GVF Enhanced Training Services Catalog

The Enhanced Training Services program is comprised of a set of options enabling you to craft a plan ideally suited for your organization – whether it is a satellite operator, equipment manufacturer, service provider, or any other organization that uses satellite communications.These services include:

• Sponsorships for customer outreach
• Private branded training portal
• Integration with, and enhancement of, your organization’s training program
• Accreditations and certifications

Services are available either in a Standard Plan (requires a minimum annual commitment to training tuition) or in a no-cost, no-risk Starter Plan.

CONTENTS – TAILORING YOUR PLAN

No.	Feature/Option	Starter Plan	Standard Plan
1	Commitment	None	Minimum $5k/year in training tuition
2	GVF Accredited Organization for Training (AO/T)	Required (or ITU Bronze)	Opt NC
3	ITU-Supported GVF Training Sponsorship program	Bronze level required (or AO/T)	Opt – Silver level or higher
4	Independent sponsorship program	No	Opt (higher commitment)
5	Bulk discount rate on tuition	No	Yes (depends on commitment level)
6	Listing as a GVF Training Partner	Optional – no charge (basic listing)	Optional – no charge
7	Dedicated branded home page (extended style)	No	Included
8	Basic branded training home page	Included	N/A
9	Branding within the learning system	No	Included
10	Enrollment services	Included	Included
11	Trainee support services	Included	Included
12	Weekly progress reports by email	Included	Included
13	Administrator access for viewing trainee status	Included	Included
14	Training Representative administrator access	No	Optional – no charge
15	Instructor-Led Training session administration support	No	Optional (additional charge)
16	Client introductory course	Optional – no charge (recommended)	Optional – no charge (recommended)
17	Client-specific training paths and certifications	No	Option
18	Reference document repository	Optional (limited space) – no charge	Optional – no charge
19	Reselling	No	Optional – no charge
20	Sales representation	Optional (separate agreement)	Optional
21	Embedded Hands On Skills Test Examiners and GVF certifications	Optional – no charge	Optional – no charge
22	Client’s training presentations deployed as online courses	No	Optional
23	Custom-developed training courses	No	Optional
24	GVF specialist courses	Optional	Optional
25	Continuous access and recertification	Optional (Subscription fee normally paid by trainee)	Optional (Subscription fee)
26	Translations	Option	Optional
27	Integration with client’s LMS	No	Optional, technical details to be discussed
28	Use of SatProf animations in client’s ILT presentations	No	Optional, depends on commitment level

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AVAILABLE FEATURES AND OPTIONS

The terms defined in Table 2 are used throughout this catalog.

Client:	The company or organization establishing contractual relationship with GVF and/or SatProf for training services.
Customer:	The company, organization, or individual purchasing training services through the Client.
Trainee, Student, Learner:	The individual receiving the training. Each trainee is assigned their own account on the GVF learning system.
LMS:	Learning Management System, learning system.

1 Commitment requirements

a) Starter Plan

No financial commitment is required to activate a Starter Plan. However, you must either:

• Apply to join the GVF Accredited Organization for Training program. You provide the staff who are eligible for training, and we track their training , or
• Apply for the Bronze level of the ITU-supported GVF Scholarship program. This includes a no-risk 3-month trial, during which you pay only for any sponsorship training you grant. Note: GVF membership is required for all levels in the ITU-supported GVF Scholarship program.

The benefits included with a Starter Plan are listed in Table 1.

Note that if your organization is in the Starter Plan, Extended Training Services benefits may be suspended if your organization is not maintaining AO/T status or has not upgraded to Silver level in the ITU-supported scholarship program.

b) Standard Plan

No financial commitment of at least $5,000 per year is generally required to receive the benefits listed under Standard Plan in Table 1. Note that GVF members benefit from exclusive additional high-quantity tuition discounts.

2 GVF Accredited Organization for Training (AO/T)

Any organization with a commitment to excellence in satellite communications is now eligible to apply for GVF Accreditation Organization for Training (GVF AO/T). GVF AO/T means that your organization maintains a well-trained staff through rigorous training relevant to their duties.

To hold GVF AO/T:

• At least 90% of your organization’s staff members (where applicable) must have either completed, or be actively enrolled in, the appropriate GVF training, and
• At least 70% of your organization’s staff members (where applicable) must hold a current GVF certification or have completed the appropriate GVF training courses (if a certification does not apply).

GVF will track your organization’s status with regular reports, based on candidate information you provide in strict confidence.

