Search Again: Re: Getting started From: ISP List Date: Sunday, October 19, 2003 Time: 5:18:09 pm At 11:24 PM 10/19/2003 +0100, you wrote: >I'm a businessman, not a software expert, I'm currently on my own but ready >to invest where necessary. If there are no third party developers that can >help me to set up then I need to know what skills I need to search for and >employ to help me set up. Ideally I'd outsource the whole business and focus >on sales. We do OptiGold/ISP Consulting if you're interested in pursuing it. >I will have 20 >resellers selling my ADSL service. I want customers to do as much of the >work as possible by allowing them to sign up on line, get reports of the >state of their order etc. I want to bill customers by credit card (on-line), >direct debit or, when necessary by post. All of the above (except the status of their order, but that can be integrated with the web interface pretty easily) is possible with OptiGold. >What software do I need?, Depends on your environment and expected number of customers. There are two "configs" that are common: Config 1: * FileMaker Pro client running in "workgroup" mode, which allows other FileMaker Pro clients to connect to the OptiGold database that it has open (essentially enabling multi-user/sharing) * FileMaker Pro Unlimited for the web interface access to OptiGold Since the Pro client usually runs on the employee workstation, the only "server" piece would be the box running FileMaker Unlimited. Config 2: * FileMaker Server (running on W2K Server, Linux, or OS X) * FileMaker Pro client(s) for GUI access to the OptiGold data files served up by FileMaker Server * FileMaker Pro Unlimited for the web interface access to OptiGold Note that FileMaker Server cannot run on the same machine as the client(s) (either Pro or Unlimited) if you are running Windows. They can co-exist if you are running OS X. >How many different machines are recommended to accomplish a moderate >business? Typically two machines at a minimum, typically three in the "Config 2" listed above. >Is it practical to evaluate this product on a single machine? For eval purposes, it is possible to do, yes. If you wanted to test the web interface while using the GUI at the same time (on a single machine), you'd need to enable the Web Companion, open the Web Security database manually, and then point your browser at the port the Web Companion is running on. >What would a typical set up look like in terms of hardware and software, >including whether it should be located in the sales office or in a network >access point or on a web server? Again, that will vary based on your chosen config, but the config I use at the ISP I own is: - W2K Server running FileMaker Server 5.5 - W2K Server running FileMaker Unlimited 5.5, IIS5, and OptiSkin (ASP) for web interface - W2K Server in Terminal Services Application mode running FileMaker Pro client for employee GUI access (via Remote Desktop client) The only box that is accessible from the outside is the one running the web interface (port 80/443). The other two are on our internal LAN and have no access at all to the outside world. >I've looked at different products but have decided to evaluate Optigold, >however, at this time I'm ready to start casting the net wider, should I be >looking elsewhere? As someone who has used quite a few competing ISP billing packages over the years, I can say from experience that OptiGold is the way to go. --------------------------------------- Mike Bacher / mike@sparklogic.com SparkLogic Development / ISP Consulting Use OptiGold ISP? Check out OptiSkin! http://www.sparklogic.com/optiskin/ --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- To subscribe, unsubscribe or to search list archive please visit http://www.optigold.com/lists/isp.html ---------------------------------------------------

Messages In This Thread: getting started by Colm Piercy on Mar 28, 1999 at 4:57:22 pm Re: getting started by Shawn Hogan on Mar 28, 1999 at 6:47:32 pm Getting started by Bob Havlin on Jul 14, 1999 at 3:15:35 pm Re: Getting started by Shawn Hogan on Jul 14, 1999 at 3:26:59 pm Re: Getting started by Tony Harris on Jul 14, 1999 at 4:59:17 pm Re: Getting started by Bob Havlin on Jul 14, 1999 at 5:59:46 pm Re: Getting started by Shawn Hogan on Jul 14, 1999 at 7:23:51 pm getting started by The Inner Mall on Mar 12, 2000 at 5:26:14 pm Re: getting started by Shawn Hogan on Mar 12, 2000 at 5:30:20 pm Re: getting started by The Inner Mall on Mar 12, 2000 at 7:20:40 pm Re: getting started by Shawn Hogan on Mar 12, 2000 at 7:30:14 pm Re: getting started by The Inner Mall on Mar 12, 2000 at 7:50:06 pm Re: getting started by The Inner Mall on Mar 12, 2000 at 10:30:44 pm Re: getting started by Shawn Hogan on Mar 12, 2000 at 10:32:38 pm Getting started by Russell Johnson on Oct 19, 2003 at 3:25:30 pm Re: Getting started by Shawn Hogan on Oct 19, 2003 at 3:56:46 pm Re: Getting started by ISP List on Oct 19, 2003 at 5:18:09 pm Getting started by Russell Johnson on Oct 20, 2003 at 8:20:10 am Re: Getting started by Doug@BritSys.com on Oct 20, 2003 at 9:03:44 am Re: Getting started by Shawn Hogan on Oct 20, 2003 at 11:15:13 am Re: Getting started by ISP List on Oct 20, 2003 at 11:51:53 am Re: Getting started by ISP List on Oct 20, 2003 at 11:52:37 am Re: Re: Getting started by Javier Galvez on Oct 20, 2003 at 12:19:07 pm Getting started by Don Hard on Dec 4, 2003 at 10:32:40 am Re: Getting started by Shawn Hogan on Dec 5, 2003 at 12:40:06 pm