Printable Tests in PDF Format (from XPS)

Recently we’ve been getting more and more great feedback from our customers. We love to get feedback because it helps us develop better products and services for you, our customers.

Some customers have had trouble recently using our printable tests and answer guides. Currently, they are in XPS format which is an open and trustworthy format most useful for Microsoft Office 2007 users. Internet Explorer can view XPS documents, and there is even a free XPS Viewer software. Despite those viewing options, some of our customers don’t want to download additional software and are having trouble using the XPS files. To help those customers out, we have spent the time to upgrade our documents to PDF.

Now, all the tests, answer guides, and certificates for our EHS and MSHA DVD courses are available in PDF format. We have also added a name and date field for the tests. The new documents will be available online soon, but if you need them now, feel free to send us an email or give us a call and we can get them to you right away.

Convergence Blog is Back from Vacation

I’ve just returned from a completely disconnected vacation outside of Moyie Springs, ID. I had no cell phone reception, no internet, and no email – it was a wonderful break but I’m back and realizing that I’ve missed a couple of blog posts. I’ll be back on top of things and posting regularly again from here out.

Upcoming events include launching our Pay-Per-View training, launching our reseller programs, launching our commercial web-based training platform, additions of new courses to our library, and updates to some of our courses such as Asbestos Awareness.

Thanks for staying tuned in!

Soft Skills in Hard Times? NO WAY!!

In my personal professional blog, I’ve posted an article written by Roman Battan, Director of Sales for Convergence Training. The article compares Soft-Skills to Hard-Skills and aims to help companies understand the need for training with concrete, measurable results.

Check out the article here:
Soft Skills in Hard Times? NO WAY!! by Roman Battan

Contractor Training Improvements

We’ve just finished another Contractor Training project that includes over an hour of produced audio/video training. We saw some benefit to switching from compressed videos to native flash animations, so we made the switch!

Unlike our site-specific training and retail course library, Contractor Training solutions present training across the internet where file sizes make a major difference in performance. Because of this, we decided to produce all of our Contractor Training in native flash animations going forward.

Here are the benefits to using native flash format:

Smaller file size
Because compressed videos must render every frame, pixel by pixel, the file sizes increase with more animation.

Better animation capability
Because native flash animations are vector-based, they can be animated, scaled, and moved without increasing file size.

Changes are mostly transparent to viewers
The interface is the same, but the training material is delivered quicker (with less buffering) and is a higher quality.

This is a partial screenshot from one page of our latest contractor training project. The text and gradient shapes are vector based, supplemented with a few bitmap images.

Integrated Catalog in Convergence Viewer Shows Other Course Formats

We’ve added some additional links on the details pages of our courses in the integrated catalog in Convergence Training Viewer. The links will show up when the course can be purchased in other formats. Most of our CBT titles are currently available in DVD format, and soon they will be available online via pay-per-view. You don’t need to perform any updates to get this feature, it will be available when CTV connects to the catalog.

Online Courses via Pay-Per-View in Convergence Library

Convergence Training will soon be offering our course library in a new format – Online via pay-per-view. Customers will be able to purchase any number of views to our courses. After purchasing, we will generate tickets redeemable for course views. Simply login, enter your ticket, and take your training.

The benefits for our online courses:
- Take training anywhere internet access is available
- Only pay for the training you need
- Quickly and easily get training without complicated/expensive systems or setup
- Priced economically for today’s competitive economy

If you are interested in piloting our pay-per-view program, contact us today (info@thinkconvergence.com, 1.888.634.7346).

To see the topics currently offered in our environmental, health, safety, and msha libraries, visit our online store here.

Free Software Grows Legs, Breathes on Land

After getting some great feedback from our customers, we’re proud to announce the latest evolution of Convergence Training Viewer, or CTV. This update not only makes training easier and more efficient, it represents the missing link between computer-based training material and advanced training management tools.

Check out the newest features below and download your copy of Convergence Training Viewer or visit our website for more information.

