Here are answers to the questions most frequently
asked by visitors. If you have a question that we haven't
addressed, please email Customer Service.
We'll respond usually on the same day; always by the next
business day.
Creating Tests
How long does it take to get a test or
assessment online?
Your test can be created and launched as quickly
as within a few minutes.
Using our step-by-step, form-based application,
you can quickly enter your questions and answer options,
choose your layout preferences, and configure your test
with your logo, images and instructions. Preview your test
in test mode, then activate your test instantly or schedule
it for later activation. Post an open link to your test
on your web site or Intranet, or upload your student or
members list, and send personalized email invitations. For
even more options, call us to discuss automation and integration
with your online registration process, distance learning
application, or certification program.
You have ultimate control over your test project;
there is no need to wait for anyone. You can do-it-yourself
with grace and simplicity, or ask our team of experts for
help with any aspect of your project. If you hire us to
do some of the work for you, we'll setup your test, design
your questionnaire and deliver it to you for your online
review within 3 business days for most tests. If you're
in a bind, we'll save the day.
How do I instruct students (or invite members)
to take my test?
When your test is ready to launch, you can
post a link or banner on any web page or Intranet. It can
be a static page or a page launched upon the completion
of a training course or registration process. Or you can
use our automated email invitation feature and distribute
a personalized invitation to your list with just one click.
Can I test my test prior to making it active?
Yes. At any time during the authoring and
design process you can preview and test your test. Use this
feature to check for content, style, usability, and the
proper working of various navigation controls, data constraints,
required answers, user messages and optional links to supporting
material, documents, or multimedia.
How many questions can I include per test?
As many as you need. With Hosted Test™
you can ask an unlimited number of questions - and offer
an unlimited number of answer options - choosing from our
varied list of question types. For more information, please
read more about our product features.
Do you support conditional skips and branching?
Absolutely. Use our skipping/branching feature
to display subsets of questions based on specific answers
to a previous question, or bypass portions of your test
altogether. You can also use conditional branching to screen
participants for various attributes or responses to previous
questions, provide a selection of different subject matters,
or offer essay topics based on student preference.
Can I run multi-page tests?
Yes. The flexibility of Hosted Test™
allows you to display your entire test on one page, or break
up your test on multiple pages. You can specify how many
questions you would like to display per page, or take control
and put your page breaks in manually. Furthermore, questions
can be segmented into sections or chapters, allowing a logical
flow to long and complex tests.
Can I add my own logo and other images
to my test? Can I make my test appear to be part of my web
site, or retain my organization's color scheme, style and
branding?
Yes. You can add logos and thumbnails, even
Flash and .AVI files, in a variety of places on your test
pages. You can add a watermark or background texture, and
include images or other media as part of your questions
and answers. You can customize the text of messages and
prompts, and tailor the borders, fonts, colors and other
attributes to achieve just the right look and feel. You
can even replace the default command buttons with your own
words or special images you design.
Our custom branding and private-labeling features
can get even more extensive, advanced and detailed for academic
institutions, resellers and larger organizations. Please
email Customer Service
for more information.
Can I create the same test in different
languages?
Yes. Our application supports multi-lingual
tests, even in languages with double-byte characters such
as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and others. Simply
copy your test and edit in the language you need.
You can universally code your international
tests to integrate your answer data for analysis across
all languages and versions.
And, of course, even command buttons, images,
message text and instructions can be customized for each
language.
Is there a way to completely remove the
"HostedTest.com" name from my test URL? Can I use my own
domain name?
Yes. You have several options for invisibility
or autonomy.
One option is to set up (or we can set up
for you) a framed page and place the test within the frame.
When you invite people to take your test, you include the
link to the frame page rather than the system-generated
URL. None of your test respondents will know you are using
a third party host "behind the scenes."
If you choose this option, your webmaster
will need to allocate space on your server and design the
frame page. Or, we can design and host the page for you
at a very reasonable cost. Please contact
Customer Service to
reach our friendly technical support team.