Organizations who maintain GVF AO/T status may display the GVF AO/T logo on marketing materials, web pages, etc. The GVF AO/T indication will also be displayed with your company on the GVF web site member directory (if a member) and in the GVF Training Partners page (if participating). For details and an application form, please see the separate AO/T brochure.

3 ITU-Supported GVF Training Sponsorship program

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has signed an agreement with GVF to improve access to quality communications. Arising from that agreement, the ITU and GVF are offering GVF Members a platform where they can engage with telecommunication and broadcasting customers through delivery of GVF training. A choice of four sponsorship levels is available: Diamond, Platinum, Gold, and Silver.

GVF will maintain a special web site for the program which will display sponsors’ information (with higher-level sponsors being displayed more prominently) and links to an application form. Program sponsors all receive these applications for training, with higher-level sponsors receiving priority choice. Full marketing contact details and questionnaire responses go to the sponsor who selects the trainee.

A diagram of how the web pages for this program are linked is shown in Figure 1. Details about this program are available in a separate brochure.

4 Independent sponsorship program

Clients may choose to donate or subsidize training to their customers or other organizations or individual students.

The process for sponsoring trainees is as follows:

1. Trainees or organizations apply for sponsored seats and provide information about themselves.
2. Client reviews applications and decides which are to be granted free seats and/or which are to be offered a tuition discount.
3. For free seats, Client informs SatProf of the names and contact details of trainees and which courses they have been awarded. SatProf enrolls trainees on the GVF learning system. Trainee receives login details directly by email.
4. For discount seats, Client advises applicant of the Promotion Code(s) they may use to enroll in GVF courses at a discount directly on the GVF training portal. Trainees enroll themselves.
5. SatProf includes trainee progress in regular reports to Client. Reports will include both free seats and discounted seats, provided trainee used Clients Promotion Code to self‐enroll.
6. SatProf debits Client’s account based on the actual course enrollments at the tuition fee with Client’s current quantity discount (if applicable). If the trainee and the course qualify for the Andrew Werth scholarship, the Client’s account is debited at a 50% discount.

As part of a sponsorship program, SatProf can host an application form as a web page customized for the client. The form explains the program to the applicant, gives some background information about the Client, and defines which course(s) are available for sponsorship by the Client. Applicants provide name, email, and organization, desired course(s), as well as job function and any other relevant information desired by the Client.

The application form will state which courses are offered by Client as fully sponsored (free to trainee) and which courses are offered at a discount (Client’s current discount rate applies). Note that the Client’s Promotion Codes for discounts will NOT be shown on this page: the trainee must submit an application to the Client, who then may choose to grant the Promo Codes to the applicant.

Client may elect to host and manage the application form page on their own web site.

5 Bulk discount rate

Client will be entitled to a percentage discount on all GVF catalog courses, based on accumulated enrollment quantities in prior periods and/or volume commitment for future periods. This discount will be applicable to:

• Sponsored enrollment tuition debits from Client’s account, either through the ITU-supported GVF Scholarship program, or by direct sponsorship;
• Enrollments by Client’s own staff;
• Resale enrollments (if a reseller option is in place);
• Enrollments paid for by external organizations, if specifically pre-approved by Client (for example, discounts offered to sponsored students who are not awarded free tuition);

This discount is not applicable to on-site or classroom courses.

If a reselling relationship is not required, discounts are also available for a simple annual quantity commitment. Enrollment, invoicing, and progress reporting services are otherwise the same as for resellers.

GVF members benefit from exclusive additional high-quantity tuition discounts.

6 Listing as a GVF Training Partner

The GVF training web page (www.gvf.org/training) has 45,000 VSAT industry personnel visits per year from 19,000 unique visitors viewing 98,000 pages. By participating in the GVF Training Partner Program, the Client may leverage GVF marketing and web page traffic to publicize Client’s satcom-oriented products and/or services.

GVF has a “Training partners” link located at www.gvf.org/training. When visitors click this link, they will see a page highlighting GVF’s various training partners and providing summary information. When the visitor clicks on the Client’s link or graphic, he/she will be taken to the Client’s dedicated training home page.

A diagram showing how Training Partners are listed on gvf.org, and how the user clicks through to a dedicated branded home page, and then into the learning system (if a student), is shown in Figure 2. A detailed close-up of the www.gvf.org/training main page, showing the training partners link, is shown in Figure 3, and a mockup of the training partners page itself is shown in Figure 4.

7 Dedicated branded home page (extended style)

The extended-style dedicated branded training home page includes options for displaying marketing material provided by Client, including graphics and video, in addition to trainee login boxes. Please see Figure 5 or visit http://www.satprof.com/partners/template/index.html for details on these options.

