Thanks to online shopping services, you no longer have to ferry yourself down to your local high street to punch a hole in your bank balance. But it's not all plain sailing. Once your product has been ordered and paid for, you then have the problem of securing delivery. Volkswagen wants to make it a bit easier to communicate with delivery drivers and mailmen, allowing people to connect their vehicle's infotainment system to the video bell installed on their doors.
The idea of connecting the doorbell with your car was floated by Volkswagen earlier this year. The Budd-E concept from CES was fitted with a (completely non-production ready) infotainment system capable of communicating with DoorBird doorbells.
Now though, anyone with an App Connect- and Mirrorlink-enabled VW car will be able to hook the car up with a compatible DoorBird doorbell. When someone rings the doorbell, a message pops up on the dashboard touchscreen, giving drivers the option to talk with the person at the other end. This functionality is already built into the DoorBird smartphone app, but hasn't been compatible with in-car systems until now.
That means drivers can, potentially, tell delivery drivers where to leave the package. It also could be useful when guests arrive early, or completely unannounced. In future, the system will also be able to open gates or doors manufactured by Hörmann, another one of VW's partners in the project.
