Purchasing and delivery options
I'm
interested in the Cardinus courses, what are my purchase options?
Why would I
choose licensing instead of Pay Per Use?
Are there
any other restrictions on the Pay Per Use option?
I understand
I can have a 'hosted service' or an 'Intranet deployment' - what does this
mean?
Why would I
select the hosted service over intranet deployment and vice versa?
If I go for
the Intranet option, can Cardinus install the software for me?
Versions and
technical compliance
My
organisation operates globally, what international support is available?
We run our
training via a Learning Management System. What support does Cardinus offer?
I want to
take things further. Can I evaluate?
How would I
go about running a full evaluation?
The
associated management tool looks very powerful, can someone talk me through the
features?
Hardware &
software requirements
What
hardware and software do my staff need?
What screen
resolutions are supported?
I want the
intranet deployment - what server hardware and software is needed?
What is the
minimum server hardware specification?
How much
disk space does the installation and database require?
I understand
that I can customise the training materials – what can I do?
Can I change
text and graphics?
Can I
include references to my organisation’s documents or policies?
Can I
include links to my company’s intranet?
Can I change
the login screen / mechanism?
Can I change
the risk assessment?
What are the
things I need to consider before going live?
How do users
gain access to the course(s)?
Can PACE be
pre-populated with user details including unique identifiers?
Is
‘pre-population’ preferable to ‘self-registration’?
We have
people joining and leaving all the time – how do I keep my list of users in
step?
My users are
fed up with remembering many different logins – can the login be automated?
I want to
train the whole company – thousands of people. How can I organise that many
users?
What can I
do if my organisation does not use the terms ‘Locations’ and ‘Departments’.
What if I
have more than two ‘tiers’ that I want to see?
So how does
having different PACE administrators help me?
What
training is available with the products?
How do my
administrators check that people have done the training and risk assessments?
How does an
administrator spot the most pressing issues arising from risk assessments?
How can we
monitor if administrators are carrying out the tasks assigned to them?
What do I
get in the way of technical support?
What
software upgrades can I expect?
Cardinus courses are sold in two ways: you can either tell us the number of users you wish to use the training and we will licence you on a per-user basis for each of the courses you want. Alternatively, if you are not sure how many people will be trained, we offer a 'PayPerUse' (PPU) scheme, where you can pre-purchase credits and then use them up as you go along.
For most people, it ends up cheaper. Once you have purchased a licence for a user, they can do the training (and risk assessments if appropriate) as many times as they like, year after year. If you go for PPU, each 're-sit' of either training or risk assessment will use up another credit. PPU is only available via the Internet, so if you want the software on your intranet, you have to go for the licensed option.
The restrictions are mainly from the administrative perspective. The training and risk assessments are identical, however PPU does not have the full functionality for administrators. The licensed version of the software allows administrators to interact with course users via automated email – send out alerts and follow-ups etc. The PPU version does not allow this.
It describes where the server software and databases reside. If you select the hosted service, a Cardinus server holds all the software and database records. Users and administrators access the training materials over the public internet. If you elect for an intranet deployment, we supply you with the software to be installed onto your own organisation’s server(s).
There are numerous factors that can affect this decision. If your organisation does not have internet access, or it is available to only a few people, or it is not an ‘always on’/broadband connection, then you will almost certainly choose to have the software on your internal server(s), accessed via your own intranet. Other considerations such as availability of suitable hardware, and expertise/availability of IT staff frequently drive the final decision.
In general however, given the widespread availability of broadband connections and the nature of the data being stored, most customers now choose the hosted option. If Cardinus host the software, customers do not have to worry about any installation or upgrade issues, nor do they have to worry about the internal 'politics' or budgeting often associated with getting other departments involved. The software will always be at the latest released version and all backups are completely automated. There is the other, not inconsiderable, advantage in that from the support perspective, Cardinus is able to view the customer’s courses and databases and can often work through any queries or issues there and then, with the customer online.
Yes, absolutely. However, this is a chargeable extra – we normally allow a day for this. Prior to the installation we supply a ‘Pre-Installation Checklist’, which double-checks the installation environment. This ensures that customers have the correct hardware and software in place and our software will install smoothly.