The URL for this page will be in the form http://gvf.org/ClientnameTraining.html.

The Client may provide new or updated information to SatProf from time to time for inclusion in their training home page. In this way, the training home page serves as the primary portal for all Client’s trainees (new or returning, internal or external) and this an excellent channel to reinforce the Client’s brand and deliver relevant Client information to the learning community.

Google analytics reports on this page can be configured on request.

8 Basic branded training home page

As an alternative to the Training Partner listing and extended home page, SatProf can host a simpler page dedicated to the Client on the GVF training portal and branded to clearly identify the Client. This page can serve two purposes:

1. Login boxes for Client’s trainees
2. Limited promotional or other information the Client desires to be visible to the public (i.e. before login).

The URL for this page will be in the form http://gvf.org/ClientnameTraining.html.

An example of the appearance is shown in Figure 6 and online at http://gvf.org/sampletraining.html. Any static information desired by Client can be shown on this page, subject to space limitations.

9 Branding within the learning system

In addition to a basic or extended branded training home page (pre-login), SatProf can further customize and brand the appearance of the learning system post-login. By doing so, the trainee is continuously reminded of the Client’s brand and message while studying the online training materials. All of the functions and features of the GVF learning system are available to the trainee, but with the Client’s brand, message, and color scheme.

Trainees generally spend 5-15 hours logged in to the learning system to complete each course, and most are enrolled in several courses. Therefore branding of the learning system screens after login is a powerful channel for brand reinforcement, particularly when coupled with sponsorship.

A mockup of how learning system branding appears to trainees is shown in Figure 7. When the student clicks in My Courses, they will see main folders for the GVF catalog courses and any custom Client courses as shown in Figure 8. Clicking further, the student would see a list of the courses they are enrolled in and their status in them, such as shown in Figure 9.

If a course is completed, the certificate can be viewed in the Transcripts section, as shown in Figure 10.

10 Enrollment services

Trainees, whether staff, sponsored, or reseller customer, can be enrolled in several ways:

• Credit card, with optional coupon code for agreed‐upon discount
• Use of Enrollment Key which has been pre‐purchased or authorized
• Instruction via email from authorized Point Of Contact (for later invoice)
• Instruction via email with prepayment via wire transfer or Western Union

If credit card and Enrollment Key are used, student will be enrolled immediately.

If enrollments are requested via an instruction email to SatProf, new trainees will be registered and enrolled in designated courses, and existing trainees’ enrollments will be updated, by SatProf within 1 business day of receipt of request from Client. SatProf will provide Client with a template spreadsheet in which trainee name, email, sub- department, and other profile details can be communicated by Client to SatProf. Periodically, SatProf will invoice Client for actual enrollments made during the period ending. Alternatively, Client may order a block of “enrollment keys” for designated courses or course bundles. Trainees can then be issued these enrollment key numbers and which they use to register themselves. They are automatically enrolled in those courses and will appear in the designated reporting sub-department.

11 Trainee support services

SatProf provides support services such as quiz resets, password assistance, and profile corrections, as well as technical and engineering responses to questions on all catalog GVF courses and any Client courses whose content is developed by SatProf. All support is via email. Responses are made typically within 2-4 hours of receipt, and within no more than two business days. For custom courses containing Client content, SatProf will refer trainee queries to a designated Client support contact.

12 Weekly progress reports by email

Each week, the LMS can be programmed to automatically email a summary report of the status of all Client students. Students can be organized into sub-departments at Client’s request if desired. The report shows the course status (Not Started, Incomplete, or Complete) of each trainee.

13 Administrator access for viewing trainee status

With the “Department Reporting” privilege, the administrator may view (but not change) trainee profiles, including full names, usernames and passwords. The administrator may also browse detailed status of all courses that each trainee is enrolled in.

A designated Client manager can be assigned ‘admin’ access to the LMS so he/she can browse and edit the detailed status of any Client student at any time. Such Client admins will be able to access only the records for students in the Client’s assigned LMS “department” and sub-departments. Administrators from other clients will not be able to view the status of Client students.

14 Training Representative administrator access

With the “Training Representative” privilege, the administrator has the visibility of a Department Reporting administrator, and may also register new trainees, edit trainee profiles (including passwords), enroll trainees in new courses; grade Hands On Skills Tests, and grant extensions. This option is available only by special arrangement with SatProf and requires special training for the administrator in addition to an agreement for tuition fee settlement.

