Lockable vehicle mounting bracket for 3G phone?

I sometimes drive a vehicle that's fitted with a Nokia GSM car phone,
where there's a handset on a bracket on the dash, and the actual
electronics are installed somewhere else in the car. Where isn't
important, the fact that "the guts" is elsewhere means it's difficult to
"borrow".

We want to install a 3G phone in the vehicle now, but it seems that
no-one makes a car phone any more, so we have to use a regular mobile
phone. However, I can't find any kind of lockable mounting kit for any
brand of 3G phone that would make it "relatively" safe to leave the
phone in the car. The phone must stay in the vehicle, it doesn't need
to be removed legitimately.

Does anyone have any ideas? I don't need absolute theft-proofing, I
just need theft to be a fair bit more difficult than someone just
picking the phone up out of a standard cradle and pocketing it.

I'm told that Dick Smith stores (and probably other places) have working
iPod units on display, and they use an adjustable aluminium bracket
assembly to secure them. I haven't had a close look at what they use,
but the idea seems reasonable.

Thanks, Peter

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Pete wrote...

> We want to install a 3G phone in the vehicle now, but it seems that
> no-one makes a car phone any more, so we have to use a regular mobile

I would have thought that the last one made would've been the analog Motorola
types back in the early 90s. We had them in our cars. Excellent performers but
limited to the cars.

> phone. However, I can't find any kind of lockable mounting kit for any
> brand of 3G phone that would make it "relatively" safe to leave the
> phone in the car. The phone must stay in the vehicle, it doesn't need
> to be removed legitimately.

Why? If a person needs a phone in the car, then wouldn't they need it when out
of the vehicle as well, particularly given that it's not safe to use a phone
while driving, whether or not it has hands free capabilities?

> Does anyone have any ideas? I don't need absolute theft-proofing, I
> just need theft to be a fair bit more difficult than someone just
> picking the phone up out of a standard cradle and pocketing it.

Thieves will do whatever is necessary to remove it, including damaging brackets,
dashboards, etc. And having a phone sitting there visible to anyone who looks in
will invite a smashed window in order to grab it.

Invest in a removable bluetooth handsfree such as the Blueant Supertooth unit
and educate the people who need to use it to take both phone and BT unit with
them when they exit the vehicle.

Marts wrote:

> Why? If a person needs a phone in the car, then wouldn't they need it when out
> of the vehicle as well, particularly given that it's not safe to use a phone
> while driving, whether or not it has hands free capabilities?

In this particular situation, the phone will stay in the vehicle. There
is no need for it to be removed, and I don't want it removed.

> Thieves will do whatever is necessary to remove it, including damaging brackets,
> dashboards, etc. And having a phone sitting there visible to anyone who looks in
> will invite a smashed window in order to grab it.

When not in use, the vehicle will be securely garaged.

When the vehicle is in use, the driver (and passengers) would normally
be working close enough to the vehicle that a potential thief needing to
damage brackets or dashboards would not be an issue. A smashed window
wouldn't be an issue either - the windows may already be wound down, and
if not, the doors are be unlocked anyway.

> Invest in a removable bluetooth handsfree such as the Blueant Supertooth unit
> and educate the people who need to use it to take both phone and BT unit with
> them when they exit the vehicle.

The phone needs to stay with the vehicle, but it needs to be mounted
securely enough to stop a "spur of the moment" casual theft, where a
passer-by notices the phone in a normal phone holder and just helps
themselves in a few short seconds.

Peter

Pete wrote...

> The phone needs to stay with the vehicle, but it needs to be mounted
> securely enough to stop a "spur of the moment" casual theft, where a
> passer-by notices the phone in a normal phone holder and just helps
> themselves in a few short seconds.

Superglue the phone to the cradle, perhaps?

Thing is, if the people are working close enough to the vehicle then what risk
is there of an opportunistic thief trying for it?

What if it calls and he's outside of the vehicle but doesn't hear it ring, or is
in a situation where he can't get to it before the caller hangs up?

Obviously I don't know what your situation is. Why you want the phone to stay in
the car permanently and so on.

Sounds like you're making things overly complicated when all the guy needs to do
is to take the phone with him.

Rod Out back wrote...

> Sounds like he may not want the phone to leave the vehicle; to me!

It does. But why, I don't know as he won't say. His prerogative, I suppose.

> Sounds similar to why I have a 2-way radio permaently wired into the work
> vehicles.

Those sort of radios are meant to be built in to the vehicle unless they use
portable radios. In which case their range will be less than a permanentaly
mounted one with an external antenna.

This guy wants to "convert" a mobile phone into a permanent fixture.

> To the original poster (Pete?); havent seen anything that is exactly what you
> need. However, I wondered if a large zip-tie around the top of the phone &
> cradle would work? The causal thief will need to be equipped with side-cutters
> to be able to nick it easily.

Another issue with such a setup is that it won't be easy for the guy to make
outbound calls, particularly if the phone's placed such that it's difficult to
see the screen, or if it doesn't have speakerphone functionality (although
that's probably rare these days).