If you are reading this and are already
in business in some way, you ought to consider running a BBS for
your business. Not only will it give you another level of credibility,
but will bring you into contact with people who may never do business
with you in person.
If you are in any type of sales, a home business,
mail order or whatever, you will find that a BBS is another tool
that will work for you while you are out on a job or on a vacation.
There are many types of BBS software. We
use Wildcat by Mustang Software.
Those who want to get a feel for going online,
Mustang Software offers a single line commercial version with
everything you need to successfully run a BBS. Later, if you want
to expand it to the multiline Pro series you can very easily.
Mustang Software is also the creators of Q-Modem Pro. One of the
best com programs around.
The commercial versions will have more tools
and utilities and more freedom to expand your system. They have
the ability to fax back information. It allows connections to
the Internet and other message gateways. There are hundreds of
options in running a Wildcat BBS, yet you can be up and running
in just a short time after installation. With Wildcat you can
be up and waiting for calls in about an hour for basic testing.
Wildcat is one of the top software packages
in the world, yet I think it's the simplest to configure and run.
One of the hardest things that takes a lot
of time setting up and running a BBS is configuring all those
modem strings to have others connect with you. With Wildcat, you
just pick your model of modem from a menu list and the system
configures itself. So simple.
Also, when you are adding progtams *.ZIP
files to your board, Wildcat can either have the system read in
those files from a list, or Wildcat can get the program description
directly from inside each shareware program FILE_ID.DIZ. If this
sounds complicated, it's not! Wildcat makes things simple, including
setting up and running Shareware CD-ROMS using their new, drop
in pre-configured CD-ROM databases.
The Wildcat Multi-line Pro series, has versions
from 1-10 phone lines, up to 250 phone lines in.There are some
other BBS programs you should consider if you are thinking of
adding a lot of phone lines. They are even easier to configure
for many lines than maybe Wildcat. Wildcat, up to this point relies
on multi-port serial boards and DOS multi-tasking software such
as Deskview, and probably 12MB to 16MB of RAM for 8 lines or more
in. I recommend a minimum of a 486DX2-66 or faster since these
mother boards are pretty cheap now.
Our BBS is a 486DX4-100MHz Intel, with 16MB
of RAM. We use SCSI hard drives. We have three GIF Connor drives.
TBBS made by Csoft does not use multi-tasking software. But they
also use Digicom's and other multi-port serial boards. This type
of configure is awesome because all you need is one fast computer
that will handle up to 64 phone lines, and they were the first
BBS program which will connect to the Internet allowing all your
users to have access to Internet E-mail, as well as the rest of
it. Of course, that is also extra in cost.
