mprsev

So like several others I too received the Service Upgrade Campaign #2A08 letter soliciting that I switch from Teleaid to the new and improved MBRACE system. To make the deal intriguing I was offered $0 for my local dealer to retrofit the new necessary hardware and a one time fee of $299 for the life of my vehicle. This sounded pretty good over the $240 per year so I took my car in today for what was supposed to be a 30min to 1 hour job. over 6 hours later I am told that they cannot get a signal and perhaps my tint (35% smoke) is causing the problem So now they need to keep my car longer until they can figure out what is going on.

I'm now thinking I should have just continued with Teleaid

cls55

ahh,the waiting,it just hurts.

Pertplus

It took them a while to install mine, but my signal is fine and I have deeply tinted windows

pun1sh3rz

Check mileage when you get your vehicle back, the dealership is probably prolonging the possession of your AMG for as long as possible

MB_Forever

For some dealerships, the conversion is a new process and so may take them a few tries to get things right. But for bigger dealerships, the conversion usually takes 1 to 2 hours as they do a lot of them.

06E55

It took my dealer about 2 hours and I was the first one they did... In fact, my service manager asked me how I even found out about it so soon... I don't have tint though... I think they messed something up and that is why they can't get signal... Not because of tint...

swadhwani

Dealer was able to do mine in 45 mins. I have 5% tint all around without any issues.

sack5000

I haven't heard about this new deal yet, no letter email or anything. What is involved with the new service and how does it compare to Teleaid? I recently called Teleaid and it was totally different anyway so I wonder if you get the new stuff whether you change or not. It sounds like MB has contracted Teleaid away entirely and it's some new people handling it all.

mprsev

I'm on my way to pick up my car now. Turned out it was a bad splitter to the antennae.

Yeah, mbenz has dropped Teleaid going forward as it's vendor and now uses and promotes MBRACE, a whole different company. You can stay with Teleaid as they will assure you they are better and aren't shutting down. I would have stayed but I received the letter days before my Teleaid auto renewed for another year. So when comparing a free install and lifetime subscription for a one-time fee it was hard to pass up. Granted because I have the older Comand I cannot leverage the new features of MBRACE like the mobile apps and track/send but that's ok.

220S

fwiw, MBrace is new to telematics, the company is Hughes. They paid a good chunk of $$ to get the contract away from TeleAid. TeleAid is a pioneer in telematics and is ATX (owned by Cross Country Automotive Services.) ATX provides for BMW, Toyota, Lexus, Maybach and Rolls Royce. MBUSA is Hughes' only OEM client at the moment. These companies design telematics architecture, too, for future diagnostics and data collecting integration.

The special deal from Hughes is to get customers on to MBrace. But you can negotiate with ATX if you want to stick with TeleAid. They know what's going on and will give special deals if you just ask.

ATX went into a lawsuit with MB over who owns the subscription data. ATX said they did, MB said no that they did.

I read a lot about the telematics industry and the real money is in collecting ownership data, just like any subscription based business. There's gold in having your data to use (and sell.) It's also a huge money saver for the manufacturer's to collect data on cars on the road and manage recall info, etc.. (truck fleets depend on their vehicle data.) That's why they promote it. The consumer stuff we get (the services) is fluff. But eventually revenue will be generated through infotainment portals, too (like the iTunes store, etc..)

MB_Forever

+1 My dealer completed a couple for just under 1 hour.

sack5000

Is Teleaid history? The call I made recently was answered by a computer and I had to go through all these menu options and then got to a human. The human proceeded to go through a long list of questions about my account and then FINALLY answered my question. In the past with Teleaid, a human answered immediately and was generally helpful. This must be the new service, since I have about three months remaining on the Teleaid subscription they are not hassling me yet.

There are privacy rules and Teleaid has agreed not to sell our information, so don't see how they get around this on the subscription agreement. I hate getting junk mail and hate to think paying $285 per year is just adding to it.

harjothundal

Teleaid and Mbrace both use the external antenna that is mounted on your rear window. Regardless of the type of tint you have, it should not affect the signal. I'm glad they were able to pinpoint it down to being just the splitter!

