I have a 2007 997 Turbo which had a Dension Gateway 500 installed in it. I purchased the BTA1500 module for it and installed it myself and everything is working except I can not get the iPhone's VoiceCommand to work?

It might be the case that voice command is not possible with the BTA1500, I just want to know if anyone has been able to make it work? My plan was to using the BT audio streaming and use voice command to change playlists, call people, etc

Currently everything else is working, A2DP and AVRCP are working, phonebook transfer and traversing is working, I just can't get the voice command to work.

The Dension/PCM phonebook auto-imports a number called VOICEDIAL, that actually dials *#voice#* but that does NOT work for the iPhone.

Does anyone have this working?

iPhone4 firmware - 4.3.3
Gateway 500 firmware = 2.22
BTA1500 firmware = 1.5

Thanks

 

Thanks for the reply.

I was just wondering if I was maybe missing some step, for example, to traverse the phonebook with the Dension you have to select a section in the phonebook list, lets say ABC, and then you have to hit the actual 'phone button' to open the ABC list to get a new list of people inside the range of A-C. Its not terribly clear, but through some trail and error, I figured it out ... I guess I was hoping there was some "similar" trick to voice command.

(an example of the phonebook list, ABC, DEF, is in the picture of the original post), not a very "clear" system to employ.

 

Hey Cartronics, purely out of curiosity, does the iTronic allow the MAIL button (the SMS templating to work?) The BTA1500 unit activates the SMS templating but the documentation states that it will not work because it uses a European GSM system(?) ... just curious if the iTronic unit is able to make that work?

 

Ah, you probably mean the "SMS over Bluetooth" profile. I know the Motorola Razr can do it, but you are right, practically no other phone supports it, (definitely NOT the iPhones)

FYI: I actually got a confirm email from Dension today saying the Gateway500+BTA1500 does not support voice dial on the iPhone 4, we will add it to our current line of products and if we have spare cycles will add it to older products like the Gateway500.

I take the last part as a polite way of saying "you are never going to get it"

 

Hi Cartronics - this conversation is well timed as I'm looking to purchase the Dension Gateway 500. As far as I can tell this is the most widely used and most recommended system available. Curious to hear your opinion and what you would recommend, and where I could find pricing, details, etc.

 

Well, it's time to chime in here. It would be interesting to see this "certification" since Porsche does not and will not certify aftermarket electronics for their vehicles. Who provided this certification and what were the criteria? Porsche? Third party? Or Cartronics? If it does not say 'Porsche' on the product, it's nearly impossible to receive Porsche's blessings. If you did, hat's off to you.

Dension has been around a very long time. They are an R&D company. That means they develop technology, and develop products using their own technology. Many other products exist, well, really just a few, for our Porsches. Some are unique and internally developed, others are simply basic technology packaged in someone else's box. We are Porsche owners, and we engaged Dension in dialogue a year before the product was released (about 5 years ago).

They've been at it for a very long time. They spent years developing the Gateway system WITH Porsche AG, so that the product would behave the way it was intended, and the systems would 'talk' to one another. Hiccups in the first year? Sure, minor stuff. Most resolved with firmware updates. We're now in the 3rd gen of the Gateway 500 and 3rd gen of the BTA, and many firmware updates later, things are just fine.

Is there a perfect solution? Impossible to say. I can attest as a primary distributor of the Dension Gateway 500 for five years, that we know a great deal about the MOST integration systems, we know who is packaging other's technology and calling it their own, and that there are several 'good' options for Porsche owners.

That said, the claims about certification may be a bit of a stretch. We have thousands of Porsche owners with Dension units (Gateway 500 and BTA1500) and not one issue with Porsche, Porsche dealers, or warranty. Have we seen bad units? Sure, a few. Very few. And we swap them out when it is the cause, or we troubleshoot with the installer/customer to resolve installation errors. One customer (out of thousands) experienced a Porsche dealer who (he said) would not install and made him think his warranty would be voided. After a five minute conversation with the Service Manager, I had his word no such thing was said, nor would they have issue with this. And we sell to those same Porsche dealers, every week.

