Some vehicles equipped with the OnStar® system have the capability of accessing voice mailboxes and other automated phone systems by means of the steering wheel controls, while the OnStar® Personal Calling (OPC) feature is in use. If the "Talk" or "Mute" button (depending upon the vehicle) on the steering wheel controls is depressed during an OPC call, the communication interface module (CIM) receives the message on the serial data bus from either the radio or body control module (BCM). This message is interpreted as a request to turn any spoken numbers into dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones to be delivered over the airwaves to the phone system the user is communicating with. Complete instructions for operation of these features can be found in the information provided to the customer with the OnStar® system.

The steering wheel controls are a resistor network that consist of multiple momentary contact switches and a series of resistors. The switches and resistor network are arranged so that each switch has a different resistance value. When a switch is pressed, a voltage drop occurs in the resistor network, which produces a specific voltage value unique to the switch selected, to be interpreted by either the radio or BCM. In the event the OnStar® steering wheel control functions are inoperative, technicians should refer to Steering Wheel Controls Inoperative , to begin diagnosis of the steering wheel control concern.