Bill8 Posted April 30, 2015 Posted April 30, 2015 We've just pushed out the SIMS Teacher App and have the following questions: 1. Our registration is showing up too late. Reg should be 7:30, with P! at 7:45, but it's showing as starting at 9 and running for most of the day! 2. When trying to access the behaviour option we've been receiving a message informing us that we have a configuration issue with behaviour. Has anyone had these issues before? How have you overcome them? Other than these, and TA's not being able to use them (unless they become teachers), the staff like it.
vikpaw Posted April 30, 2015 Posted April 30, 2015 Is that the session reg? It does similar in the desktop SIMS doesn't it. It looks like it will extend all morning until your PM reg, but the first period height is blocking it. I could be talking rubbish, and you might have to run some routine to fix it. I'd log a case with the support desk either way.
cullingsh Posted April 30, 2015 Posted April 30, 2015 We STILL aren't using it after trying since it launched - after a couple of minutes of the service on our server running, the CPU maxes out (even though no-one is using the teacher-app) and stays that way until we kill the service. Still waiting for Capita to sort out the problem so we can get on with using it. Haven't seen what the app itself actually does yet!
PhilNeal Posted April 30, 2015 Posted April 30, 2015 @cullingsh - please pass me a case reference - I can't say I've heard of that problem and there are well over 200 schools using it now.
PhilNeal Posted April 30, 2015 Posted April 30, 2015 @cullingsh - this relates to an issue we have picked up with the Microsoft Azure Relay Bus - the retry policy for connection has been impacting the server for a small number of schools. Microsoft have released a patch update and we are now implementing into the app services - the team have it as a priority and will be working on this over the next 1-2 weeks. It has impacted up to 5 schools I understand - we had to check to ensure it was not a SQL 2014 upgrade. 1
newmarcha Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 I am glad I have found this post, I have 2 cases with the Capita Service Desk for exactly the same issue as described. I have been given numerous solutions that have not worked. Now that I have made the Capita Service Desk aware of Phil Neal’s post they have said that I will need to wait for the patches!! 1
vikpaw Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 I am glad I have found this post, I have 2 cases with the Capita Service Desk for exactly the same issue as described. I have been given numerous solutions that have not worked. Now that I have made the Capita Service Desk aware of Phil Neal’s post they have said that I will need to wait for the patches!! to EduGeek. You'd have thought Capita Service Desks around the globe would have learnt by now to watch out for Phil Neal's posts.
RLR Posted May 13, 2015 Posted May 13, 2015 Going to add my input after running SIMS teacher app for a couple of weeks now. At first, the SIMS teacher app seemed very good. It was very quick for the first few users we setup and had the features we where looking for. It is simple to use and the teachers got on well with it. We started to get issues with the SIMs teacher app being "offline" and required us to call our hosting company (Scomis) to see what might be wrong. They restarted the server and this fixed the issue. This happens daily and we're constantly calling Capita and Scomis to see why this might be the case. It looks like the SIMs application on the server keeps failing which is why a restart fixes the issue. It's still early days so hopefully updates will improve performance. Another issue I've come across is the management of iPads in the web interface. You can only currently have one user/account that has access to setup.capita-sims.co.uk to associate devices and setup staff. This means we are having to share an account/password to this area. Also, you are unable to delete devices from the devices tab. You can only block devices which means in time we will have a huge list of devices as we refresh ipads every 2 years. A simple delete will sort this out. This leads onto removing the SIMS teacher app from an iPad and downloading it again means you have to re-associate the device in the web interface setup area. This means the same device is listed twice. I'm guessing the association information is stored on the devices rather than being associated via a serial number of some sort which is checked each time you open the app? We're hoping things improve over the next few weeks as we pay a lot of money for this. Scheduled updates for the iPad have been emailed out so that is a good sign!
