=========================================================================== === === === SAPPHIRE FEATURES === === === =========================================================================== TYPE OF PRODUCT: One-line computer bulletin board REQUIREMENTS: PC-compatible with 400K free RAM (450K for file transfer) Modem DOS 3.0 or higher Hard disk (or 2 diskette drives, with some restrictions) AUDIENCE: Small businesses, consultants, software developers, support lines, new BBS operators BASIC FEATURES: Messages, e-mail, bulletins, file transfer, doors, events ------------------------ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ------------------------ "Sapphire is a communications gem for new sysops" Jack Germain, in Online Access Magazine -=*=- "It's good to hear that packages like Sapphire still do exist to give operators a starting place without requiring a graduate course in BBSology..." Jack Rickard Editor/Publisher Boardwatch Magazine -=*=- "Sapphire is great! It's the perfect BBS for shareware authors to use for supporting their products." Steve Hudgik, author of the book "Writing and Marketing Shareware" -=*=- "I couldn't believe it! A real BBS up and running in ONE HOUR. Having assisted in setting up [another well-known brand of] BBS, I know what a miracle this is." Mike Nees, Sysop Quoted in Boardwatch Magazine ----------------------------------------------- WHAT MAKES SAPPHIRE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BBS'S? ----------------------------------------------- At the moment, there are at least 70 different BBS packages for you to try: 2AM, ABBS, Access, Auntie, BBS-X, Chairman, Citadel, DCI, DLX, Doorway, DragCity, EBBS, EIS, Emulex, Executive, Express, Falken, Feathernet, Fido, Forbes, Force, Forem, Forum, Fred's Citiadel, Free Speech, Gap, Genesis, GS-BBS, GT Power, ICOMM, Ironhenge, KingNet, MagPie, Major, Maxi-Host, Maximus, Milton, Mini-Host, Modulex, NoChange, Odyssey, OLEcom Professional, OmegaComm, Opus, Oracomm, Osiris, PC-Board, Phoenix, PICS, Pilot, PostMaster, PowerBBS, ProBoard, Pyroto, QuickBBS, RBBS, Remote Access, rOverBoard, RyBBS, Sapphire, Searchlight, SH Systems, Simplex, Spitfire, Stonehenge, SuperBBS, TAG, TBBS, Telegard, TPBCom, TPBoard, Tritel, Ultra, VBBS, WildCat, WWIV, XBBS, XRS... With all that variety to choose from, why should you run Sapphire? We'd like to tell you a bit about what makes Sapphire different. Perhaps you will find that it's the best choice for your application. --------------- EASY TO INSTALL --------------- Over the years, we've asked a lot of Sapphire sysops why they selected Sapphire. One comment we hear quite frequently: "I tried to install some other boards but I just couldn't figure them out". Another version we hear: "I got Sapphire up and running in 15 minutes, but according to the manual of the other one, you've got to do all kinds of work before you can even start it up". People appreciate that we have made Sapphire so easy to install! ------------------------ GET "ON THE AIR" QUICKLY ------------------------ Sapphire comes preconfigured as a private online club, named "The Pinnacle Club". You can make this available to people in your area from the very first day you install Sapphire. We've done all the ground-work so you can get quick feedback from your new users, instead of spending a week designing your board (which is what most BBS products require you to do). ---------------------- NATURAL USER INTERFACE ---------------------- Though Sapphire displays a command menu to new users, you'll notice that many turn the menu off before long. That's because Sapphire uses word commands instead of cryptic letter commands. (The words can be abbreviated, so the user only has to type a few characters for each one.) -------------------------- STREAMLINED USER INTERFACE -------------------------- The SET, NAMES and TEXT commands allow you to modify and filter what Sapphire does. As far as we know, only Sapphire has adopted this approach, which vastly reduces the number of commands and menus required, while retaining the command power of systems that are harder to use. ----------------------- "GUIDED TOUR" MESSAGING ----------------------- Most BBS's force the user to keep track of what he has and has not read. Sapphire's "READ *" command will guide the user through unread bases one at a time. While he reads, he can jot down ideas in the online notepad, or send the contents of the notepad as a message at any time. ----------------------- NO MAINTENANCE REQUIRED ----------------------- Sapphire can run unattended without requiring constant tinkering, an unfortunate requirement of many other BBS packages. Even the user sign-up procedure is designed to minimize the time you spend assessing new users. Sapphire is designed to be easy to run, so you can spend your valuable time on more important things than maintenance and validation calls. -------------- BUSINESS-READY -------------- Sapphire is ideal for small business because once it is set up (which doesn't take long), it will run reliably, day after day. Most businesses don't have the time or money to use a BBS that is less efficient than Sapphire. Sapphire is also very easy to learn and use -- an important consideration when you are using your BBS to communicate with valuable customers who aren't "computer hackers". It does not overwhelm new users. ------------- INTERNATIONAL ------------- Sapphire provides international character translation. That means that people who have IBM extended ASCII can display diacritical (e.g. accented) characters, while those who do not have IBM compatible computers will have the special characters translated. For example, the character "c cedille" (the c with a small hook underneath) is displayed with the cedille if the user has IBM characters, and as a plain "c" if he does not. ----------- INEXPENSIVE ----------- BBS's comparable to Sapphire are priced at $90 to $299. Sapphire costs only $65 -- and you can evaluate it free for 99 days before making your decision to purchase a copy. ---------------------------------- IF YOU HAVE NEVER RUN A BBS BEFORE ---------------------------------- Pinnacle Software is always innovating. As a result, Sapphire is very different from other BBS's, most of which trace their design philosophy back to the original RBBS program. Sapphire (and our related programs Pyroto and Free Speech) are original creations. If you are a new sysop, you may feel that you should run a BBS that looks like all the other ones. In that case, we ask you to try out Sapphire for a month. Find out how easy it is for both you and your users. Then ask somebody who runs another BBS how much time he or she spends every week "maintaining" his or her system, or how many users have mastered more than the basic BBS functions. We believe you'll find this experiment informative. Whatever your decision, we'd like to thank you for taking the time to evaluate Sapphire. Good luck in your BBS endeavours!