Multiple Bluetooth Phones?

[timhatimay]

Hi all,

I always have two cell phones on me (work and personal), and I would like to connect both to the 1. A coworker and I tried to pair two phones simultaneously to his 335, but once the primary phone was paired the other phones were not connected in anyway, and did not go through the vehicle bluetooth...

Is there someway to connect two phones? So both phones would be paired, and if I got a call on one, that phone would answer and the other would be temporarily disabled, until the convo was done? Is there a trick or some way to accept calls on both phones (calls not at the same time, but during the same drive)...

Thanks,

Tim

[former]

I have not found a way to do what you are describing though I really wish it worked that way.

I have paired both my work and personal phone and can switch between them with the Bluetooth menu (I have iDrive). But, it seems that you can only receive and make calls with the actively paired phone. It is pretty quick to switch though, so I have been able to switch between them quickly enough to catch a call as it came in.

[MOCKBA]

It is technically impossible, however you can setup call forwarding from one phone to other which one gets paired.

[ORIGIN M.]

^ Bam!

[timhatimay]

Originally Posted by MOCKBA

It is technically impossible, however you can setup call forwarding from one phone to other which one gets paired.

Can you please explain? I understand that Bluetooth is a master/slave relationship with only one communicating at one time...so does this mean that the paired phone is the master device, and not the car?

Also, if this is the case, there should be as many unique bluetooth "pieces" in the car as possible paired phones, otherwise the ability to pair several phones to one device is not that impressive (my headset can do this too).

Where does the technical impossibility lie? Call forwarding costs money from my provider, I wish that there was some way to allow several devices to be used on one car!

Thanks!

Tim

[Lester]

Turn all phones off, forward to voicemail - and just drive the car.

[former]

Originally Posted by timhatimay

Can you please explain? I understand that Bluetooth is a master/slave relationship with only one communicating at one time...so does this mean that the paired phone is the master device, and not the car?

I'm not certain that the Bluetooth specification does not allow for multiple "active" connections. That's not active in the sense of being able to talk on multiples at once, but actively connected. The car could know that it has multiple connections and accept calls on each of those.

But, it would depend on how it is implemented. For example if the phone is the master in the scenario then it isn't going to work right away. If the car is the master then you have options. And there would be issues. What does the car do when you have two active calls coming in? How does the user interface handle that?

I will note that I did not take the time to read the 70+ page spec for the current BT version - I cheated with the wikipedia entry. But, the key thing is here that it certainly COULD be possible. Anything can be done with enough time and money. And, quite frankly, one could argue that paying what we paid for the BMW Assist option sure should give us one heck of a nice BT system!

[MOCKBA]

Telephone is master and car is hands free device. Consider you have calls from both phones at the same time, certainly you can separate persons who are calling you. However when you speak how BT can figure out whom you are talking to?

[Mega Man]

You can have up to 4 phones connected to your car's bluetooth system. My GF, myself, my sister are all connected to my car's bluetooth.

Thus far, (and we haven't experimented with it), we know that if I'm on a call (first phone added) and my GF has an incoming call, she will have to physically answer it and hold her handset to her head while I can continue talking hands free.

[timhatimay]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

You can have up to 4 phones connected to your car's bluetooth system. My GF, myself, my sister are all connected to my car's bluetooth.

Thus far, (and we haven't experimented with it), we know that if I'm on a call (first phone added) and my GF has an incoming call, she will have to physically answer it and hold her handset to her head while I can continue talking hands free.

But I believe if your phone is paired and you are able to talk hands free, your gf will not be able to receive a call through the BMW assist...and this presents the dilema.

I wish that the car could receive calls on both, but then if on a call with one the other would just not go through the bmw BT. As long as one was not already connected hands free that phone call would go through the car. Oh well, maybe I can make a favorite button to change the BT paired phone.

Tim

[Mega Man]

If I am on a call, she will not be able to receive a call through BMW Assist; fairly obvious, right? If a call came for her while I was on a call, it would interrupt my call.