In addition to the UK head office, Cardinus has an office in California. We also have partners in the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia.
As well as English, Workstation Safety Plus is also available in a number of languages. We are constantly adding new languages and other internationalisation - please contact us for the latest information.
Learning Management Systems usually interact with course
content via the AICC or SCORM standards. Cardinus offers both AICC and SCORM compliance so that it
is possible to pass student identification into our courses and receive back
course status and scores. If LMS integration is required, please contact
us.
Yes. You can evaluate everything from a single course through to all courses and the PACE management tool. As part of the evaluation we will review all results and feedback and report back to you at the end of the evaluation programme. Please contact Cardinus to request an evaluation.
In the same way that you can choose the final deployment environment, you can choose to run a web-based Cardinus hosted evaluation programme or an intranet evaluation.
For the Cardinus hosted evaluation we will set you up with your own database and can pre-populate the database with a (limited) number of locations, departments, course users and administrators. Your users can then undertake training and risk assessments and you will be able to review their results and produce reports as required.
For an intranet-based evaluation we will send you a distribution disk for installation on to your organisation's intranet. The software can then be set up and run exactly as if it were the production/purchased version. Indeed, if after the pilot you elect to purchase, we will just reset some status values and you can keep the software and data without needing to re-install.
For either the hosted or intranet form of evaluation, we have a number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure that the pilot goes well and all parties are happy. These include: automated emails to make people aware of the training programme, chase them up if they have not done the training and thank them if they have; feedback questions that the users answer to express their views on the training and its success in meeting their needs.
Certainly. We can either perform a 'web demo' over the 'phone, or we can arrange for someone to visit you.
The web demo involves you sitting at a PC with internet access, then we will call you and talk you through both the courses of interest and the PACE management tool.
Alternatively, one of our staff can visit you and perform a full demonstration face-to-face. This latter option can be particularly valuable if you want to discuss customisation and/or involve your IT staff to run through on-site requirements.
All that is required is a standard PC/Mac and web browser. Our software uses no Java or plug-ins. To use the hosted service a standard internet connection is required. Our software is not bandwidth-intensive and has been designed with low-to-medium connectivity in mind. However, for practical purposes, we would not recommend accessing the courseware over anything less than a 56K modem.
The courses support numerous operating systems and browsers. Operating Systems: Windows 98, NT, 2000 and XP. Browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape and Firefox . The PACE management tool only supports IE at present. See our Browser Compatibility chart for the latest information on the exact versions supported.
Our software requires a minimum screen resolution of 800x600.
There are three separate elements to the software system requirements - the operating system, the web server and the database server.
For the server operating system we recommend Windows 2000 upward with Internet Information Services (IIS).
Supported databases for the PACE course and risk assessment data are MS-Access and SQL Server. Please contact Cardinus to confirm the precise versions supported.
The web server and database server can be located on the same machine, or on different machines, depending on company standards and/or machine availability.
Cardinus do not produce a minimum specification for server hardware - there are too many permutations depending on what is available at a customer site, the other application(s) the server has to host (if any), the loadings on the network etc. As a guideline however, the system is neither processor nor memory intensive, so machines of modest power by today's standards are quite adequate.
Please
request the Cardinus Technical Overview for more information.
Cardinus can undertake changes ranging from the addition of your organisation’s logo to the production of a complete new course.
Customers can either provide us with changes via a face-to-face meeting, or we can provide a CD-ROM of screenshots which you can then annotate and return to us.
The way in which the process then works is that we agree the requirements in a formal ‘Customer Requirements Form (CRF) and provide a fixed-price quotation against this document.
Take a look at the specific FAQs below to see if your requirements are addressed.
Yes. This normally replaces the Cardinus logo in the top left frame. You need to supply us with a good-quality graphics file (e.g. JPEG or GIF).
Yes. Typical text changes can be as simple as the addition of the name of somebody to report issues to, or the inclusion of a contact number though to wider ranging changes to the content and structure of a course.. Graphical changes include adding pictures of specific equipment such as standard chairs, or images of any other equipment, signs or documents.
