Promissor ESM Upgrades

[ifallon]

Just wondering if anybody still get emails notifying them of upgrades the ESM server and Admin client for this as we only find out now when we go to log students into tests.

 

Not brilliant for a timed exam as first the invigilator/ exams officer has to find one of us IT Techs, then we have to do the upgrade on the server and then on the workstations before the test can start.

 

If you are getting notifications who are they coming from, currently i'm being past from post to post,

 

Thanks in advance

 

Iain

[mullet_man]

That software is the biggest PITA ever.

 

Simple.

[Quackers]

I do not understand why they pump out so many updates for a multiple choice peice of software.

[gshaw]

It was a pain, then got OK with MSI upgrades then they broke that system with some of the recent updates and told me "it's not supported to use MSI anyway". Even City & Guilds have had enough and are moving to a new system soon, all web-based apparently. GOLA blame MS Updates for for all the updates but I'm not sure even Microsoft release that many patches for one product?!

 

In the end we use a combination of AutoIT scripts and NetSupport School to update rooms quickly, can't trust doing it remotely now as all the recent updates have been very flaky

 

The update notifications should come through the nominated contact with your exam board e.g. City & Guilds. If you're not getting the emails find out your centre ID, contact the support number and ask for your details to be added on their system as the technical contact.

Edited May 12, 2011 by gshaw

[mullet_man]

We used ASDAN (sp) software in the past.

 

That was great, no updates during the time we had it, and didn't need any IT invlovment to download exams etc.

[rush_tech]

Just wondering if anybody still get emails notifying them of upgrades the ESM server and Admin client for this as we only find out now when we go to log students into tests.

 

Not brilliant for a timed exam as first the invigilator/ exams officer has to find one of us IT Techs, then we have to do the upgrade on the server and then on the workstations before the test can start.

 

If you are getting notifications who are they coming from, currently i'm being past from post to post,

 

Thanks in advance

 

Iain

 

The exams dept get the emails here, last time they upgraded by chance I was in there office when they got the last one and kindly requested they forward them to me. Did it happen....got told on Monday that there might be test on Friday. Thought I'd check the software upgrade available:mad: I did get 4 days notice

[firefox_2006]

Put simply it is C.R.A.P (Confusing, Rubbish, Annoying, Program)

[ifallon]

The exams dept get the emails here, last time they upgraded by chance I was in there office when they got the last one and kindly requested they forward them to me. Did it happen....got told on Monday that there might be test on Friday. Thought I'd check the software upgrade available:mad: I did get 4 days notice

 

Did the email come from the Peason/promissor or exams board? our exams officer isn't getting notification either.

[JJonas]

Is there another update out?

[ifallon]

there was a upgrade on monday we had to download and install before proceeding with tests.

[JJonas]

I must have installed that update as we ran a test on Monday and it said nothing.

[rush_tech]

Did the email come from the Peason/promissor or exams board? our exams officer isn't getting notification either.

I'll find out

[rush_tech]

I'll find out

http://www.catglobal.com and you can contact them through that site. My tasks on the left add yourself as a tech contact and send them a message

[ChrisH]

I always order some demo tests if we haven't done any on screen tests for a while just to make sure everything is working. I also seem to remember the console telling you when there is an upgrade?

[gshaw]

Just checked back through my emails, last update was released 15th May, becomes mandatory from 18th July...

[timbo343]

We used the ESM stuff yesterday and found out that there was an update in one of our rooms but in regards to your inital question, i dont get any updates via email.

 

To be fair, the Pearson stuff is a PITA but its the best exam software i have come across so far. We are currently using 2 at the mo, the pearson stuff and the ConnectPlus stuff. The connectplus stuff issued by RM is worse than the promissor software.

 

We have found with the new release that at times when students click on review, the program locks up.... great!

[ifallon]

http://www.catglobal.com and you can contact them through that site. My tasks on the left add yourself as a tech contact and send them a message

cheers for this just logged on the the site and the details are well out of date, so have updated everything, so fingers crossed

[john]

Ironically I've just had an email from them this evening saying there is an update!! Great so its a late notification and I don't even use the software anymore

 

We moved from that to the ASDAN online assessment system as it just works!

