Ericsson Advance Car Kit with Voice Recognition and Simple Music Mute for Ericsson Phones

Rating:
Summary: A world of difference!
Review: I previously used a "made for Ericsson" Taiwanese hands free kit but my wife could not always hear me and we were constantly going back and forth with "can you hear me." Well, the original Ericsson hands free kit was on eBay for only $15.00 plus $10.00 shipping so I bought it. Took about 1 hour to install but what a difference. I can now hear properly and my wife said that it sounds like I am calling from my desk phone.

Now if I could only figure out how to turn the radio off when I get or make a call. My radio does not have the automatic muting switch built in and I cannot find the Ericsson HCE-14 Advanced Music Mute anywhere.

If you want or have to use handsfree in your car, this is a very good purchase.

Rating:
Summary: A world of difference!
Review: I previously used a "made for Ericsson" Taiwanese hands free kit but my wife could not always hear me and we were constantly going back and forth with "can you hear me." Well, the original Ericsson hands free kit was on eBay for only $15.00 plus $10.00 shipping so I bought it. Took about 1 hour to install but what a difference. I can now hear properly and my wife said that it sounds like I am calling from my desk phone.

Now if I could only figure out how to turn the radio off when I get or make a call. My radio does not have the automatic muting switch built in and I cannot find the Ericsson HCE-14 Advanced Music Mute anywhere.

If you want or have to use handsfree in your car, this is a very good purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a "Handsfree system" that works!!!!
Review: I purchased this item with reservations. Although, I knew that if we did not like the way it performed, we could return it.

Let me start off by saying that I have purchased several "handsfree kits", and each one has been a huge disappointment.

This kit did take several hours to install. And a word to the wise, if your not mechanically inclined, let a professional install if for you.

Both my husband and I were thoroughly impressed with it. We even called each other and were barely talking above a whisper and the sound was crystal clear and we could actually hear each other. Those other "handsfree" kits have limited volume control. What's the purpose of having a handsfee kit if you cannot hear what the caller is saying. You can talk in a normal voice and be heard perfectly.

I highly recommend this product and believe that you will not be dissappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a "Handsfree system" that works!!!!
Review: I purchased this item with reservations. Although, I knew that if we did not like the way it performed, we could return it.

Let me start off by saying that I have purchased several "handsfree kits", and each one has been a huge disappointment.

This kit did take several hours to install. And a word to the wise, if your not mechanically inclined, let a professional install if for you.

Both my husband and I were thoroughly impressed with it. We even called each other and were barely talking above a whisper and the sound was crystal clear and we could actually hear each other. Those other "handsfree" kits have limited volume control. What's the purpose of having a handsfee kit if you cannot hear what the caller is saying. You can talk in a normal voice and be heard perfectly.

I highly recommend this product and believe that you will not be dissappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a "Handsfree system" that works!!!!
Review: I purchased this item with reservations. Although, I knew that if we did not like the way it performed, we could return it.

Let me start off by saying that I have purchased several "handsfree kits", and each one has been a huge disappointment.

This kit did take several hours to install. And a word to the wise, if your not mechanically inclined, let a professional install if for you.

Both my husband and I were thoroughly impressed with it. We even called each other and were barely talking above a whisper and the sound was crystal clear and we could actually hear each other. Those other "handsfree" kits have limited volume control. What's the purpose of having a handsfee kit if you cannot hear what the caller is saying. You can talk in a normal voice and be heard perfectly.

I highly recommend this product and believe that you will not be dissappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Ericsson HCA-10/20 (Advanced HandsFree Car Kits)
Review: I've owned this kit for over one year and just got around to installing it in my little commuter car (2000 Suzuki Swift).

Although professionally installed the process only took about two hours. I installed an HCA-10 Advanced Hands Free Car Kit, an Ericsson HCE-10 External Handset, a PanaVice In-Dash mount specific to my model Suzuki and a glass mount external antenna. These accessories were installed to accommodate my Ericsson T28 handset but the kit will also accept a variety of Ericsson handsets including the new T39.

Ericsson's engineering is usually advanced and this setup is no exception. Utilzing the T28 or T39 handsets the car kit is almost fully voice activated. I can (with one button touch) call upon 100 voice tags to place calls and can either choose to answer an incomming call or send it to my voice mailbox with only a voice command (no button touching). If the incomming call is a number stored in your voice tag files the incomming caller will be announced through the speaker (no staring at the handset LCD to figure out who's calling).

I was given the choice of using the external speaker that is provided with the kit or routing the PCS phone audio through my car's factory speaker system. I chose Ericsson's speaker because routing the voice through the car speaker system required additional cable/hardware fabrication and install time (possibly up to 3 more hours). The included speaker works very well and it's volume is easily controllable.

I added the HCE-10 Exrternal Handset as an afterthought but am glad I did. The handset, while not "street legal" in some municipalities has a two distinct advantages. It mutes the external speaker providing some privacy and the microphone in the handset is clearly superior to the remote microphone secured to my car's headliner.

The remote microphone is sensitive to location and the road noise transmitted inside the car. The HCA-10 uses a simple elevated threshold algorithm which means it clearly hears only what is louder than the vechicle's background noise. The Suzuki Swift, while not as noisy as a truck, is still no Mercedes. The remote microphone works well at less than 45 mph in the Suzuki but clips off "soft" speech at freeway speeds. The HCA-20 is reported to have a better "voice recognition" component in it's noise cancelling algorithm which should improve conversations in noisy little cars.

The kit comes with a "simple" music mute system (turns down the radio volume when the PCS phone is in use) but I've learned that many OEM car audio systems, including the Delco unit in my car, are not equipped with a ground interupt terminal on the back of the radio and once again you'll be forced to spend more time and money if you desire this added conveinence. On my installation the car audio system is muted by my right hand on the volume knob when the call comes in.

All things being equally, Ericsson produces some of the most sophisticated handsets and their Advanced Car Kits are no exceptions. Now that they have teamed up with Sony I expect even more cutting edge products.

Pro's - Almost totally "hands free". 100 voice numbers and true voice activated answering. External speaker has volume control and is loud enough to "hurt" your ears at full volume. No surprises for a professional (or amateur) installer.

Con's - Mediocre noise cancelling algorithm on the HCA-10. All accessories for Ericsson car kits are expensive. Ericsson technical support, either by phone or e-mail, is very weak. Only one man at US tech support is knowledgeable on car kits and he is responsible for trainning all US commerical installers, training all technical support personel and researching all technical questions on all US accessories for all Ericsson products. Not much time to speak to end user on the phone.