Volvo adds Skype for Business to new 90 Series cars

Volvo Cars is to add Microsoft Skype for Business to its new 90 Series cars, becoming the first to introduce a collaborative in-car productivity tool.

Actively used by millions of people at work worldwide, Skype for Business will be added to the cars to enable drivers to view their upcoming meetings and participant details. They will also be able to join meetings with one click via the large central display.

“Skype for Business represents another big step forward for our in-car connectivity and communication offer,” said Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz, vice president of Consumer Connectivity Services at Volvo Car Group. With the dawn of autonomous cars we see a future where flexible in-car productivity tools will enable people to reduce time spent in the office. This is just the beginning of a completely new way of looking at how we spend time in the car.”

Volvo’s partnership with Microsoft also includes the exploration of using Cortana, Microsoft’s intelligent personal assistant. The cars will leverage Cortana’s voice recognition and contextual insights to support drivers’ daily lives by actively predicting their needs.

“Volvo Cars is leading the way in its recognition that the nature of work is increasingly mobile,” said Ben Canning, director of product management for Skype for Business at Microsoft. People need to be productive from anywhere – including their cars. We’re thrilled to extend modern meetings to Volvo cars.”