PhilNeal Posted May 13, 2015 Posted May 13, 2015 @RLR we're working closely with Scomis on those connectivity issues. Updates for the management console are in progress with the delivery team as part of the current phase of work – including the option to add more administrators and also the ability to remove old/unused devices listed. Changes will be rolled-out automatically as part of the monthly updates
winng Posted May 14, 2015 Posted May 14, 2015 We've had the services installed for a couple of months now and encountered the same issues as being reported above, i.e. high CPU load, inability to access the app in the first instance and those that did have had varying levels of success. Yesterday, after waiting for feedback on SQL logs I provided, Microsoft are apparently at fault and it is recommended that I suspend the teacher app services until the situation is resolved. Consequently, we will be turning it off today and having lost all confidence with it, will probably never try again.
TomFreeman Posted May 14, 2015 Posted May 14, 2015 Hi all, we've just had it installed by our SIMS support provider and it's all working absolutely fine, its had minimal impact on resources on the server. Running really well, only issue i did find is that you have to be registered as a teacher in SIMS to use it, which means unless you make support staff into a teacher they do not appear in the list. Spec of our server is: Virtual (VMWare) 4 vCPU 16gb Ram HDD - iscsi SAN
winng Posted May 14, 2015 Posted May 14, 2015 Running really well, only issue i did find is that you have to be registered as a teacher in SIMS to use it, which means unless you make support staff into a teacher they do not appear in the list. Well you wouldn't want to do that as it will affect your Staff Workforce Census Return.....
TomFreeman Posted May 14, 2015 Posted May 14, 2015 Yeh that's the issue, so we did it temporarily to test it worked, have changed it back now.
PhilNeal Posted May 14, 2015 Posted May 14, 2015 Coding/Test is now complete on the CPU Max issue and will be released in next 24/48 hrs. I think it's an infrastructure solution so will not require a download.
RLR Posted May 15, 2015 Posted May 15, 2015 Is it possible to allow other staff to be added to the SIMs iPad setup. It makes it hard to test if you can't set yourself up as a user as the IT team are not teachers. Emerge allows all staff to be setup which is quite handy to test when people are having issues.
PhilNeal Posted May 15, 2015 Posted May 15, 2015 @RLR - at present only teachers can be assigned. We will be widening the scope later this year as this is clearly desirable.
Sir Posted May 15, 2015 Posted May 15, 2015 +1 for other staff to be users please. My cover supervisors could really make use of this! Works great for the 50 teachers. Only issue for me is the fact that only teachers with students in their time table can log behaviour. This is a whole school issue at the moment. Can this be changed? Pleeeease... 1
PhilNeal Posted May 18, 2015 Posted May 18, 2015 The CPU fix has been issued. We’ve integrated an update to the Microsoft Azure Service Bus binaries, which includes their fix to the problem. Schools will update to the newest version according to upgrade settings (by default automatically and at 2am).
PhilNeal Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 A general enhancement patch is being distributed now which should noticeably increase performance of the app. 1
winng Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 If my services would stay online long enough to access the app, that would be useful. I've got three calls logged and in progress; one for each all-through school, who have all but given up on trying anymore...
PhilNeal Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 @winng - just to repeat please let me have details so I can follow up. The app is literally running in several hundred schools now so I'd like to get to the bottom of your issues.
winng Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 @winng - just to repeat please let me have details so I can follow up. The app is literally running in several hundred schools now so I'd like to get to the bottom of your issues. Will do @PhilNeal
Griff Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 I hate having to be so negative about Capita all the time and appreciate that Phil comes on edugeek to help and maybe pickup the pieces a little, but I need a little rant about this Teacher App... - I got it annoyingly rammed down my throat at BETT; I wanted to talk about SLG and if it would ever been redeveloped but no its all about the app - The App just does not work well or rather didn't when I tried it a month or so ago; I emailed my list of feedback to Capita on 19th March heard nothing since, similar problems to other users services not staying online etc - How could ANYONE developing this app not think to allow other staff to be added to it? honestly I nearly lost my mind when I noticed this how the hell was I meant to test it?! - I had it on my tablet for about 20 minutes and nearly chucked it out the window the only saving grace is we aren't paying for it which is another sore point as am I led to believe you can't actually trial this app? - At my time of using this was no where near a viable solution moving forward and has subsequently been binned off. 1
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