Welcome to the Autumn edition of WBT NEWS, WBT
Systems' online newsletter.
This has been a very busy time for WBT Systems. In
August we announced the release of TopClass 6.2 and its
certification by AICC. This latest release increases enterprise
performance by a factor of four to cater for the most demanding
customer throughput requirements.
This quarter also sees two very significant
analyst reports including reviews of TopClass from SRI Consulting
Business Intelligence and the Butler Group. Our on-line survey of
attitudes to e-learning in the financial services sector is the largest
study of its kind ever undertaken. To date, we have received feedback
from hundreds of professionals in the world's leading financial service
organisations. We are in the process of developing a benchmarking study
of e-learning practice in the UK, Germany and the US.
On partner news, Infoland has been
appointed as a TopClass reseller in the Netherlands. We have launched
our Online Web Support System for all customers and partners.
The system allows partners and customers to log and update support
issues and provides status on issues. WBT's Online Web Support System
can be accessed here.
Work is well underway on TopClass Version 7.0
and TopClass Compliance, both due for release at the end of the
year. We are now actively recruiting existing customers for the
TopClass 7.0 and TopClass Compliance beta programme, If you are
interested in taking part, please contact beta@wbtsystems.com
As always, we welcome your comments, suggestions
and ideas regarding the content of WBT NEWS. To find out how to
contribute an article to WBT NEWS or if you have any features that you
would like included in the Tech Tip, please drop me an email.
I hope you enjoy this edition and I look forward
to hearing your suggestions.
Susanne Ryan
Senior Marketing Consultant
susanne.ryan@wbtsystems.com
WBT Systems
Smith & Nephew Selects TopClass to Deliver
Global e-Learning System
Smith and Nephew, one of the leading medical
devices companies in the world, has selected TopClass to deliver a
global e-Learning Solution to an initial 2,500 staff in 8 countries.
The solution enables Smith and Nephew to provide a blended learning
approach for their staff, while tracking and reporting all training on
one system.
"With TopClass we know we will save costs on
travel and accommodation, even more so on content repurposing, sharing
of platform and content across the organisation. All while extending
reach," said Mark Stefko, e-Business Project Director, Smith and
Nephew. "But the real value to Smith and Nephew is that TopClass helps
extend our educational investments, raise the competency level of every
staff member, increase collaboration and help to communicate in a
consistent way across the organisation."
TopClass 6.2 Released
TopClass Version 6.2 was released earlier this
month. In this release, enterprise performance has been increased by a
factor of four in order to cater for the most demanding customer
throughput requirements. In on-site tests with customers with an active
learning population of 80,000 plus students, TopClass 6.2 delivered
standard SCORM or AICC content to over 12,000 students per hour.
This was achieved while simultaneously processing
and correcting all related student test submissions, updating student
training history, and still maintaining average student response time
of less than 0.26 seconds. TopClass 6.2 has built on the existing
TopClass performance capabilities with significant improvements in
student interaction and browser response times and a scale up
capability that supports active user populations into many multiples of
100,000.
WBT Systems Extends Leadership in Sales Training
Deployments
A number of global sales organisations have
selected the TopClass e-Learning Suite, including Credit Suisse,
Diageo, Volvo, Valero Energy, the Liberty Group and Baloise Insurance.
One of the main product features to have contributed to this success is
TopClass Mobile. This module allows the sales team to take their
training course while on the road, without the need for a network
connection, and give an identical learning experience to the online
equivalent.
WBT Systems Identified as Visionary in Analyst
Reports
WBT Systems have been included in two
significant analyst reports this quarter. The recently published SRI
Consulting Business Intelligence report on e-Learning in the Financial
Services Industry discusses the impact of the dramatic changes in the
industry in the last decade, including regulatory changes, competitive
dynamics and the accelerating impact of information technology (IT)
that is changing the way business is done in the industry.
The Butler Group, the premier provider of
Information Technology Research, recently published an in-depth report
on the TopClass e-Learning Suite.
Infoland appointed as TopClass Reseller
Infoland have been appointed as a reseller of
the TopClass e-Learning Suite in the Netherlands. Infoland will provide
full customisation, implementation and support services in conjunction
with WBT Systems' Professional Services team. Established in 1996,
Infoland is one of the leading solution providers in the Netherlands
and has a track record of successfully delivering solutions across a
number of industries, with specific focus on healthcare.
AICC Certifies WBT Systems' TopClass
The Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) has
formally certified TopClass LMS as compliant with the AICC’s Web-Based
Computer Managed Instruction Systems (CMI) Guideline (AGR-010). This
guideline allows AICC-conforming web-based learning content and
courseware to interoperate with AICC-conforming LMS systems.
Tech Tips - Configurations, Exceptions and
Instances
Techie Tip # 1 On the Catreg CPI page,
there are a number of configuration options for LMS. Note that for
these to take effect, the tomcat-tcc service needs to be stopped and
started again. An example of this is where the user might want to
change the mailing option to use external mail by setting 'Incoming
Approval Notifications via Email' to Yes.
Techie Tip # 2 In the case where the user
encounters a tomcat-tcc exception regarding a classes12.jar file,
follow the instructions given. Do a find in your Oracle client
directory for classes12.zip, stop tomcat and delete the existing
classes12.jar file in the tomcat\lib directory. Copy in the
classes12.zip to tomcat\lib, re-name to classes12.jar and re-start
tomcat-tcc. The user may encounter this error when using Oracle 816/817
client on the same machine as TopClass Server and tcc.
Techie Tip # 3 In LMS, when creating an
ILT instance, there is a limit on the future date you can set (if it
runs into the following year). So if a student is scheduled in an ILT
that is to occur the following year, the entry does not appear on their
homepage. There is a 2 month limit set in the template tc5Style Home
Page - limitdate = new Date(currentdate.getTime()+86400000*limitdays);
So don't set anything beyond that limit if near end of year.
