Tech Info For Client I.T. / Network Administrators

Ascent Aviation E-training System

A web-based e-learning system (Learning Management System) from Aerostudies Inc. (http://aerostudies.com).

Tech Info For Client’s I.T. Department / Network Administrators

BROWSER COMPATIBILITY

As of February 2015:

IE 8 or earlier: No support. Some users are OK with it, depending on their particular setup.

IE 9: May work for some users. We do not support it.

IE10: Very good. Occasional issues which we can usually fix up quickly when reported to us.

IE11: Very good. Occasional issues which we can usually fix up quickly when reported to us.

Chrome: No known issues.

FireFox: Very good. Occasional issues with certain quirky FireFox limitations, but these are rare.

Safari: Good. A couple small issues - fixes in progress.

Opera: No known issues.

iOS: Very Good: A couple known issues we will have fixes for soon. Not yet fully optimized for IOS.

Android: Very Good. Not yet fully optimized for Android.

Windows Mobile: Very Good.

Recommended Browser:

For desktop and laptop computers, Windows and Mac: Chrome

For mobile devices: Any

BROWSER SETTINGS

JavaScript must be enabled / on.

Cookies must be allowed. We use only a standard ‘session’ cookie. These are set to expire in 5 hours for sessions, 30 days for a remembered username.

If client’s content contains media which requires a plugin (i.e.: Flash, Acrobat), then the appropriate plugin must be installed in the user’s browser (i.e.: FlashPlayer).

Note: For PDF's to be viewed in the content, user must install Adobe acrobat reader or use Google Chrome (Chrome has a built-in PDF viewer), otherwise they will only be able to download the document to their computer, and then they must have the appropriate software to open it.

The system itself has no downloadable applets.

SERVER INFO:

Domain: ascent.aerostudies.com

I.P. Address: 69.41.165.38

Server Location: United States. Dedicated server at a major commercial hosting service with 24/7 dedicated support. Hosting company reports they have 24/7 manned security, triple layer physical security access, dual redundant power feeds, automatic halon fire extinguishing.

Backups: Server backups are done daily at the hosting company. We also perform do a daily backup of the data and content off-site, redundant from the server location.

SIGN IN:

We use a secure sign in via SSL connection. The SSL Certificates in use: ascent.aerostudies.com and ascent2.aerostudies.com. Both are registered to the company “ Aerostudies Inc.”.

The user’s email address is usually used for their sign in, but they have a custom “User Name” option available in their Profile.

Passwords are encrypted and we are unable to see user’s passwords. If they forget their password, there is a ‘Password Reset’ feature which sends a custom reset link to the email address designated in the user’s Profile. If they do not have access to that email account, they can not re-set their own password.

We have customer-specific branded sign in pages which are NOT on the system’s server. The sign in is done via an iFrame which establishes a SSL connection with our server prior to the user entering their password.

If you would like to put the sign in page within your own website, there are two ways:

1. Sign In Page: We can email to you the sign in page, which is an extremely basic HTML page, to simply put in a directory on your website. Users can then sign in at http://<your company domain>/training (or whatever name you want to give to your sign in page.

2. Sign In Field: You can put the sign in field for the online training system anywhere you want in your website by inserting this code:

User sessions are logged out automatically after 1 hour of no activity in the system.

CONTENT:

The system uses HTML5 with broad use of JavaScript. JavaScript MUST be turned on and functioning in the user’s browser.

Content may contain, depending on what the client puts into it, any or all of the following:

.jpg, .gif, .png, pdf,

.swf, .flv: Some clients add Flash / Schockwave content to their training, in their content. We recommend clients replace their Flash video with the HTML5 streaming video (info below) and use Flash only for interactive simulation content.

Clients commonly put attachments to training content and system messages which are .doc, .docx, .xls, and various other computer files.

VIDEO & AUDIO

We use a third party commercial video streaming service,Vzaar.com . If there is video or audio on the content of your training, you will need to allow it from https://view.vzaar.com

When a client is editing content and uploading video or audio to the streaming service, the original file also gets uploaded into our system.

In some cases, clients specifically bypass the video streaming service and directly embed their own videos or audio in the form of .mov, .wmv, .mp4 .mp3.

Some clients often also have hyperlinks or embed code for videos on YouTube and other sources in their training content.

SYSTEM EMAILS:

Please refer to 'System Emails' help topic

TECH SUPPORT:

Student user level support is provided by the client. All other levels of support are provided to ‘Staff’ level users enrolled in the system.

System has a built-in Support Request form in all user roles except Student. Student users are to contact their company’s e-Learning system administrator for assistance and support. That person(s) can use the Support Request form to get support from us when needed.

Official Support Hours are Mon - Fri, 08:00 - 17:00 MST, however support for time sensitive issues is provided outside those hours whenever possible.

The best way to get support from us is via the Support Request form in the system. Second best is via email to support@aerostudies.com . Telephone support is OK too, but is the slowest response time as the phone is at our main admin office and tech issues just get emailed to support anyway. Telephone: +1 780-424-7100 .

DAILY SYSTEM MAINTENANCE NOTICE:

This system gets a daily maintenance and service update for optimal performance, reliability, and security. It is done at approximately 01:15 AM to 01:30 AM CST (Central Standard Time). During this time, system performance MAY be significantly reduced. We suggest logging out and then resuming your use of the system after the maintenance has been completed.