Possibilities - Clearing the Air - TBBS and The EPA

Contact:   eSoft, Inc. (Makers of TBBS)
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CLEARING THE AIR - TBBS AND THE EPA
-----------------------------------

*** From April 1992 Possibilities Newsletter ***
*** Copyright 1992 by eSoft, Inc.  All Rights Reserved ***

Clearing the Air -- TBBS and The Environmental Protection Agency
by Alan R. Bechtold

It would be hard to deny the importance of the EPA's task.  More than ever 
before, preservation of the environment is playing an important part in our 
everyday lives.  But Government agencies have a reputation for moving 
slowly.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards (OAQPS), however, is breaking new ground for speed and efficiency, 
thanks to its TBBS online information system, the OAQPS Technology Transfer 
Network (TTN).

System Manager Herschel Rorex and Program Manager Jerry Mersch first put 
TBBS online to answer requests from state and local air pollution directors 
in Washington who wanted the agency to set up an inexpensive way to 
communicate.

The agency, located in Research Triangle Park, NC, was first introduced to 
TBBS by Tom Faulkner, an area independent consultant and long-time TBBS 
system designer.  "The contractor who was working on the development of our 
first system sort of 'discovered' Tom," Mersch said.  "Tom then brought in 
the single-line TBBS software, put it on our system and demonstrated it for 
us.  We were instantly impressed."

Other leading BBS software packages were considered, Mersch said, but added, 
"TBBS was the one we fell in love with."  The two almost immediately ordered 
the 16-line version of TBBS and connected it to four incoming lines.  That 
first system was the SCRAM (Support Center for Regulatory Air Models) BBS.

From its inception, the SCRAM BBS served as the agency's primary 
distribution point for regulatory air models, offering instant access to 
changes to the models, including updates, meteorological data and 
documentation.

"Before SCRAM was put online, all those models were acquired through the 
National Technical Information Service, the only place, other than coming 
directly to the EPA offices, they could be acquired," Mersch explained.  "In 
a formal sense, we took that over and eliminated NTIS from the process, 
forcing everyone to come to the online system to get models.  So, if anyone 
anywhere is interested in acquiring a regulatory model for doing an air 
pollution study, this is the only place they can now get them.  We answer no 
calls, send no models out on diskette, magnetic tape or in any way, shape or 
form.  If a person doesn't have a computer and modem then I guess our 
feeling now is they're not serious about it because that's what today's 
world is all about."

Mersch added, "This has resulted in us having to do a lot less menial work 
getting these models out to people, but what it's really done -- and this is 
the most important point and the greatest thing about the system -- is that 
we can now take any model, have a problem with it, make a change today and 
put it on the board so the users have access to that change the same day.  
Before, it would take MONTHS before these things could get out to people and 
we're talking about changes that can very well cause an entire industry 
problems and affect whether or not they will construct or not construct.

"Correcting these models is a very important thing and getting them out to 
people in a timely fashion is the whole thing that this telecommunications 
idea is all about," Mersch said.

System operator Herschel Rorex said the effects were immediate.  "It (the 
TBBS online system) became such a tremendous success that other branches and 
divisions within OAQPS could see a need for this type of tech transfer, this 
type of tool for disseminating the technical data that they had out to their 
particular clients who have the need for their particular documents and 
data," he said.

"When it became apparent there were other needs within our division, I 
redesigned the system to make it act as a multiple bulletin board system, so 
users coming into the system have a selection on the top menu and go into 
whichever individual board is appropriate to their needs," Rorex explained.

The multi-board design now opens up with a main menu that announces access 
to the OAQPS TTN top menu.  This menu offers the caller access to each of 
several OAQPS divisions, in addition to the original SCRAM BBS.  There are 
now also options to access The Emission Measurement Technical Information 
Center (EMTIC) BBS, The Clearinghouse for Inventories/ Emission Factors 
(CHIEF) BBS, The Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI) BBS and The Clean 
Air Act Amendments (CAAA) BBS.

Each of these separate boards is operated by other "assistant system 
designers" within their own appropriate offices.  "Each of these are 
responsible for approving, acquiring, and maintaining all the things that 
are on his or her individual board," Mersch said.  "In no case do we give 
them SysOm-type access to the system, but they're still responsible and they 
use the board to upload information into a special area that Hersch, at the 
central cite, receives and then updates on their boards."

"I've provided hidden areas where they can upload files to me that I can 
then just put into place, using SYSOM, while the system's running," Rorex 
said.  "That works very well for us."