Yes. We often include a message or policy statement from the Managing Director, or Health and Safety Manager. In addition, some courses such as Workstation Safety Plus and Health & Safety Essentials have areas which must have your specific policy information added.
Yes. This is actually the route we recommend for the inclusion of organisation-specific information. If additional information is referred to in this way, then customers are free to update it without needing to refer back to Cardinus for software changes.
Yes, but this really depends on what you want to change. We have considerable flexibility on how users log in to the courses and what information they see post-login. Changes to the login screen and login mechanism usually go hand-in-hand. Please read the following section (Pre-release set up) to see what the login options are.
Risk assessments apply for a number of our courses. There are essentially four aspects that can be changed:
· Multiple choice and free text questions
· The answers options
· The risk weightings related to positive and negative answer options.
· The task codes relating to negative answers.
You can keep the default values for any of these or Cardinus can help you to adapt any of the above to match your exact requirements.
It is very important to realise however that once a system has gone live, questions and answers cannot easily be changed as this would invalidate historic records.
There are many things to consider and almost every organisation’s requirements are slightly different. Whilst Cardinus are here to advise and help, years of setting up user systems has led us to the conclusion that there is really no substitute for a small ‘pilot’ roll-out, even if it is just two or three staff in the H&S Dept. itself. Please look at the questions and answers below to give you some idea of the issues that need to be addressed.
There are two aspects to this question:
· How will students log-in to the course?
· How will they find out about the course?
Regarding logging-in, each student is assigned a unique identifier and this is the way they login to the course. The unique identifier can be anything from a personnel number, to an email address, Windows login identifier etc. The wording of the login screen can then be altered to prompt the user to enter the chosen identifier.
Students are usually informed about the course(s) by emails which are automatically generated by PACE. Each student receives an introductory message containing a hyperlink. The hyperlink can be to a page on your company intranet, or could be to one of the Cardinus servers if you have elected for the hosted service option. The hyperlink can contain all the log-in information they require, avoiding the need to remember user names etc.
Yes. The PACE database can be pre-populated with a list of people who are expected to take the training. We have built an ‘import’ facility into our PACE management tool that reads from a simple text file. This file is created with values of: unique identifier, first name, surname, location, department and email address. Once PACE has read in these values, the course users are set up and ready to go.
If you are not sure or if it is difficult to generate a complete list of people with all their details as above, we can also set up a ‘self-registration’ option. This allows people who undertake the training for the first time to fill in their own details. However, if you elect for this method, you will be losing out on some functionality such as the ability to email chase students who have not started the training.
Very much so. Much of the functionality of the system is designed around knowing who the users are at the outset. For example, the sending out of introductory emails can only be done if the database has been pre-populated, similarly, automated chasing of users who have not done the training and/or risk assessment can only be done if the full set of users is known to the system.
‘Leavers’ simply remain on the system - their records are archived and retained for audit / history purposes.
New staff can be added by using the PACE import facility to bring in either lists of ‘new joiners’ or entire staff lists from your personnel/HR systems. NOTE: PACE has built in features to avoid duplicate employees from being created.
However, we also appreciate that many organisations wish to automate this process further. This is often done by the writing of Structured Query Language (SQL) to write directly into the Cardinus PACE database. As it is not possible for Cardinus to write interfaces to all possible customer systems, we will work with customer IT/DB specialists to make such automation as straightforward as possible.
Yes it can. The automated emails generated can include hyperlinks which have all the login information included – so the user does not have to remember anything. They simply click on the hyperlink to start!
In certain circumstances (especially if automated email is not being used) it can be useful to use the Windows login identifier (NTLM) as the Unique Identifier. Provided that the person who logged onto the PC is the person who wishes to do the training, we can auto-detect the login ID, compare it with our database of approved users and let the login through. The user will still be presented with the user details screen (first name, surname etc), as confirmation that they are who they say they are.
This is something that is often overlooked. Its not so much making sure that people take the training, its ensuring that any issues arising from Risk Assessment answers are dealt with. This is why Cardinus have developed the ‘User Action Report’ which provides advice and instructions to computer users to enable them to close off their own issues in many cases. The PACE administration system also allows users to be prioritised based on risk, grouped into Locations and Departments (see below) and enables groups to be assigned to particular administrators so they can see only those people for whom they are responsible.
