newbie with ? on phone

[oops-sorry]

we just bought a 1996 explorer, it the eddie bauer edition. it has the factory phone in it. all i know about it is when you start the vehicle, you hear a dial tone, there is a black rubber button mounted on the front drivers side with a picture of a phone on it, and when you push the button some recorded voice comes on and ask who i am trying to call.

i have the factory owners manual for this vehicle, but i did not see any information on this. and i did a search for "phone" on this forum and checked the first 10 pages and did not find any thing either.

im pretty sure it is a factory option, because it is integrated with the radio also.

my ? is how do i work this thing?????? thanks in advance

 

[KPT]

It was a factory option.

I would bet the phone is analog as old as it is. Cell companies were no longer required to support analog service after Feb 2008 so the phone is basically worthless.

 

[oops-sorry]

o.k. thanks for the info. greatly appreciated

 

[jad2411]

Is it attached to a swing arm base on the center console? I wanted one of those for my 97 so I could attach a cell phone holder to put my phone there...
BTW welcome to the forum!

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome to the forum

 

[gijoecam]

It was a factory option.

I would bet the phone is analog as old as it is. Cell companies were no longer required to support analog service after Feb 2008 so the phone is basically worthless.

Half-right... It was a dealer-installed Ford option. As mentioned, it was an analog service, and IIRC, (at least in this area) carried by AirTouch Wireless (which later became Verizon??). It's about useless nowadays.

-Joe

 

[Cobraguy]

Hmmm...Are you sure about being dealer installed Joe? I swear mine came from the factory that way. I believe there was a dealer installed option too...but you could get it from the factory. In fact, I swear I ordered it that way. But I'm old and my memory isn't what it used to be...

 

[gijoecam]

I'm about 99% positive... to the best of my knowledge, it was a dealer-installed option... the same way remote starts are (were)... They were Ford-approved, Ford branded, plugged into the OEM stereo head unit, etc. but were dealer-installed during the vehicle prep. That's also when they were activated. They wouldn't activate them at the factory, and in most cases (not sure if the Ex was one of them) didn't even ship with the vehicle. The dealers would keep one on hand for those customers that wanted them. Although it may have been an option box you could check on the order form at the dealer, to my knowledge, the factory didn't actually install them, and I know for sure they didn't activate them.

 

[oops-sorry]

thanks for all the info everybody.