NEWSLETTER

Corporate Edition of BSD SpecLink-E Released

The initial version of SpecLink-E, dubbed the Professional Edition, has been designed for users with four or fewer concurrent users. A new version of BSD SpecLink-E has recently been released. The Corporate Edition, as it has been named, has been designed for larger organizations that need access for five or more users at a time. It incorporates a standard version of Microsoft’s SQL Server database product, rather than the Express version of SQL Server that is used in the Professional Edition. The Corporate Edition of SLE has no limits on database size, and it can use multiple gigabytes of memory and servers with multiple processors to boost its processing speed and throughput. The Corporate Edition should have no problem handling many users at the same time in the same project or in multiple projects.

This new edition of SLE also allows the customer to assign roles to all users. The available roles are System Manager, Expert User, Standard User, and Reviewer. The Reviewer can print documents but has read-only access to the system and cannot edit documents. The Standard User can check documents out and in and has access to basic editing functions. The Expert User has all the permissions of the Standard User and in addition has advanced editing access to allow accepting master updates into a project, creating choice fields, and creating links. The System Manager is all-powerful and establishes a specific role for each user. The Roles functionality is optional and is included in the Corporate Edition for those who want to implement it. When the Roles functionality is not implemented, every user is essentially a System Manager, with full privileges to edit and to implement updates and create choice fields and links.

The two editions of BSD SpecLink are identical, except for the functions described above. Both versions now include the ability to open multiple instances of SLE, so you can have more than one project open at a time, allowing the copying of paragraphs and branches from one project to another. Both versions have the ability to expand or collapse the database, allowing the creation of outline, short form, and full construction specs from the same data without starting over at each phase of a project. And both versions now are capable of interoperability with Autodesk’s Revit, by means of the recently released BSD LinkMan-E add-on (see separate article in this newsletter).

With the release of the Corporate Edition of SpecLink-E, users of exceptional size will now have access to a specifications solution that will allow convenient and speedy collaboration between disciplines and between offices, regardless of the number of projects that are underway or the number of concurrent users. For more information on this new product, contact your sales representative by emailing sales@bsdsoftlink.com or calling 888-BSD-SOFT (888-273-7638).