Findlay Automotive Group: Automotive group with 10 franchise dealerships (6 in Nevada, 3 in Arizona, 1 in Utah). Headquarters are in Henderson, NV, near Las Vegas.

AS/400 at corporate headquarters runs all accounting, ordering, factory communication, inventory control. EDS supplies and maintains software and network. Is replacing SNA network over leased lines with a TCP/IP wide area network.

Problem to solve: Keep investment in Twinax infrastructure while building a WAN, and then slowly upgrade to PCs instead of replacing all twinax devices at once. To do this needed a remote controller that supports Twinax over TCP/IP.

Product Installed: Four BOS e-Twin@x Controllers (Models 4528 - 28 devices/addresses). Plan to purchase four more.

1. It is the only remote controller with Twinax over TCP/IP that works with Findlay's CISCO routers.
2. Although Findlay was using Perle controllers, Perle's Twinax over TCP/IP implementation looked too complicated.
3. Cathy Corbet at I/O Connections (Findlay's twinax terminal supplier; both a Perle and BOS dealer) recommended the unit.
4. BOS e-Twin@x Controller is "sleek, small, easy to install and configure, and costs less than half as much as the Perle controller."

When: First unit installed at Saturn of Henderson late September, and units two through four at the end of November.

Contact: John Steffy, IS Manager

Tel: 702-558-8899
E-mail: jjsteffy@concentric.net

"The initial configuration was fast and easy since BOS supports the AS/400 naming conventions. All I had to do was put in an IP address and name the controller to the system." -- John Steffy

"The BOS e-Twin@x Controller is easy to maintain remotely. I can go in port by port with my browser to check terminals and printers." -- John Steffy

"We have a variety of printers (line, dot matrix, system lasers with multiple drawers) from different printer manufacturers (Lexmark, Fujitsu, IBM). BOS supplies multiple printer drivers, so we just kept trying till we found the ones that worked." -- John Steffy

"We tested the initial unit for two weeks. There were a few glitches on early releases, but BOS had their technician on a plane the next day and got it repaired quickly. With other vendors we've had to wait for months for service. BOS has a great support team, and the service is really good. Even when we call just on their twinax cards, you get the feeling that you're dealing with a real person. It's very personalized." -- John Steffy

"We'll be using the built-in remote access servers soon. Now that we have four controllers in place, we have 16 RAS ports available. I want to tie in our accountants, vendors, some smaller remote locations. I also want to get e-commerce going, and plan to allow prospective customers using our two kiosks in local shopping malls to dial in and access our web site to search our inventory." -- John Steffy

Click here to read what else this customer and others are saying about the e-Twin@x Controller!