[Heebeejeebee]

Not brilliant for a timed exam as first the invigilator/ exams officer has to find one of us IT Techs, then we have to do the upgrade on the server and then on the workstations before the test can start.

 

You don't test it before the exam window? Lesson learned I believe!

 

I don't get the emails any more (I used to though and I'm still listed as a contact so I should). As mentioned - get a few demo test sessions ordered and set aside a bit of time before the exam to make sure all is well. To be honest we don't have too many problems with it. It updates properly (albeit very slowly when downloading and with little info to tell you what's happening) and the clients pick up the new version correctly all the time.

 

HBJB

[Sam_Brown]

The only notification we get is from the exams officer. The same exams officier who kindly let us know three minutes after they had started an exam that they needed it upgrading despite us asking them well in advance for details of when the next exams were so we could make sure things were upto date

 

To be fair, when it's up and running it's fine. I don't think we've had any issues with it once it's been updated. It's just the process of updating it that's so damn frustrating.

 

Specifically the annoying issue of it trying to auto upgrade whenever a student trys to use it and it likes to get itself into a loop normally meaning student has to log out and back in otherwise it keeps on popping up every 30 seconds.

 

 

We did have more issues than normal this time though. Firstly the server wouldn't upgrade properly which we were told to get round by deleting contact.ccf on the server and allowing it to recreate itself. We also had to totally uninstall it and reinstall on all the workstations it as it wouldn't update properly even with full permissions.

 

I've made the decission to only run it on the thin clients now to stop the hassle of having to upgrade entire rooms by hand. It's a lot more manageable upgrading on 10 servers as opposed to 150 workstations and laptops.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Sam_Brown

[Sam_Brown]

It updates properly (albeit very slowly when downloading and with little info to tell you what's happening) and the clients pick up the new version correctly all the time.

 

Do you have it set up so it will update even when the students launch it when an update is pending?

[timbo343]

I too have just had an email too stating that there is an Onscreen Testing Upgrade available from the 15th May

[JJonas]

I too have just had an email too stating that there is an Onscreen Testing Upgrade available from the 15th May

 

Grrr I just updated our testing ICT suite for the start of our testing period, why do they always do this right in the middle of an active series of tests? Cant they leave updates till the summer holidays or a least publish an update schedule so we can plan tests around it.

[e_g_r]

email today

 

Dear colleague,

Onscreen Testing Upgrade available from 15 May

 

You will be prompted to upgrade your Enterprise SiteManager (ESM) and Adminstrator software from 15 May. The upgrade is to:

 

• Increase password security

• Enhance log file clean up to improve test performance

 

If you don’t want to upgrade straight away, you can postpone until 15 July 2011, after which the upgrade will become mandatory.

 

Before you upgrade - ensure your results are uploaded

 

It is important you upload all results before you upgrade to ensure they are processed. To check this:

 

• Log into ESM

• Go to your Inbox and check that your ESM Inbox filter is set to “show all”

• Mark all tests in your Inbox which your learners aren’t going to take as “no-show”

• Go to your Outbox and check the filter is set to “show all”

• Click on “Upload all results”; this will send all pending results back to us

 

Increased password security

 

We want to ensure that our onscreen testing software is fully secure, so we are increasing the security of the passwords needed to log in*. From 15 May you will be asked:

 

1. To change your password to a stronger format (see strong format details below)

2. You will now need to change your password every 60 days to ensure it remains secure.

 

Strong Format Passwords

 

1. Passwords must be a minimum of 7 characters

2. They must contain 3 of the 4 following types of character:

i. upper case character

ii. lower case character

iii. number

iv. special character (any symbol which require the shift key)

 

*Please note that this does not affect your Edexcel Online password, which will remain the same. The log in for students will not be affected.

 

Guidance and Support

 

The upgrade process is very similar to the previous upgrades. We have produced up to date guidance on our website at Onscreen news : Edexcel.

 

If you would like to contact us about onscreen testing, please call us on 0844 576 0024.

[Sam_Brown]

Good news is it isn't mandatory until July some time so shouldn't affect any tests anytime soon.