greyed out meaning I could not end the call. To make matters worse this caused my iPhone to freeze meaning I was unable to make a call.
Has anyone else ever tested their SOS button or - heaven forbid - been in an accident when airbags have inflated?
The first could be the number being called being incorrect in where ever it is configured either in the volvo system or even on the SIM / handset being used for the call. I work in mobile comms and this is a more common event than you would believe. Have you tried ringing the emergency services from your iphone? The 20 minutes is also a common time out for this type of problem. (don't want to cut off a call in progress to them)
There was a post where someone was in a bad crash (the car did an amazing job protecting them) and it auto dialled the emergency services for them. It certainly does work - you just seem to have had bad luck getting the Friday afternoon car after a liquid lunch.
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 9:33 pm
by squint
“The first could be the number being called being incorrect in where ever it is configured either in the volvo system”.
But after about 40 minutes of continuously dialling the same number- a call I cannot end - it eventually does get through to SOS so assume the number is correct?
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 10:18 pm
by balmoral
DarrenF wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 9:06 pm
squint wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:11 pm
There was a post where someone was in a bad crash (the car did an amazing job protecting them) and it auto dialled the emergency services for them. It certainly does work - you just seem to have had bad luck getting the Friday afternoon car after a liquid lunch.
I think that was this post:-
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1818&p=15736&hilit=zed#p15736
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 11:10 pm
by Moss
squint wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:11 pm
I have had so many problems with my car since collection 7/3/2020 that a few weeks ago I decided to check SOS button. I got an automated message "The number you have called is not recognised - please check the number and try again". The red end call button was greyed out meaning I could not end the call. To make matters worse this caused my iPhone to freeze meaning I was unable to make a call. Even turning engine off and on, locking and unlocking car did not end the cycle. After about 40 minutes the call eventually connected to SOS operator - I was still unable to end call so operator had to. For about another 20 minutes I was still unable to make a call on my phone. I then tested the VOC button - this then tried to connect to the emergency SOS operator and cycle was repeated. The next day I tried the VOC button which connected perfectly.
I took car to dealership who assured me they had fixed it - so I tried it before I left - was exactly the same!
Dealership then contact Volvo - after a few days dealership rang me to say Volvo have advised them that the problem is because I had not pressed the SOS button for 2 seconds - so while dealership is on phone, I go out to my car, press the SOS button and count out loud 2 seconds - guess what - same problem!!
Dealership has now had my car for 10 days in an attempt to fix the SOS button plus numerous others. The only thing they apparently can't fix is the SOS button - they have had to pass this on to Volvo technical who can't fix it. Volvo have told dealership they think the cause is a "network problem". I suggested that if it is a network problem then surely every Volvo car will be affected? - dealership have said "Mine is the only case which is why it is proving so difficult". To me that doesn't make sense unless I am the only person who has tried it.
I had assumed Volvo SOS call centre was in the UK because each time I have been eventually connected the operator sounded English - dealership think it's "abroad somewhere"!
I have asked dealership if they would try the SOS button on another car - they have refused. I asked if I could try the SOS button on the XC60 I have been loaned - they have asked me not to .
My concern is that if I am in a bad accident and airbags are inflated, the SOS call centre should be automatically connected and also transmit my coordinates - it won't - if I was able to reach my phone I would be unable to dial 999 as it would be frozen. I live out in the sticks so there is not always much other traffic.
Has anyone else ever tested their SOS button or - heaven forbid - been in an accident when airbags have inflated?
Very strange that your dealer doesn’t want to test the VOC on another car to show you that the VOC system works. Trust me, you can call VOC (push the button) any time you like, and it’s a real person answering, not a machine.
FYI : when I call VOC being in Belgium, the person answering is clearly a Dutch speaking Belgian (not someone from Holland, even if it’s the same language, we would hear the difference), and when I call VOC from France, the person answering is clearly a French person, not (say) a French speaking Belgian person (again, we would hear the difference). So I assume that every country or perhaps even every region has a local VOC call centre, unless there is just one big call centre somewhere abroad, manned by (a lot of) people from just about every linguistic region in the world, but that’s hard to believe.
If there’s a local call centre in every country or region, then logically the number called by « pushing the button » is taken by your car from a programmed list in its system, and the problem with the « button » of your car would logically be just a software or programming problem.
Are you absolutely certain that your car is a car assembled for the UK, and so not an imported car from another right hand drive country such as South Africa, Australia, Japan, etc. ? This may sound as a strange question, but it could possibly explain some of the strange problems on your list…..
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 11:14 pm
by squint
It’s the SOS button not working.
How do I check if imported car? It did come one month earlier than quoted!!!
Re: VOC Test
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 11:19 pm
by Moss
squint wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 11:14 pm
It’s the SOS button not working.
How do I check if imported car? It did come one month earlier than quoted!!!
You could ask Volvo if the VIN number (Vehicle Identification Number) of your car is for a UK car.