This retail unit would alleviate the need for a house-mounted NID installed by the cable company. The customer would then use a Web interface to enable services, including IP telephony, corresponding to his needs and willingness to pay. At the same time, a customer record would be established. The end-user would be responsible for troubleshooting any problems with installation, and returning faulty modems to the retailer. 3Com will be compatible with both.
Functionality is one thing.
There will still be basic indications that confirm the presence of power to the NID, synchronization, ranging, the completion of frequency assignments and the fact that provisioning has linked the NID to the rest of the system. ADC uses a combination of red, amber and green LEDs in their circuit-switched product to convey these states to an installer. Eric mentioned, however, that having a 10BaseT port on the IP NID allows for attaching a laptop or other data interface to access status and troubleshooting screens if required. Motorola s CentriQ systems engineer Lou Bifano pointed out this could add a different dimension to installer troubleshooting, which would require a whole new set of skills. You can have data service at the NID without telephony being operational.