Another option is to register your own test
domain name and use it as a virtual URL. This is a very
exciting option, as you can personalize your test URL to
your organization. For example, a company named ABC, Inc.
could register ABCTest.com, and send participants to http://www.ABCTest.com/taketest.asp,
etc.
There is a small setup charge and hosting
fee for this option, and we will do all the work for you,
including registering the domain name, if desired. Please
contact Customer Service
for
more information about these options and services.
What if we want to be invisible? Can you
co-brand the test and/or serve as a "third party administrator"
or "independent testing organization"?
Yes. We can send the test on your behalf and
function as a third party administrator or independent testing
organization. In the same way we can make ourselves invisible
and transparent, we can also do the opposite make YOU invisible
and anonymous. We can provide all administrative, technical
and even call center (phone and email) support.
If you prefer to be visible yet emphasize
the fact you are working in partnership with an independent
testing organization, we can co-brand the test with both
our logos, reinforcing the fact that your company has partnered
with an unbiased service provider conducting the test in
conjunction with you.
You tell us how you want your test to appear,
how and when you want it delivered, how you want it supported.
We'll administer your project, and you'll be the hero.
Grade Book, Reporting and Data Analysis
Can I view my results and scores in real-time?
Yes. You can monitor the status of your tests
online from your computer anytime, anywhere, with easy-to-read,
canned and configurable grade books, reports and online
views of your data. Optionally, simply export the data directly
into Microsoft® Excel, Access, XML or interface with
accessible learning management systems as frequently as
you need to update it.
Do you create custom reports and data analysis?
What about presentation materials?
Yes. Our team of experts in Microsof®
Excel, Access, PowerPoint and web development can create
beautiful, effective, and highly-customized reports, analysis
and presentation materials based on your exact specifications.
If you aren't sure what you want or need, give us a call.
We can point you in the right direction and offer cost effective
suggestions that you'll be thrilled with. Let us take the
design burden from your shoulders and provide meaningful
options ranging from low-cost, bare necessities for tight
budgets, to high-end, ad-hoc, web-based data mining and
presentation systems for very large projects and organizations.
Can I analyze my data directly, by going
straight to the underlying database tables and storage mechanisms
(e.g., client/server, ODBC, SQL, et al) using another reporting,
charting, statistical analysis or presentation software?
We offer dedicated database and dedicated
server plans that will provide these capabilities to varying
degrees, depending on your needs. Without any downloading,
you can connect directly to your data with software such
as Microsoft® Access, Crystal Reports, Cognos or Oracle
tools, and others, and run online, ad-hoc queries and reports
in real-time.
Can we get our data out of your database
and into ours using automated processes?
Yes. We have API's, code fragments and libraries
that help us create custom data transfer programs very efficiently
for you. Dedicated server customer can leverage your own
team of programmers, data management and conversion tools,
and create scheduled processes or triggers to move information
from your hosted test database to virtually any other systems
environment.
We can also work with you to design custom
data marts for the most user-friendly ad-hoc reporting environments
available to you, your clients and other end-users. Please
contact Customer Service
to
reach our friendly technical support team.
System Requirements, Application Architecture
and Security
Are there any specific operating system
or browser requirements for Hosted Test? What do you estimate
is the percent of the Internet population that has systems
compatible with Hosted Test?
For designing and creating tests, we recommend
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 and above and Netscape 7.0
and above. Both PC and Mac are supported. (No client-side
downloads, plug-ins or applets are required.)
For taking tests, we support virtually every
browser that can support the most basic HTML and JavaScript.
Both PC and Mac are supported. (No client-side downloads,
plug-ins or applets are required.)
The population compatible with our system
when taking tests is estimated at 99.8%.
Does Java or any other software get downloaded
to my computer?
No, never. Hosted Test™ requires no Java,
no downloads, no installations, no applets. We have been
extra careful to design our applications to run 100% over
the web, without any special configurations or files on
your (or your end-user's) computer.
Hostedware® applications will never cause
your computer to crash, never spread a virus, and you'll
never have to worry about corrupting your computer's setup,
configuration or network files.
And, those participants who may still be using
older equipment or outdated web browsers won't be denied
access, and won't be asked to download big (and slow) software
programs, before taking your test.
