One of the new modem's many new features, he maintained, is 4:1 data compression, a capability that can raise the bandwidth of a single 64 kilobit-per-second (Kbps) ISDN B channel to nearly 230 Kbps for accessing graphics and text on the Internet.

The 3ComImpact IQ also adds a second analog port, according to Best. "You can run fax to one, and phone to the other." The analog ports can also be connected to analog modems. The 3ComImpact IQ supports BRI (Basic Rate Interface) ISDN, which provides two 64 Kbps B channels, plus one D channel for session management and set-up.

3Com will also continue its previous support for Multilink PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), permitting dual B channels to be used in conjunction with each another for doubled bandwidth on highspeed digital data connections, according to the VP.

"We're been in this market for about two years now, and we've learned quite a bit from our customers," Best told Newsbytes. The predecessor to the new 3ComImpact IQ was known simply as 3ComImpact.

Users are becoming increasingly frustrated with the slow Internet access and long screen refresh times accompanying 14.4 Mbps and 28.8 Mbps analog modems, Best contended. People have extra time on their hands while waiting for screens to be re-painted, and tend to "lose interest in what they're doing" on the World Wide Web, he continued. Sometimes, people fill that extra time by "going to grab a cup of coffee."

Currently, he asserted, this problem is less acute among consumers than among "corporate workers," such as on-the-road insurance agents, and others -- doctors looking for archived medical records, for instance -- who use the Internet for remote access to LANs (local area networks) for business or professional reasons.

"We expect it will take a little longer for casual users to "get tired" (of slow Internet access speeds). But they'll get there, too," according to the VP.

Another important "lesson learned" for 3Com is the need for greater ease of use, reported Best. As a result, 3Com is offering a money-back guarantee on 15-minute installation of the Compact IQ modem. Additionally, "all required cables" are provided in the box, along with software for both PCs and Macs.

To install the new ISDN modem, all the user must do is to plug in the cables; insert the software disk; click on an icon for the modem; and type in a local ISDN phone number that is provided by 3Com's ISDN's service, according to Best.

After "automatically determining the ISDN line parameters and configuring itself," the modem will then complete the 15-minutesor-less installation process by initiating a call to register the product warranty online, he added.

Two new features that come into play during the installation process are SPID Wizard and Automatic Switch Detect. In addition to configuring the modem, these two features eliminate the previous steps of entering ISDN SPIDs into a dialog box, and placing a test call, Newsbytes was told.

Another new capability, Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation, is designed to automatically reduce an ongoing high-speed data session to a single B channel whenever a phone, fax, or analog call either comes in or is initiated by the user.

A new cost-saving enhancement, TollMizer, is aimed at making the telephone network "think that a data call is a voice call," said Best. As a result, the user is spared the "small, 3 cent or 5 cent" extra fee that phone companies typically place on local data calls, but not on local voice calls. Users are not charged this extra fee for fax calls, either, because the network "already thinks a fax call is a voice call, anyway," according to Best.

The new 3ComImpact IQ is the first ISDN modem to support IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) CHAP authentication security, and also the first to provide IETF CCP (Compression Control Protocol) with Stacker LZS, for 4:1 data compression, according to the VP. To support the compression, the modem is bundled with software drivers and UART (Universal Asynchronous ReceiverTransmitter) cards with a clock-doubling mechanism.

By using the 4:1 data compression in conjunction with TollMizer on data calls to the local Internet POP (point of presence), users can achieve twice the bandwidth of Multilink PPP, while paying for the use of only one ISDN line instead of two, he contended.

3ComImpact IQ is slated to ship in July with the S/T interface used in North America, and at the end of the summer with a U interface. The ISDN digital modem will be sold direct by 3Com (800-NET-3COM), as well as through retail stores such as CompUSA, VARs (value-added resellers), and RBOCs (regional bell operating companies). The modem will be list priced at $499, but street pricing will fall into the $300 to $340 range, the 3Com VP told Newsbytes.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19960624/Reader Contact: 3Com, 800-NET-COM; Press Contacts: Jennifer Wade, 3Com, 408-764-5137; The Weber Group for 3Com, 415-325-8300 or 617-661-7900)