Apps to make your life easier

More and more auto-makers are starting to offer specially tailored applications for smart phones, offering drivers diverse features that will make their lives easier.

On the heels of Mercedes-Benz Thailand staging the Asean premiere of its “My Service App” in the kingdom last month, Japanese carmaker Honda is now offering a special smart-phone application for customers.

Thailand is the first Asean country to get the “HondaLink” cellphone application along with the Honda Roadside Assistance (Honda RSA) and HondaLink Navigation apps. 

The carmaker says HondaLink’s diverse features make it faster and easier for customers to access detailed information on their vehicles and other services in a colourful, easy-to-understand and easy-to-use graphical display. The three apps are available for free download from Apple App Store and Google Play. However, HondaLink Navigation has a three-year connection fee of US$39 (approximately Bt1,200).

“Customers can easily configure the app, including inputting their Honda car’s model and year, adding nicknames for their cars, selecting the colours of their favourite vehicle icons, and enjoying fun and easy access to information about their vehicles along with other privileges when using their smart phones,” said Honda Automobile Thailand executive vice president Pitak Pruittisarikorn.

“Developing new applications such as this is part of our mission to create innovations that best suit customers’ digital-based lifestyles,” he said. “It also reinforces Honda’s image as an advanced technology brand with a strong customer orientation. The HondaLink app offers a value-added communications channel that bonds Honda even more closely with our customers.” 

Meanwhile, Putthi Tulayathun, vice president for after-sales at Mercedes-Benz Thailand, said “My Service App” has been introduced to emphasise the entry of the digital world in after sales.“To offer more convenience in after-sales services in this digital age and to match with our customers’ lifestyles in using smart phones, we decided to launch our new application called “My Service App”. This application opens a new communication channel for Mercedes-Benz and our authorised dealers and offers time management benefits for our customers. For example, customers can contact the Star Assist Service Team anytime 24 hours a day in case of emergency for roadside assistance with only one click,” he said. 

 

Here are some of the features offered by HondaLink:

Car Log: allows customers to keep detailed logs about their vehicles and view them in a timeline. The Car Log records information such as when the vehicle is refuelled, the history of the vehicle’s checks based on the distance travelled, and more. 

Statistics: shows data such as the fuel economy figure and odometer settings at key points, including the distance travelled in comparison with the diameter of the globe, all displayed in an interesting graphical manner.

Maintenance: enables a Honda owner to get notifications from a Honda dealer about the vehicle’s maintenance. This can include routine check-ups, oil and filter changes, as well as replacement of parts such as tyres, battery or air filter. It builds a detailed history of each maintenance action carried out on the vehicle, including the check-up date, dealer’s name, cost, etc. Vehicle maintenance cycles can be set by time or mileage. 

Other reminders including the annual car tax renewal, monthly payment dates and insurance payments help customers ensure they don’t overlook anything important. They can also get updates on special promotions being offered by Honda dealers.

Honda Roadside Assistance (Honda RSA) is another key application that is integrated with HondaLink. In a vehicle breakdown, this location-based service lets Honda customers quickly and easily call for roadside assistance. The HondaLink app is also integrated with Honda’s 24-hour Roadside Assistance that provides immediate help from the Honda service centre. Using the Tracking Provider feature, customers can also trace the location of the Honda service centre vehicle that is heading to the site to provide assistance.

Meanwhile, the HondaLink Navigation application provides real-time traffic updates. An outstanding feature of this app is “Free Word Search”, which offers easy and fast searching for travel information by typing in the name of the desired destination, as well as Lane Info that enables a driver to pre-check the route, plan his/her travel and the distance travelled to reach a destination. HondaLink Navigation can be downloaded for a free 30-day trial. It has a three-year connection fee of US$39 (approximately Bt1,200).

The HondaLink, Honda RSA and HondaLink Navigation applications are free for customers to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Customers can have “My Dealer” activated at the dealership when they purchase their vehicle or take it in to any Honda service centre nationwide for maintenance in order to get alerts about vehicle maintenance and receive information about special privileges ahead of others.

And this is the cool part: the general public who are interested can also download the HondaLink application at no cost and have fun with their vehicles using the Car Log, Statistics and Maintenance features.

The operating systems that support the HondaLink application include iPhone iOS 5.0 or above and Android OS 2.3.4 or above. The HondaLink Navigation application can only be downloaded from Apple App Store.

 

Mercedes-Benz’s My Service App 

 

Service: an Advance Service Booking function, no matter whether a regular service, repair or any other service at a customer’s preferred Mercedes-Benz authorised dealer is needed. To book the service, customers simply select the needed services in the list provided, time and date of their convenience and the authorised dealers they prefer. Once confirmed by the dealer, customers will get a respective notification via the “My Service App”.

SOS: A one-click function designed for calling the Star Assist Team whenever roadside assistance is needed. The application uses the location-sharing function to get accurate GPS coordinates to shorten the time the service team takes in getting to clients that need assistance.

Message: customers can make direct enquiries with the authorised service centres of their choice. Every service centre has its own dedicated customer service team for quick response.

Collection: An official channel for promoting the latest Mercedes-Benz collection items with detailed information.

News: customer can obtain the latest news on Mercedes-Benz, and all information provided can be shared on Facebook, Twitter or other social networks.“My Service App” is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 5.0 or above. It can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store and it is exclusively for customers of authorised Mercedes-Benz dealers.