Can your service support high volumes of
test participants and email invitations?
Yes. Hosted Test™ can manage thousands
of simultaneous test participants at one single time. We
have documented peaks of 1,000+ simultaneous users, and
in all of these cases, server and resource utilization were
still at low levels. We have also managed custom web polls
where invitations were broadcast nationally on television
and received thousands of "hits" in a very short
period of time and our servers did not suffer any degradation
in performance.
From a technical perspective, the architecture
of Hosted Test™ is such that users are "connected"
to the server and database only at the moment in which data
is delivered to their browser (when a page is opened or
refreshed), or at the moment when data is saved to the database
(when the user submits the page). Each connection is open
and closed dynamically, and lasts only for fraction of a
second. This architecture significantly reduces the possibility
of ever having too many concurrent users.
If the customer decides to use the built-in
invitation system, Hosted Test™ will deliver, in batches
over a short period of time (usually less than 24 hours),
all of the desired number of email invitations.
And Hostedware® software applications
are built to scale. As our volume increases, so does our
capacity. We strive to stay ahead of the growth and anticipate
future needs, which we have been doing successfully since
we began operations in 1999. Our service level agreement
outlines our commitment to satisfactory performance and
response times. Please review for more information.
Does Hosted Test support images, audio
files, and video objects? Are their any limits on file sizes?
Does Hosted Test support image protection (so images can
not be "Saved As")?
Hosted Test™ supports all browser-supported
images, documents and file types (.jpg, .bmp, .gif, .pdf,
.tiff, .png, .xls, .doc, .ppt, etc.), audio files (.wav,
.mp3, etc.), and video (.avi, Flash, etc.) within the test
form and/or by using hyperlinks to supporting material.
There are no theoretical limitations on the
file size or type, as long as standard web browsers can
handle them. If files are hosted by us, we charge modest
hosting fees depending on the size of the files and the
duration of the project.
Using special commands, you can hide the name
of the files to prevent test participants from saving them
(Save As…).
Can Hosted Test handle other types of questionnaires
besides tests?
Our customers use our online survey applications
Hosted Survey™ and Hosted Poll™ to collect online
data in a number of specialized ways: web polls, virtual
voting booths, contests and sweepstakes, employee applications,
online registrations, information gathering, and more.
In addition, our programmers are here to add
new features, functionality, reports and custom data exchanges
- just for you - to support all your online data collection
needs.
How does Hostedware address my security
concerns?
Hosted Test™ is completely secure. The
website and databases are password protected and hidden
safely behind appropriate firewalls. Encryption during data
transfer and communication between your computer and our
servers is enforced using Secure Socket Layers (SSL).
All your data is confidential and owned by
you. Hostedware® will never sell nor provide your data
to any third party, and never uses it internally or externally
for any purpose whatsoever, other than to communicate directly
with you about your account, our products and services,
and to fulfill our service agreements with you.
Your data's safety, security, integrity and
privacy is of primary concern to us. It's important data,
it's your data, and we protect it for you. Please see our
Privacy Statement, Service Level Agreement (SLA), Secure
Payment Guarantee, and Customer Agreement for more information.
Advanced Features
Does Hosted Test provide or support saved
test libraries and templates?
Yes. Hosted Test™ offers a question
and answer library (Q&A Library). This is a user-defined
library of re-usable answers, answer groups, questions,
question groups and templates, where these questions and
answers can be shared amongst all tests in a private account.
In the case of dedicated database or dedicated server customers,
channel partners, and resellers, an additional "global"
Q&A Library can be created in the master account, and be
made accessible to all sub-accounts.
Hosted Test™ offers a user-definable
classification system so that components can be categorized
by "test type" for easier organization and navigation within
the Library.
Can email invitations be sent out using
my own email system?
You have the option of extracting your respondent
email addresses out of your email system and uploading them
into Hosted Test™. Then the application will send out
email invitations using the respondent or panelist data
you provided. Within the application, you can write, edit
and manage the message that is delivered, view whether each
respondent has completed the test or not, and send out reminder
invitations to those who haven't completed the test. Each
email is sent out individually (no bulk email with copies
or blind copies, cc/bcc), and can be personalized with greeting
name and other optional information and customized prompts
and text.
