Volvo wants you to never miss a meeting again. Thanks so much, really
LAS VEGAS -- The best thing about being out of the office is being unavailable for certain meetings.
Evil geniuses Volvo and Microsoft are about to end all that. The two companies have collaborated on an in-car solution to this office absentee problem: integrating Skype for Business in a Volvo car.
Maybe Volvo should take most of the blame... er... credit since it's the one integrating existing business communication technology in its 90 Series cars.
The application will appear on the automobile's huge in-dash touchscreen, connecting to your smartphone to complete the call. Mashable was promised a hands-on demo of Skype integration later this week. We'll report back on our findings.
In a press release on the new technology, which will be on display this week at CES, Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz Volvo's vice president of consumer connectivity services explained his company's fascination with making group meetings happen when you're on the go this way, “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."
Along with Skype for Business, Microsoft is also bringing its digital voice assistant, Cortana, to Volvos, which means the cars will get voice recognition and access to Cortana's Bing- and AI-based intelligence. Perhaps you'll not only be able to attend meetings while in your Volvo, but have all the answers, too.
Maybe being able to attend all those meetings no matter where you are isn't such a bad thing.
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