Just tell us and we can customise the login mechanism and database accordingly. As an example, you might only have a single location, but want to manage your users by Department and Team. We can change the login screen so that’s what the user sees when they log in.
The PACE administration system can provide extra levels to enable you to select by ‘company’, ‘business unit’; etc.
It can help enormously – it all depends on the size of your organisation and the way that you want to organise people through the training. Some organisations have a dedicated Health and Safety department who take complete responsibility for the process – populating the database, informing users about the training, chasing up those who haven’t done it, checking on matters arising from risk assessments etc. Other organisations don’t work that way.
PACE gives organisations huge flexibility in the way responsibilities are assigned. For example, an administrator may be assigned responsibility for all departments at a single location (e.g. ‘Head Office’), or a single department across all locations (e.g. IT Department). When that administrator logs in to PACE, they only see the people who have been assigned to them.
In general, although we are quite happy to provide it, training is not needed for the courses. It is the setup and use of the PACE administration system where we focus our training.
Training usually takes place on your company's premises. As the training needs to be fairly 'hands-on', we aim to train no more than 8 people in a single session.
The training focuses on the use of PACE in monitoring users, identifying and tracking issues and communicating findings to those who need to take action.
We also offer online training modules to help you ‘cascade’ this training throughout your administrators. This is a very effective way of ensuring everyone understands the program – and its free!
There are a number of ways of doing this. It can be done via the PACE screens, the PACE reports, or the PACE automated email facilities.
PACE screens provide an easy way of seeing who has done the training and risk assessments. PACE reports can indicate which of the registered course users has not yet started training (N.B. this only works if the database has been pre-populated. If users self-register the system will have no knowledge of them until they begin training).
As regards the 'chase-up' aspect - this is where PACE is at its most powerful. The automated email facility can be set up to send reminders to those who have not yet done their training, risk assessment, or who have not completed actions in their ‘User Action Report’.
After
they have completed their training, users answer a series of risk assessment
questions. Risk ratings on a scale of 1-10 are associated with each response to
each question in the risk assessment. All ratings can be modified in the course
configuration database.
Risk
ratings are colour coded as follows: 0-3 Green, 4-6 Amber , 7-10 Red. The highest rating for any question/group is
shown against the user's record, so a simple visual inspection will indicate
those in red which need to be dealt with first.
When an
administrator notes down some action to be performed
as a result of a user's risk assessment (e.g. 'procure wrist-rest', 'advise
facilities dept. of faulty light' etc), this appears as a task in PACE. An individual PACE administrator can view their
own tasks and a master PACE administrator can view the tasks of all
administrators.
Tasks
can be sorted and viewed by status: history tasks, current tasks and overdue tasks. It is therefore very
straightforward to check on the status at any time.
If you
purchase our optional annual support package or elect to use our hosted
solution you will receive support and standard software upgrades. If you have
problems of any nature then you can telephone or email us for assistance. This
can be for problems to do with the operation of the software or user-related
issues.
We
operate a comprehensive logging and tracking database for all customer support
issues and we aim to ensure a rapid resolution of all user issues.
If you
have elected to purchase the hosted option, you have the additional benefit
that from a support perspective we are able to actually view the exact software
and database that you are using. This can be of tremendous benefit when trying
to pin down issues with user training or risk assessment records, or
administrator follow-up actions. We can look at your data and talk it through
with you on the ‘phone.
Cardinus
operates a policy of continuous improvement for both our courses and for the
PACE Management tool. If Health and Safety legislation changes in any way that
materially affects our courses, then they will be upgraded. Similarly, if
customer feedback or market forces result the need for change, our software may
be updated. Customers who have annual support are entitled to all upgrades that
we release.
The
PACE Management tool in particular has benefited from substantial improvements
in functionality over recent months and annual support customers benefit from
this. In addition, we are very receptive to customer requirements and maintain
a ‘wish-list’ of desired items. These are added to the products as priorities
and resources permit.