What Is O·M·N·I?

Table of Contents

1. What services can I provide on my system using O·M·N·I?
2. Why should I set up an O·M·N·I Internet BBS instead of a Web site?
3. What sets O·M·N·I apart from other "Windows BBS" software?
4. Can I set up a LAN or Intranet … with different security levels?
5. How easy is O·M·N·I to set up?
6. Who is using O·M·N·I?

► What services can I provide on my system using O·M·N·I?

With O·M·N·I you can set up many of the same services that are generally made available on major commercial online services (like America Online) with similar functionality. Some of these services include:

• Screens & Menus—where users may view general system information, colorful visual displays and instructions, or select from various options which will send them to other areas of your system—all from within highly interactive windows, which have 3-D buttons, panels, icons, and other useful graphical elements (that almost everyone is already familiar with), not just scrolling "pages" like the Web.
  
  
• E-Mail Center—where users may retrieve, read, compose, and send e-mail either directly by modem or over the Internet, depending on which ways you allow them to access the system.
  
  
• Chat/Teleconference Areas—where users may chat "live" with others connected to the system either from your designated public chat area(s) or from inside private teleconference rooms which you (or, if you wish to allow it, even your users) can set up at any time for private conferences.
  
  
• Forums/Message Boards—where users can go to read and post messages, in the same manner as a bulletin board, under any kind or number of topics that you want to have on your system … and you can use highly organized, expanding File Manager/MS Explorer-style directory tree listings to make it easier for users to access the different forums and discussion areas on your system.
  
  
• File Areas—where users may go to preview and download files from (or upload files to) the system … using the same expanding directory tree organization that is available for the forums and message boards on your system.

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► Why should I set up an O·M·N·I Internet BBS instead of a Web site?

The Online Multimedia Networking Interface (O·M·N·I) was developed for growing businesses and organizations seeking more practical online solutions that go beyond the increasingly insecure and complicated World Wide Web. Among O·M·N·I's many advantages are:

• Greater Speed & Interactivity—O·M·N·I provides a rich and dynamic "windowing" environment based on the traditional bulletin board system (BBS)—which has evolved dramatically in recent years, ever since windows started replacing text-based operating systems such as DOS.
  
  The O·M·N·I BBS communications platform, unlike the Web, is so fast and seamless that users who call and log on to an O·M·N·I system often feel as though they're using a Windows application installed on their own machine when connected. The World Wide Web simply does not compare to the interactivity and speed of the O·M·N·I BBS for user-friendliness or graphical content presentation.
  
  
• Advanced Multimedia—The online transfer of multimedia sound and graphics in O·M·N·I is entirely "live" and does not depend on pseudo- multimedia effects like "streaming" or complicated programming languages like JAVA or ActiveX, as the Web does. The only time a user is ever actually "logged on" to a Web site is that period of time when a page and its "contents" are actually being served.
  
  In O·M·N·I your sound and pictures are experienced the instant your user clicks a button on the current window. And O·M·N·I provides you with a wide variety of simple tools to completely utilize multimedia sound and graphics on your system.
  
  
• Internet and Dial-up Connectivity—Any connection type that is supported by WINSOCK.DLL can be used by O·M·N·I. This includes TCP/IP LANs, dial-up (SLIP/PPP) Internet access, and dedicated Internet connections (ISDN, T1, etc.). And unlike the Web, O·M·N·I also allows direct dial-up modem connections, which often affords greater convenience and in some instances even improved communications to callers.
  
  
• Network Crash Backup—Having the option of direct dial-up in addition to Internet connectivity in O·M·N·I allows for a highly dependable backup system in the event of network crashes, or even slow-downs, which already occur on the Internet.
  
  Due to the present lack of standard operating procedures among Internet Service Providers and countless underpowered servers turning up every day on the Internet … many predict that some branches of the World Wide Web will likely start experiencing significant crashes by as early as 1997. This could present serious consequences to anyone presently dependent on the Internet communications infrastructure. It would be especially devastating to businesses who have placed all their eggs in the World Wide Web basket.
  
  
• Network Security—Recently the U.S Navy, seeking a secure customizable interface on which to build remote communication systems, discovered O·M·N·I and now uses it as the basic communications platform for a new remote database management system for NRaD-supported equipment installed on ships.
  
  One of the biggest advantages of the O·M·N·I BBS platform over the Web is that it uses a proprietary O·M·N·I Term client software application (which users download and install FREE of charge). This means that no "browsers" other than the O·M·N·I Term can ever be used to communicate with an O·M·N·I Server over the Internet!
  
  With secure TCP/IP (Internet) and direct dial-up (modem) connectivity—in addition to a proprietary O·M·N·I Term client application—callers can log on to your O·M·N·I Server via modem, LAN, or standard Internet connection to place orders without the same endless security concerns experienced on the Web.
  
