Paying To Use Microsoft Teams In Your Car Sounds Terrible But Mercedes-Benz Is Offering It Anyway

The rise of infotainment from high-end gadget to everyday necessity means automakers are fitting more stuff into cars than we ever thought possible, and here’s something that feels targeted at a specific type of person. Mercedes-Benz has announced that, with the right subscription plan, you’ll soon be able to take camera-on Microsoft Teams meetings in select models. You’re pulling that face at that statement, aren’t you? I don’t blame you.

While using a Mercedes-Benz to hop on a Teams call while driving isn’t entirely new, how the app works in select new Mercedes-Benz models is changing. As the brand states:

With this update, drivers can use the in-car camera while driving, allowing other participants to see them during a meeting. Given the brand’s focus on safety, the use of the camera abides by the laws of each country and has been approved for use on the move. To minimise distraction and maximise safety while driving, the meeting video stream turns off automatically as soon as the camera is activated. As a result, the driver will never see any shared screens or slides – and the camera can be turned off at any time.

Ah, so that’s what the selfie camera in models like the new CLA is really for. It makes sense that drivers won’t be able to see anyone screen-sharing while they’re on the go because doing so sounds incredibly distracting, but camera functionality only seems helpful for those working at organizations with a camera-on policy, and even then, won’t they know you’re driving?

Of course, being available on-camera around the clock doesn’t come for free. This twist on Microsoft Teams access requires a subscription to what Mercedes-Benz calls the Entertainment Package Plus, pricing for which hasn’t been announced yet for the American market. Given that the non-plus bundle of optional data-dependent services for cars with MBUX infotainment will run you around $150 a year, it wouldn’t be surprising if the full suite of digital services for cars with the new MB.OS system may run at or above that pricing once the free trial period runs out.

I must admit, demand seems questionable, at least in this application. The only people I could really see wanting to pay for camera-on Microsoft Teams integration in their cars are C-suiters, and most high-flying all-business executives probably won’t be daily driving CLAs. Beyond that, a car is kind of like a third space for a lot of people. A place to laugh and cry and jam out and make exasperated hand gestures at the poor driving of other motorists, not a place for work to rapidly encroach on. At 70 MPH, no one can hear how badly you’re butchering that Sarah McLaughlin track. Your housemates and/or partner and/or family won’t judge you for eating Long John Silver’s if you don’t bring it home and just eat it in the car in the parking lot instead.

Don’t get me wrong, the rise of technology and the advent of flex days or even working from home offer some amazing upsides. I wouldn’t be writing this here if it weren’t for that. However, we’re rapidly losing spaces where we’re free to be unavailable, where there’s no real expectation of filing that report or sending that email right now. Should we keep the car as one of those spaces? I reckon it’s not a bad idea.

Top graphic images: Mercedes-Benz

Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.

The post Paying To Use Microsoft Teams In Your Car Sounds Terrible But Mercedes-Benz Is Offering It Anyway appeared first on The Autopian.