220S

fwiw, nothing has changed at ATX (TeleAid) http://www.atxg.com/

When I mentioned data collection, I didn't mean something like junk mail. That's not what they are talking about. They mean data information collecting from how owners use their cars and what services to tap them into. e.g., BMW collects data from its subscribers to analyze traffic patterns, and then they can use and sell that info.

Telematics allows for an in-car portal to share vehicle data.

According to the former CEO of ATX, the customer is looking for the safety and security that the service offers. And that stuff is just the cost of doing business. The real business is the customer relationship, what he calls the "killer app." It's the "ability to derive data from your customers." For example, the manufacturers "don't have to go to Polk or the DMV to find out who owns your vehicles anymore." They know via TeleAid or MBrace.

The other big source of revenue is mobile commerce. Knowing which owners are looking for certain business locations, using Google maps, or eventually uploading mp3 files (from iTunes), etc.. There are vendors lined up to do business via telematics and that's where the data revenue comes in to play. Mobile commerce vendors will end up defraying the actual costs of the consumer safety services that MBrace and TeleAid currently get through annual subscriptions. That's one reason why MBrace can offer a heavily discounted lifetime subscription.

And the car manufacturer's gain by having improved relationships with customers and being able to monitor recalls (which normally cost $1k per vehicle using mailings, etc..) Plus they now can retrieve diagnostic data. All that saves big bucks.

Anyway, that's where the money is. Not the hardware (which apparently is a loss for manufacturers) and not the service (which is pretty much a giveaway), but the subscription base, the data collection, and the potential revenue collecting from mobile commerce. That's the big payback.

mekantor

I'm guessing this is only for the newer digital TeleAid system?

MB_Forever

You will probably get a letter once your subscription is due....

06e320cdi

I just signed up for Teleaid today. I have 2006 E320CDI. I think the previous owner had it as well, when I went to configure the method for Alarm Activation, there was a TEXAS phone number prefilled, thats where my car came from. I will try it for a year, I splurged and got the Luxury and Concierge Package.

NCE500

I upgraded both my Benzes. Neither upgrade went perfectly, my E63 still went to TeleAid after leaving the dealer, they fixed that in 30 minutes when I returned.

My SL600 would not connect at all when leaving the dealer. After a reload it still did would not connect. I then persuaded the tech to shut the car off for 10 minutes, and when restarted MBrace worked.

I would also wait 24 hours before doing the MBrace introductory call, their computer does not get updated with your info until the day after your car gets done at the dealer.

The base MBrace service is perfect for my needs, very happy with the the upgrade.

mikeevo

can someone fax me a copy of the letter I would like to look into this but my MB service is unaware of the upgrade. PM for the number thanks

WLKC12

Great article on the whole situation:
http://blogs.strategyanalytics.com/auto/?p=113

Bellevue_E55

so when we have an older command what do we get with the mbrace ? I can't find any detail.

220S

That's because ATX (Teleaid) is in Texas.

Good article. It echos a lot of what I was trying to say in my previous posts. And until I'm 100% dependent on total smart phone integration with my car, I'll sit back and watch the applications evolve from the telematics providers:

"The Mercedes-ATX situation provides a glimpse of a brave new world where car makers are simple pawns in a chess match controlled by carriers, handset makers, application developers and service providers all seeking to extract revenue from car owners."

Right now I stayed with TeleAid for convenience (why go into the dealer and monkey around with the switch when you getting the same services anyway?) Plus if you call TeleAid to renew, tell them you're aware of the Mbrace situation and the contract details and they will give you a special discounted subscription price.

smiley47

For those of you that wish to stay with Teleaid, I was able to renew and get two years for the price of one. Had I known at the time that they were trying to "fend off" MBRACE, I would have negotiated more aggressively and maybe gotten three years for the price of one.