		What’s New	Why It Matters
View Image	Import Your Own Courses	You can now import courses you’ve created with popular authoring tools, or import SCORM courses you’ve purchased from other producers. If you’re not familiar with SCORM, don’t worry, most people aren’t. It’s basically a way to publish courses in a universal format. Click here for more info on SCORM.	By adding import functionality, we’ve turned CTV into a personal learning management system, or LMS. You can now deliver, track, and report results without the complicated software and expensive servers of a conventional LMS. And the best part is that Convergence Training Viewer is FREE!
View Image	Track Real-World Events	We understand that training isn’t just about sitting in front of a computer. So we’ve created an easy way for you to enter, track, and run reports on any type of training event such as classroom activities, meetings, presentations, on-the-job training, and more!	Centralizing your training records saves time, keeps you organized, and makes reporting from one consistent source a breeze. With the click of a button, you can now keep a record of any training event and provide printed documentation to trainees, supervisors, or inspectors.
View Image	Backup Your Data	We’ve added a manual backup feature that lets you save the most recent copy of your data wherever you’d like.	The more training you do with CTV, the more valuable your training records become. So we’ve made sure you can always back up your data and recover it if you need to.
View Image	Recover Passwords	We’ve developed a password recovery protocol to help make sure you won’t miss a training deadline or progress review because you can’t access the software.	People forget things and when that happens, it shouldn’t ruin your entire day. Nothing should stand in your way when it comes to getting work done.

Other New or Updated Features

• Help Tab – The Help tab provides information on our most popular features, includes basic step-by-step tutorials, and even lets you submit a support request directly to Convergence Training!
• Administration Interface – We’ve redesigned the tab layout to make better use of the space and set the stage so we can add more features down the road.
• Catalog Updates – Another tweak to the Catalog allows it to load more easily and automatically fill each page for
  convenient viewing of all our training products.
• Bug Fixes – Of course no software is complete without bugs, but we’ve managed to address everything that has come up so far. If you find something that’s not working quite right, be sure to let us know.

Get These New Features

First Time Downloading? – If you haven’t downloaded our free CTV software, its simple. Just visit our website, click the download link and follow the
on-screen instructions. Or, click here for a direct download link.

Already Have CTV Installed? – If you already have a previous version of CTV installed, just “Check for Updates”.
In the “Administration” screen, select the “Updates” tab and click the “Check for Updates” button. CTV will contact our
servers, perform the download and install the updates.

New Course: Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety

I’ve uploaded several samples to YouTube from one of our recent training modules – Compress Gas Cylinder Safety. The full module includes over 23 minutes of training covering subjects such as a basic description of gas cylinders, how they are used, potential hazards, and best practices for storage, transport and use of compressed gas cylinders. This module is also now included in our Online Catalog featured in Convergence Training Viewer.

This course is combined with Compressed Air Fundamentals and offered as our Compressed Air package. These individual courses can be purchased starting at $39 for the computer-based version, or $49 for the DVD version. The combo-package is only $69 for the computer-based version, and $79 for the DVD version. To purchase, visit our online store and search for “compressed”.

To view the latest samples, you can view my channel here: http://www.youtube.com/kdellavalle

Convergence Training Adds Two New Team Members

We would like to welcome two new designers to the Convergence Training team, Caleb Tilton and Michael Reese.

Caleb and Michael bring unique design, animation, and 3d skills to our creative team and will help us continue to meet our project deadlines and business goals. Caleb is currently working on a custom visitor/vendor/contractor training course and Michael is helping us with a site-specific paper machine training project.

Check out their professional portfolios below:

Caleb Tilton – http://www.calebtilton.com

and

Michael Reese – http://www.mikereese3d.com

To view a short bio for Caleb, Michael, and the entire Convergence Training team, visit the “About Us” section on our website.

Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety Samples

Today we posted some samples of our upcoming Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety training course to YouTube. If you haven’t visited our channel before, it’s a great place see lots of samples of our training courses, demo projects, and other special projects that we take on from time to time.

Visit us on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/kdellavalle

You may also notice that Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety will now appear in the Online Catalog inside of our Training Viewer. It is currently under final review and should be available to download, try and purchase very soon.