So you take whatever route you desire - NavTV, Dension, mObridge - all good stuff, and been around a long time. I don't know much about the other product mentioned, so I cannot comment on it specifically. But I can tell you we stand behind the Dension product with many years of selling to the Porsche community, and installing products and using them in our own vehicles, and working with customers on any relevant issues relating to the products we sell.

You can read many stories on the 'net about this product or that one, bad experiences, etc. Suffice it to say (and this is a broad brush, but I believe accurate) that ALL of the systems discussed here will work with the Porsches they are intended, and that nearly every issue ever experienced with any of these products was related (95%) to the installation. Screw up one small thing, and your product may not work correctly. Easily rectified, but pro install or follow the detailed instructions, and you should be fine.

Beyond that, I'm happy to answer any questions regarding the Gateway 500 and BTA1500, a time-tested and well-proven working solution for anyone with an '03-'08 Porsche who wants iPod/Bluetooth integration - and yes, it works just fine. Follow our detailed installation guidelines, and our Dension specific technical guide we developed, and you should find all the features you need for iPod/Bluetooth functionality in your Porsche. This means it works with cd changer retention, it works with CDR and PCM (PCM required only for Bluetooth), and it works on all Porsche models from '03 through '08.

Many features vary from vehicle to vehicle, but the primary cause of not finding a few features within each of the systems mentioned is 70% phone, 30% hardware. Some vehicles allow phone features to pass right through, others do not. Some phones prohibit features from functioning in bluetooth environments, others do not.

For the money, the Dension offers a very high level of feature rich technology that is now in its 3rd generation, for the least cost (ok, had to make one small sales pitch).

 

I ended up implementing a solution with the help of another developer. Its not ideal, but it gets the job done. You would require a jailbroken iPhone to do it though. Basically its a background service that watches for what number you dialed and if it matches a particular sequence (in this case #*voice*#) then it will launch voice command automatically. So on the dension/pcm I have this VoiceCmd number and when I dial it, the number will fail and the voice command will start.

I have a video of me testing it out, if you want it, PM me. Its a little complicated to setup so you should be very familiar with words like jailbreak, ssh, putty, launchdaemon, else, ahhh don't bother.

 

Very nice work around!

 

Well, as a good enthusiast, I decided to look into your device and suggested it to a friend, who was impressed my Dension installation. As a novice, I had suggested my Dension for his 997 turbo, but would try another device if it did a better job.

He emailed your sales team, and forwarded the response to me. Here was the response:

My iPhone works with voice control in my Dension unit as well, if you push the phone's voice control button. Is there something else different that your device does?

 

When you stated:

the inference is that the Dension would not work with voice control, and this was a big difference between the Dension and iTronic. It appears that you are now stating that both Dension and iTronic work with voice control, and both require the user to activate the home button to do so?

 

The fact that the workaround was a jailbroken phone should tell you ITS THE PHONE not the system.

Note that Cartronics could not produce his certification from porsche. The shameless plugs are annoying as well. For that reason alone I will not be buying his product.

 

dealerships can install anything they want. You need to read the warranty laws. Trouble is you are acting like your system has been blessed by Stuttgart. IT hasnt. Just so you know the DEALER is the one that has a set level he can warranty repair. After that he has to ask Stuttgart to cover or it comes out of his own pocket. Do you think a floor mat unraveling is something he needs approval for? And there are plenty of dealers that will install other product. My own dealer said pick one of these three and we will put it in for you. I have a CPO.

All you do is plug your stupid system and I am glad I wont be buying it. Everything but your stuff is inferior even when yours has the same issues. Maybe you would be better on a ricer forum as they love your kind of approach.

 

Eric at bumperplugs gets my vote as well.
So no worries about the board folding as I WILL and DO support board sponsers just not "ALL" board sponsors.