If you would like to bypass Hosted Test™
and send out the invitations using your own system, a URL
link to the test can still be added to the email invitations
you create so the user can click on and go directly to the
test, and (optionally) enter a secret password or other
code. The more programmatic control you have over your email
system and respondent data files, the more personalized
you can make your email invitations.
To help you track who has completed your test,
Hosted Test™ also has an option to trigger an automatic
confirmation email to a pre-determined recipient, the respondents
themselves and/or an email address specified by each respondent
(the answer to a test question).
Can we trigger a test and communicate the
respondent's ID to the test in a way that does not require
participant intervention?
Yes. The respondent's ID is embedded in the
test URL delivered individually to each respondent, using
the Hosted Test™ built in email invitation functionality
(or programmatically from your own email system). The respondent
simply clicks on the link (URL) and opens their private
test without any intervention. The respondent's ID is stored
with the test record.
Does Hosted Test provide the ability to
program and control participant access? For example, optionally
preventing backup, optionally requiring usernames and passwords,
locking out IP addresses, preventing taking the test more
than once, allowing taking the test until a specified score
is achieved, and/or defining start/stop dates and times.
Hosted Test™ has controls for requiring
participants to enter a code and password to enter a test.
Start and end dates automatically allow or prevent respondents
from completing the test if outside specific date/time parameters.
Re-entry and related options can control whether a respondent
can leave and re-enter the test, go back and forward within
a test, and if re-entering, to which point the respondent
will return within the test upon re-entry, and whether the
test-taker can re-enter after the final page has been submitted.
These options also cover whether a student can retake the
test until they receive a passing grade, and even control
the duration of time that must elapse before allowing the
student to take the exam over.
Tests can be easily configured to permit only
one test response per IP address, and/or to permit only
one test response per computer. The browser menus can be
turned on or off to control navigation, printing, copy/paste
and other features.
Can Hosted Test take into account additional
parameters? For example, parameters included into the test
URL, participant demographic details coming from a panelist
database, prior online behavior, or responses to a previous
test. Can these parameters have an effect on the questions
asked?
Hosted Test™ has built-in interfaces
to accept query-strings, hidden form fields posted from
an external web page or calling program, and an interface
to accept data from cookies.
Some of these advanced features (API) to handle
these alternative sources of data into the test may require
some custom "back-door" configuration in each instance to
implement, and we may charge a nominal setup fee for each
instance, depending on the complexity of the requirements.
In addition, Hosted Test™ offers user-defined
respondent fields, for tests where the participant list
is known and uploaded into the system. This user-defined
demographic data can be used in data analysis to compare
results and scores from different demographic groups or
other attributes.
The Hosted Test™ API allows students
or participants to be created "on the fly," generated from
a previous registration, signup or login process, and user-defined
demographic data can be passed to the test automatically
(with no additional setup on our end).
As a consulting firm who conducts evaluations,
tests and assessments for our clients, can we license Hosted
Test, and use the software application, with our clients,
as if it were our own system?
Yes. Hosted Test™ offers the capability
for your firm to completely brand and private-label not
only each individual test, but also the entire test application
and database. This is a significant benefit of using Hostedware
applications. Hosted Test can easily become "ABC Test."
Hostedware's patent-pending application architecture
is designed such that the text, images and prompts are "separated"
from the code and database in editable configuration files.
This means that with very little effort, your firm can customize
your version of "Hosted Test" so that Hostedware will be
completely invisible to you and your clients - not just
for the tests, but also when the end user logs in to their
account, uses the application to access their questionnaires,
runs reports, downloads data, etc.
Your firm can start with its own custom URL
(this can be a "sub-domain" such as tests.abc.com, or a
unique "top-level" domain name, such as abc-test.com). Your
firm could then customize the graphics, menu names and colors,
text and prompts within the entire application - with relative
ease.
For example, your business may use language
unique to your company. Perhaps in your business you don't
use the word "respondent" but rather use "student" or "employee."