SYSOM, the TBBS Option Module that allows multi-line systems to emulate DOS 
functions and perform a variety of system maintenance tasks while users are 
connected to the system, is a valuable asset.

"We couldn't live without it," Rorex said.  "In the very beginning, when our 
initial system was running on four lines, I would have to take the system 
offline each morning to do registrations.  This system has grown so much 
there's no way we could do that now without SYSOM."

Mersch and Rorex are also making increasing use of TDBS, the TBBS Option 
Module that allows use of the dBase III Plus languge to write database 
programs in the TBBS online environment.

"We have one particular board on our system, the CTC Board, that uses TDBS 
quite a bit," Rorex said.  "One TDBS application allows users to order 
documents online, actually filling in the blanks and specifying which 
documents he or she would like to order from that particular board.  Callers 
can also leave what they call CTC Hotline Requests, via another TDBS 
application.

"Also, when a person first goes into the CTC board, an autoexecute command 
activates a TDBS program that creates a record containing information about 
that user, including name, location, number of times logged onto the board, 
and so on," Rorex added.  "TDBS is then used to create extensive stats on 
that board's actual usage.  I think we'll soon be implementing that program 
on each board on the system, so we can get a better handle on total system 
usage.

"We also use TBBS' Type 20 keyword-searchable databases a lot," he said.  
"We have a userlog online the callers can search for names.  There are also 
a couple of other places we use it as well."

Rorex pointed out that he and Mersch have found several instances where 
extensive text searches in TDBS would simply be too slow.  It is in these 
instances when a Type 20 keyword-searchable text file is preferred.

"It seems to be faster and more efficient than TDBS data bases for some 
applications," he said.  "dBase can be a little bit slow, at least what 
we've tested, so we actually like the Type 20 search feature best.  If we 
can use it we do."

Rorex made interesting use of TBBS' auto execute menus.  When a caller 
selects a main menu option to go to one of the system's other boards, he is 
first automatically taken to a text file that displays current news and 
update information relating to that agency division's area.  A secondary 
menu then offers the option to re-read the announcements, continue with 
access to the selected board or return to the main menu.

If a caller chooses to continue, he is then presented with that individual 
board's main menu.  Each separate board offers a number of options to 
download and upload files, participate in live teleconferences, request 
information and books and much more.

A private, hidden option offers access to an area on the system that serves 
as the e-mail and communications network for state and local air pollution 
directors throughout the United States.  It's the communications link Mersch 
and Rorex were originally asked to design and which led in short order to 
the major system that's wrapped around it today.

Both Mersch and Rorex say it's easy to change their TBBS system to meet the 
growing demands they continue to place on it.  The agency's contractor set 
up the menus for the first system, following Mersch and Rorex's design 
recommendations and requirements, but now they handle all the system's 
design and upkeep themselves.

"It required some re-designing on my part to change the BBS to a multiple 
board system and to avoid redundancy," Rorex said.  "There are certain 
utility functions I provide that are accessible from the top menu that are 
not repeated in the other boards, but are still active options.  It was a 
little bit of a task, but it's worked out real well."

Rorex's design was simple and clean, with limited but effective use of ANSI 
graphics for added emphasis.  "Some of the people who have developed menus 
for me did what ANSI graphics we have online, using the shareware program 
THEDRAW," he said.  "I don't have a whole lot of ANSI graphics on the system 
because it slows down the display.  The board naturally appeals to a broad 
group of professional people who want to get what they need from the system 
and get out, so a lot of the bells and whistles and graphics aren't 
necessarily needed or appreciated.  One user even specifically requested 
that we remove some of the text lines from a menu because it was slowing him 
down too much at 1200 baud."

One especially effective use of graphics is a set of organizational charts, 
accessible from the opening system menu, that clearly illustrates the 
inter-relationships of the various OAQPS branches and divisions.

"That really uses a minimum of graphics," Rorex said.  "I think a double 
line and single line are the only actual graphics characters used there, but 
it is effective for conveying that particular type of information." Mersch 
gives Rorex more credit than he's willing to take himself.  "In Herch's 
defense, when he says he 're-designed the board' he's making an 
understatement," Mersch said.  "Once the contractor did the original SCRAM 
BBS, it was in our hands.  All the menu development was done by Hersch.  
They (the contractor) sort of led the way and gave us the time to figure out 
how to do it.  In fact, all but one of the bulletin boards on our system now 
have been developed by us -- myself, Hersch and the people who work for us.  
We do all the menu development, expansion and development ourselves.

