How it works: Bluetooth connectivity

Bluetooth has rapidly worked its way into most new cars, and has become the de facto standard for connecting audio devices and smartphones to car infotainment systems.

Paired to a car, a Bluetooth-connected phone allows you to make or receive phone calls, hands-free. Additionally, the connection provides a conduit for high-end vehicles to read out SMS and email messages received by the phone. And web-based apps, such as Apple Maps, can guide you to a destination, even if your car isn't equipped with its own satellite navigation system. Finally, of course, either a phone or an audio player can stream music to the car's infotainment system – hundreds of songs without a commercial to be heard.

Bluetooth is a global wireless communication standard that connects devices to each other over a short distance. In the mid 1990s Bluetooth was developed by a number companies looking to standardise the industry around a short-range radio link. Interestingly, the name Bluetooth comes from a 10th century King of Denmark, King Harald Bluetooth, who was famous for uniting Scandinavia.

Bluetooth uses radio waves instead of wires to connect devices such as your smartphone and your vehicle. The car comes fitted with a Bluetooth control module that receives and sends radio signals from your car to your device (and vice versa).

Question: "if Bluetooth is so good why doesn't my phone pair with my car?"

This question is raised often and the vehicle is usually blamed. However, it is rarely the case that the vehicle is at fault. Although Bluetooth is a global standard there are slight variations depending on the device and its uses. Bluetooth is optimised to work better with different devices, and over time it is also improved for newer technology.

This means you may come across the problem where your phone may not pair with your car, however it works with your friend's car. Some functions may not be available through your car's system, as another example, but work when paired to another car. This concern may be fixed with a simple software update to your phone/device.

Unfortunately, a software update may actually be the root problem, if the portable Bluetooth device was working with the car yesterday, but no longer works today. It may be the case that your device had a software update overnight without your knowing. One fix is having your vehicle serviced, during which software updates will download and re-synch your car with the new software on your portable device.

Vehicle connectivity is a great invention made possible by the use of Bluetooth technology, and as with most new convenience technologies, once you have it, it's hard to be without it. So when it doesn't work the way you expect, it's easy to blame the car, when in most cases it's likely a problem with the device you are trying to connect, and its software.

So before you call your authorised dealer and given the service adviser an earful, just check when you last had a software update on your device.