One of the more common questions received by GM Authority over the past few weeks has been about the functionality of one of three OnStar buttons included with GM vehicles. The other two buttons are pretty self-explanatory: the blue OnStar button connects to an OnStar advisor, while the red emergency button that says “SOS” is for emergency assistance. But what about the black button with what appears to be a seated person with a Wi-Fi signal emitting from his face?
Officially called the Voice Command Button, this button is used to “answer or hang up an Advisor-initiated call,” according to the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV owner’s manual. If you push this button in a GM vehicle equipped with the Global B electronic platform, nothing happens, except in the rare case of a call initiated by an OnStar advisor. If you’re the one initiating the call to OnStar, you use one of the other two buttons.
OnStar’s new look circa 2013
This has caused some confusion since GM vehicles equipped with Bluetooth and OnStar have multiple controls for answering and hanging up calls. In the Blazer EV example, a call can be answered on screen, and there’s an up/down toggle on the steering wheel, where the up toggle answers a phone call via the in-car Bluetooth system, while down hangs it up. The OnStar Voice Command button performs a similar function, but only for calls with OnStar advisors through the vehicle’s OnStar system.
GM Global B, otherwise known as Vehicle Intelligence Platform (VIP), is an electronic vehicle communications platform. Not to be confused with a GM platform that underpins a vehicle, Global B refers to the vehicle’s internal network and the way a vehicle’s components communicate with one another. In other words, Global B is essentially a vehicle’s central nervous system.
The primary benefits of the Global B platform compared to its predecessors, known collective as Global A, include more processing power, faster communications, over-the-air updates, improved cybersecurity, and the ability for owners to purchase and unlock features after they buy the car.
The white button in a non-Global B GM vehicle brings up this menu.
This white button is more useful in GM vehicles that use the Global A electronic architecture In those earlier models, the white OnStar button can do one of two things. It can either initiate voice commands for the OnStar system, or it can bring up the OnStar Main Menu on the infotainment screen. On Global B models, you can get to the OnStar main menu by tapping the OnStar icon on the home menu.
So in the rare instance that an OnStar advisor is calling your car, now you know how to answer and hang up the call. But if nothing happens when you push the white OnStar button in your new GM vehicle, it doesn’t mean anything is broken.
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Comments
Mine became irrelevant the instant the 1 year free trial expired. Now its an overhead console decoration. Just to give GM a little glimpse into the future of how subscription models will work with me.
How does one know it that button is associated with “Global A” or Global B”?
If it is in the vehicle’s user manual, the PDF search can’t seem to find it. If it isn’t in the manual, why not? And in either case why wasn’t this included in the article?
It’s not whether the button is equipped with Global B or Global A, but rather the vehicle as a whole. You won’t find this in the manual, since this is a sort of “in the weeds” kind of detail, but you can find the answer to your question on the page linked to Global B in the article. Here it is for your convenience:
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2024/11/this-button-is-becoming-less-relevant-in-gm-models/
OnStar was once a great idea. I liked having it until being cut off from it because of change in cell technology. Now, GM can take OnStar and pound it.
In the 2 years free service trial, I only pushed the button once. At the dealer. To activate my account. After it expired, GM tried to sucker me in for a subscription. Not happening. I told them that I didn’t use it once in the 15 years prior with my Pontiac. What makes them think that I’ll need it now with my Cadillac? No response….
nobody wants onstar. Cell phones work just fine.
Some counters:
– Cell phones might not work in all areas that OnStar will due to the strength of the signal and size of the antenna (larger and stronger in a vehicle)
– Cell phones might be less “convenient” when a vehicle has been in an accident and the phone is out of reach and/or is chucked out of the vehicle