TECHNOLOGY is surrounding us. Usually to good effect, making our lives easier and more informed. But how would you like to take a Skype meeting in your car?

Hmmm….

There was a time when you could climb into your car, shut out work, switch the mobile to off with an “I’m driving at the moment” message, crank up the volume on the in-car stereo, and the open road was yours.

No work, no kids, no spouse, just time for you.

Uh oh. No more.

Technology is allowing us to become more productive with our time. And the latest example is Volvo, which is the first car maker to open its doors and add Microsoft’s leading collaborative productivity app Skype for Business to its 90 Series cars.

Volvo reckons it’s a big step forward in in-car connectivity. Well, there’s no arguing with that. It’s on the major scale of big steps.

Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz, who is Volvo’s vice president consumer connectivity services at Volvo Car Group, explains: “We’ve all been there.

“Sitting in the car trying to join a conference call. Having to enter a phone number and long pin code is not the easiest process, and your attention is not where it should be – on the road. With the addition of Skype for Business all that goes away.”

I can’t help but feel slightly uneasy about this, though. While talking on a mobile hands-free is considered legal, and many business users and company car drivers would say it is essential, there are safety campaigners such as Brake that suggest mobile use – even hands-free – can be distracting.

So where does that leave trying to follow and participate in a four-way business conference on Skype – while you’re driving?

I would suggest that not all your cognitive faculties are concentrating on the road.

But perhaps Skype for Business is more of a longer-term technology facility for when we don’t necessarily need to be concentrating on the road.

Here’s Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz again:

“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.”

Now that makes a lot more sense – I’ll dial into that.