"I'll contrast that to another BBS that's in our building here that another 
group runs," Mersch said.  "It's developed in FoxPro, I believe, and runs 
using PC Anywhere.  It's very user-friendly, but they've got computers 
stacked on top of each other and whenever they want to make a change they 
have to go back to the contractor."

It's the ability to run their system on a single CPU that appealed to Mersch 
and Rorex.  "Right now we're running 32 lines on a single 386 PC with 4 
megabytes of RAM, a high-capacity Maxtor 760 megabyte drive and the 40-
megabyte Western Digital that came with the system when we bought it," Rorex 
said.  "I have the Western Digital FAAST SCSI controller board in the system 
that controls both hard drives and makes them work together.  The memory is 
managed by QEMM.  And we've got 20 Hayes Smartmodems for 1200/2400 , plus 
two 9600 bps US Robotics HST Dual Standards.

"The system is also available on a local Ethernet LAN and we have 10 lines 
dedicated to that, so people in the buildings within this area can get to 
the system through the LAN," Mersch explained.  "It (TBBS) operates as a 
node on the LAN so all they have to do is issue a connect command and 
they're on the system."

Rorex explained making the LAN connection was no problem for TBBS.  It was 
straightforward as far as setting up TBBS," he said.  "The configuration 
that I set up was good.  It was very easy, a simple configuration for that 
type of connection for those lines."

Naturally, success breeds success.  The system is attracting a staggering 
number of regular callers.  There are now over 3,000 registered users the 
system gets over 200 calls a day.  "We're now getting calls from around the 
world as word of the system spreads," Mersch said.

Rorex says one of the joys of his job is meeting and working with all those 
callers on a day-to-day basis.  "I'm in close contact with the users almost 
every day through the voice line and on the board and I get compliments 
almost every day," he said.  "People are very appreciative of the service 
that the board provides and one of the things people say a lot of the time 
is 'what a NICE thing to do.'"

This much activity -- and the growing importance of the system -- has Mersch 
and Rorex always looking toward expansion.  They'll have already upgraded to 
TBBS 2.2 as soon by the time you read this, and will have moved to the 64 
line version, which became available with the release of 2.2.

"We're also installing an X.25 Pad to give us additional lines for access 
through our overall EPA network to let the regional offices as well as a lot 
of the state offices have direct access to the BBS through our main 
communications center network at Research Triangle Park," Mersch said.  "The 
modem was just installed.

"We have also ordered a 33MHz 486 with 16 megabytes of RAM and probably 
two or three Maxtors to give us somewhere in the vicinity of 1.5 to 2 
gigabytes of storage," he added.

Of course, so much expansion is easy to justify when you're solving so many 
problems.  Mersch says he's never had a problem getting what he needs to 
make the system grow to meet usage.

"This whole situation has worked out very well," he said.  "Within our 
agency, which is a part of Air and Radiation in EPA, the whole idea of the 
TBBS online system has really been accepted.  It's been SUPPORTED like 
nothing I've every been associated with in the 30 years that I've been 
working here.  And I really mean SUPPORTED.  When we need equipment, 
additional software or whatever it is, we ask for it and we get it, because 
the success of the board has been so great and the management is so 
impressed with it.  The two people above us -- division director Bill Laxton 
and the branch chief -- have given us their unqualified support."

Mersch stresses that his system's success can be repeated in any number of 
applications and believes firmly that TBBS is the key ingredient in his 
recommended formula for success.

"What Phil Becker and the guys at eSoft are doing is really a top-notch 
job," he said.  "There's no question about it.  We're always reading about 
other bulletin board packages and I always wonder how a lot of them can 
exist alongside something that's as high quality as TBBS.  I guess there are 
uses for some of the others but eSoft's certainly done a professional job."

It might be stretching things a bit to say TBBS has helped hasten the 
cleanup of our environment.  It has definitely helped speed access to some 
important aspects of air quality control.  Even if your needs are not quite 
as important to the survival of our world, the success of OAQPS TTN should 
provide clear proof that TBBS and TDBS can deliver what they promise.

To view the OAQPS TTN for yourself, dial 919-541-5742, at 1200/2400 baud or 
919-541-1447 at 9600 baud and look it over for yourself.  Fill out the quick 
online registration form and leave a message to SYSOP saying you're a fellow 
TBBS system designer and Herschel will be happy to give you a look around 
the system.

- END -
PS0492-2
Rev. 4/92

Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
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interested party.  Any other use requires the written permission of
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IMPORTANT:  The information herein is subject to change without notice.
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