Or perhaps you don't use the phrase "Q&A Library" but use
the phrase "Question Bank." By simply changing a few variables
in the configuration files, the new language will appear
throughout the application. This is true for text, prompts,
buttons, links, images, menu items, error messages, even
fonts and colors, etc.
Your firm can then open "accounts" for each
client using your branded, private-label version of the
Hosted Test application. You can then assign your clients
access to their personal account within your system, and
let them use your custom version of the application, view
their content, data and reports. Hostedware manages the
infrastructure and provides help desk support, and you're
free to focus on your core business, your services, and
your client relationships.
My Account, Pricing and Optional Services
How do you charge?
Your account allows you to create unlimited
tests with unlimited questions and answers. We charge for
usage by asking you to purchase packages of responses. A
"response" is the equivalent of a completed, or partially
completed, test by one participant. You purchase and commit
to responses in advance, and we dynamically allocate database
storage, access, and other resources based on your anticipated
responses. The more responses you purchase in advance, the
lower the per-response price.
You can purchase responses online by signing
up and/or logging in to your account and going to the "My
Account" area. You can also purchase responses by check,
bank draft, and when approved, by company purchase order. Or, contact us by emailing
Customer Service. Include your login name and how many responses you want to purchase.
What if I want to outsource my project?
We offer a variety of project support and
test administration options and packages. These services
include test authoring and setup, respondent management
and administration, email invitations and followup, test
help desk for your respondents, data downloading, custom
scoring, reporting and analysis, data cleanup and other
personalized services such as logo design, graphical artwork,
content development, data entry, animation and splash page
design. Please see Pricing for more information and a description
of some of these special service offerings.
What if I need to setup a quick demonstration
using part of our test to sell my boss (or my client) on
using Hostedware for our project? (And what if I need it
to be ready by tomorrow?)
If you are under the gun and need ultra-fast
assistance setting up a demo for your boss, your client,
or your project team, fax us what you have in its current
format (draft or final) to (949) 206-1731 ATTN: Customer
Service. If an electronic version is available, email to
Customer
Service. We'll setup the first 10 or 15 questions, plus
add your logo and some basic formatting, free of charge,
today, or by the next business day.
We are
always happy to help. We view customer services as a part
of our business that supplements our core software products;
not the other way around. With that model, we feel we can
do more, for less. Many of our customers have been pleasantly
surprised by the amount of work we do, and the quality of
expertise we deliver, at the reasonable prices we charge.
We hope you will be, too!
About Hostedware
Who is Hostedware?
Hostedware Corporation, based in Irvine, California,
serves the multi-billion dollar research, education and
performance improvement markets. A pioneer in these markets,
we have developed two leading online software applications
- Hosted Test™ and Hosted Survey™. These self-configurable
software applications, together with our Customer Services
team, provide feature-rich, easy to use, cost effective
and dependable solutions that meet the exacting requirements
of our customers.
What are Hostedware's core applications
and services?
Hosted Test™ is a self-configurable,
online software tool that provides trainers, hiring managers,
educators, and certification specialists the ability to
easily design and administer online tests, assessments,
practice exams, certification programs and graded homework
and self-study aids, and report results, trends and manage
grade books in a timely and more automated fashion.
Hosted Survey™ is a self-configurable,
online software tool that provides organizations, service
providers, individuals and consultants with the ability
to conduct online market research, web tests, opinion polls,
voting mechanisms, evaluations and appraisals, 360 degree
feedback reviews, organizational climate tests, web site
visitor feedback and other research, and report that data
in a timely and organized fashion.
This is done at a fraction of the cost and
effort previously experienced with traditional paper based
systems and expensive ad-hoc, internally-developed web pages.
Hostedware® Customer Services include setup and administration
options, content development, and customized statistical
analysis and reporting packages, as well as web development
and infrastructure to support the special needs of our customers.
Where is Hostedware's data center? Is it
reliable and secure?
Hostedware customers and their clients benefit
from the security, reliability and environmental controls
of the Hostedware/InteleNet data center in Irvine, CA, USA:
