After months of speculation (by us), OnStar has officially launched Family Link — the first add-on service from the GM subsidiary. Family Link offers two key features, including Vehicle Locate and Vehicle Location Alert.
With Vehicle Locate, subscribers can view a map with the location of their vehicle by logging on to the Family Link website, while Vehicle Location Alert enables users to configure email or text message notifications that provides them with the location of their vehicle; users can choose the day, time, and frequency with which the alerts are delivered.
Family Link, which was originally tested by 4,500 subscribers last year, will be offered for $3.99 per month and can be added to any OnStar plan. The service will be rolled out to customers in phases, with some subscribers being able to sign up in the middle of April, while others will receive invitations in June. Family Link will roll out to everyone in the U.S. throughout 2012.
$3.99 sounds fair to us. And for anyone concerned with privacy, let us note the access to the Family Link website requires an OnStar user name and password and only the subscriber with access can locate a vehicle or request alerts. Now, who’s waiting for their invite, and how long until Family Link makes its way to Canada, China, and Europe?
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Please let me know when this service is available in Canada? Also if a sticker could be placed on a window it could distract from the vehicle becoming stolen as the reader/s would know the vehicle would be tracked. Thank you.
Bryon,
Stickers are included in your OnStar welcome kit to place on the window both notifying the potential thieves that it is an OnStar-equipped vehicle and so that you have the phone number should you ever find yourself locked out. If you need to reorder stickers, you can visit http://www.onstar.com/web/portal/getdocuments. Hope this helps!
Thanks Travis.
I would also advise storing OnStar's number in your cell phone's phone book.
Hey On Star ! How about this idea. Both my cars have the rear view camera in them, that is the only thing stopping two Fords from On-Star. Here is the idea. A small window transmitt/receiver unit with a indash/underdash mount for the control box/on-star buttons for those us us with the rear view camera. This could be a easy install for the owner and save the owner a install fee. What do you think. I would estimate you lose sales to 3 out of 10 vehicle owners because of the camera.
Sorry, I'm not following. What would be the purpose of this?
When will Family Link be available in Canada????
Or, you could download an app like Waze for free and pay $0 to locate your car, not have to sign into OnStar, etc.
As far as if the vehicle is stolen, isn't it also able to be tracked and located for free via the vehicle's GPS system.
You really don't get how any of this works, do you?
First: Waze doesn't integrate with your car. It simply uses logic to determine when/where you were driving and when/where you stopped/parked, and give you a parked alert based on that. A plethora of mapping apps do this, including Apple Maps, for instance.
Second: the point of OnStar is that it integrates with the vehicle's actual GPS system. So you can know EXACTLY where your car is. That's something Waze doesn't do, and can't do - unless it is built into the car itself.
Third: here's a hypothetical: let's say you parked in the wrong spot and your car was towed. How would you beloved Waze assist you with identifying where your car was towed? It would not. OnStar would.
Fourth: how would you know where your car is using Waze sharing if your child forgot his/her smartphone at home or at school? You can't. You can with OnStar FamilyLink (in this case).
Fifth: to answer you question...
"As far as if the vehicle is stolen, isn’t it also able to be tracked and located for free via the vehicle’s GPS system."
It is not. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road have a GPS system, but only some have the ability to be tracked... with most of those being OnStar-equipped.
The list of OnStar-related benefits goes on... but I recommend you take the time to understand two things: the benefits of having a system like OnStar built into the vehicle and integrated with useful software AND the difference between OnStar and a rather simply smartphone app (like Waze).