According to Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz, Vice President Consumer Connectivity Services at Volvo Car Group, Skype for Business will make joining conference calls inside of cars an easy task.
“We’ve all been there. Sitting in the car trying to join a conference call. You either fumble with or drop your phone while trying to connect or you forget the long pin code to join. It’s not the best way to start an important call in the car. On top of all that your attention is not where it should be – on the road. With the addition of Skype for Business all that goes away.”
“In-car communication is something that we have worked with for years at Volvo. From the built-in handsets of the 1980s and early 90s through to our standard Bluetooth® hands-free functionality, we have understood the importance of making life easier for people on the move while keeping a firm focus on safety and minimizing driver distraction.”
From what can be seen in Volvo´s short promotional, Skype for Business integrates seamlessly into the car maker´s own digital assistant. The interface relies on big buttons and the same menu-structure than they use for their phone-feature which of course will be still available. Skype for Business will also provide calendar information of upcoming meetings and sending voice-messages inside of Volvo cars.
In their collaboration with Microsoft, Volvo is also exploring how the voice assistant could be used in practical ways. The plan is to combine the existing voice recognition capabilities of Cortana with contextual insights. Part of the collaboration is also Ericsson, who is providing the necessary cloud-based solutions to Volvo´s Cars.