  
• A Total Online Solution—If you already have (or plan to have) a Web site, you might not necessarily set up an O·M·N·I Internet BBS to replace it … you may possibly consider using both platforms to fulfill your total online solution.
  
  For example, if you are a business, you could effectively use your Web site to attract new prospects or customers (via your published Web address) then advise them to download the O·M·N·I Term from this site and log on to your interactive multimedia windows BBS to access your "real" sales and marketing information … and securely place their order!

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► What sets O·M·N·I apart from other "Windows BBS" software?

What is especially unique about O·M·N·I is its fully customizable Windows interface and its ability to transfer complex multimedia graphics and stereo sound with enough speed and smoothness that most callers feel as though they are using a Windows application installed on their own machine when connected. O·M·N·I supports complete multi-tasking and offers seamless operation even during file transfers.

Among O·M·N·I's advanced program components is a powerful, intuitive Window Editor application which offers system designers a full palette of elements with close to 100 design and command properties for creating system windows. O·M·N·I fully supports 24-bit and 256-color graphics and photos in a variety of popular image formats, as well as live wave and MIDI stereo sound.

Also available for more advanced online designs is a powerful programming language called O·M·N·I Basic with as many as 60 script commands and nearly 40 keywords for creating online forms, games, and other interactive online utilities. O·M·N·I also supports more nodes (telephone lines and/or simultaneous network connections) on a single computer than most other BBS packages and includes features which may be especially useful to growing businesses and organizations—such as online order forms, extended accounting, and multiple (private or public) teleconference areas.

Many experienced online service operators are reporting O·M·N·I as being the most customizable BBS software on the market.

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► Can I set up a LAN or Intranet … with different security levels?

The Online Multimedia Networking Interface (O·M·N·I) is the system of choice for many LAN and Intranet applications, due to its ability to combine solid online content with a completely customizable, user-friendly "windowing" interface. Because it is a proprietary system, networks can run securely over any standard dedicated TCP/IP (Internet) connection. (And if by some remote chance the Internet should ever fail, you can always rely on direct dial-up modem connectivity for backup!)

In addition, O·M·N·I's advanced built-in security allows you to specify the use of your system many different ways. You can set it up as an "open" system, which allows new outside callers to connect, or as a "closed" system, which only allows the users you've specified to connect. You can set security levels, lock-and-key words, or even passwords to limit access to specific areas of your system, or you can limit specific activities in those areas only to selected users.

For example, a legal firm could limit the online viewing and/or transfer of confidential client files only to those authorized to do so in a particular file area while, at the same time, other files may be accessed by regular staff conducting normal business. Meanwhile, your entire system can be running securely with an open line to the Internet. In fact, an entirely separate area of the system could even be set aside for clients and prospects to openly access information about the firm while the rest of the system remains totally secure.

O·M·N·I online security is so versatile, you can even set a single button on a window to launch different on-screen events for different users, if you want!

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► How easy is O·M·N·I to set up?

O·M·N·I comes with complete detailed documentation, a Window Editor tutorial, and user's manuals covering each component program of the system. It is fairly easy to set up for anyone remotely familiar with online/Internet communications or graphics software applications in general. Programming experience is certainly not necessary but can be a definite advantage, especially if you want to create advanced online designs using O·M·N·I Basic programming and scripting language—which is based on Visual Basic—or if you want to develop your own add-on software applications using the O·M·N·I Software Development Kit (SDK).

The O·M·N·I Term client software application—which users install on their own computer to call and log on to an O·M·N·I Server—also comes with descriptive, easy-to-understand documentation. But it was also designed to be intuitive enough for anyone of average computing ability to easily install and use it without written instructions. Anyone who has ever installed America Online on their computer will have no trouble installing the O·M·N·I Term.

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► Who is using O·M·N·I?

Copsey Strain, Inc. began development of O·M·N·I in1994. There are now hundreds of major online/BBS sites running O·M·N·I worldwide, including many home and small businesses, as well as such notables as Xerox Corporation (Pacific Central CBU) and the Singapore/South Asia offices of Pearl & Dean International. Copsey Strain also recently forged a relationship with Scientific Applications International Corporation, a $2 billion engineering firm based in San Diego, CA, to help develop remote control software for the U.S Navy for controlling global military communications equipment.

Out of more than 300 international online and Internet product exhibitors at Intermedia/Internet Asia '96, which ran May 22-25 in Singapore, O·M·N·I Version 1.0 won "Best New Product Announcement at the Show." (O·M·N·I received the award along with well-known software developer Macromedia Internet Products, who was also recognized for new Internet software innovations.) O·M·N·I was praised particularly for the way it was able to provide advanced online/Internet solutions for small- to medium-size businesses without the need for special equipment, leased phone lines, or expensive software add-ons.

Copsey Strain is also giving away full-blown O·M·N·I Version 1.5 software packages free of charge to any school or non-profit public service organization who qualifies as a participant in the O·M·N·I 2001 Free Software Program which was set up to help one million schools and institutions get online by the year 2001.

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