15 Instructor-Led Training session administration support

On-site classes including the GVF Hands On Skills Test are managed using the learning system’s “Instructor-Led Training” (ILT) features. SatProf can configure custom ILT’s for your organization, enabling you to:

• Define courses
• Define sessions for each course
• Define intructor, venue, and time for each session
• Enable instructor to grade student or mark attendance
• Set class size limits and waiting lists
• Show the course/session information and schedule on your web page via custom iframe via satprof.com
• Automate enrollments
• Restrict visibility of courses
• Restrict enrollments
• Receive or browse for attendance reports
• Link ITL grades to custom certification paths

Of course, you must define the curriculum, provide the instructor, venue, and any special equipment needed, but the GVF ETS ILT administration option relieves your staff of the routine registrar work and frees them to focus on instruction.

16 Client introductory course

SatProf will create a short course (5-10 pages maximum) with an organization overview or key messages to be conveyed to trainees, based on materials provided by Client, and deploy it on the GVF learning system alongside the GVF standard learning courses. This course will visible only to the Client’s trainees.

17 Client-specific training paths and certifications

SatProf enhancements to the learning system enable a Certification to be automatically granted when the trainee successfully completes a defined combination of courses (a training path). Customized Certifications and training paths can be created by SatProf for the Client to support the Client’s training or staff development program. Reports will include status of such Certifications along with learning course and standard GVF Certification status.

18 Reference document repository

When any trainee logs in to the learning system, they will see a tab labeled “Resources.” This area may contain a set of downloadable files, including videos, that is customized to the Client’s department. In this way the Client may use the GVF learning system as a reference document repository and control which documents (and versions) are made available to the Client’s trainees.

SatProf will enable Client to use the LMS as a controlled reference document repository. Client would, from time to time, submit documents to SatProf and specify which sub-group(s) of Client students are authorized to access these documents. SatProf will load the documents onto the LMS so that they appear under the general Resources tab for each student (as visible on the left-side menu in Figure 7). Up to 1000 MB of Client materials may be stored; if additional space is required, an additional cost may be charged.

19 Reselling

With a Reseller Agreement in place, customers order GVF catalog courses from the Client, and pay tuition fees to the Client (not to GVF or SatProf). Client purchases seats from SatProf as Enrollment Keys or by requesting trainee enrollments when needed and providing trainee names and email addresses to SatProf. SatProf then invoices the client (reseller) periodically (monthly or quarterly) for accumulated enrollments at a discount.

Client may invoice at 50% reduced rate for specific enrollments in applicable courses if the trainee meets the requirements for the Andrew Werth Scholarship for Developing Countries as defined at www.gvf.org/training.

Client is free to set the price to the end customer and may elect to earn a gross margin on sales. Client is also free to use seats for their own staff.

A client may be both a Promoter and a Reseller, but Reseller discounts percentages are generally greater than promoter commission percentages, to account for the expense and risk taken by the Reseller when collecting tuition fees from customers.

20 Sales representation

With a Sales Representation Agreement in place, customers order GVF catalog courses through SatProf, and pay tuition fees directly to SatProf. For customers who have been previously designated as being represented by the Client, GVF/SatProf periodically remits an agreed-on commission to the Client.

21 Embedded Hands On Skills Test Examiners and GVF certifications

Certain GVF certifications such as for marine VSAT operators are attained by successfully completing specific online training courses and comprehensive final exams. Other certifications, including those for field technicians, require a prescribed hands-on skills test administered by a GVF-qualified Examiner.

To qualify as an Examiner for the Basic Hands On Skills Test (HOST-B), the candidate must have achieved GVF Advanced Certification, have substantial VSAT field experience, and a letter of recommendation from a satellite operator or VSAT service provider. If a Client staff member qualifies as a GVF Examiner, the Client embedded GVF qualified examiner can administer Basic HOST’s and complete GVF certifications with no HOST fee payable to GVF. Additionally, trainees are eligible to take HOST’s from any other GVF Examiner (including SatProf), each of whom sets their own fee.

Note that HOSTs for GVF marine terminal installation and maintenance certification are given by the specific terminal equipment manufacturer. Fees for these are set by these organizations and payable to them.

22 Client’s training presentations deployed as online courses

SatProf can develop and deploy Client-specific learning courses on the GVF learning system which are visible only to the Client’s trainees, but which can be taken in conjunction with standard GVF courses to form an integrated training program for the Client’s staff or customers.

For example, a complete learning path might consist of a set of standard GVF courses followed by a course teaching the Client’s standard procedures for deploying and activating a particular terminal, or other policies and procedures.

Such courses will be based on Client-supplied PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint native text, graphics, bitmaps/photos, and animation will be converted to SatProf’s Flash format and deployed on the LMS.

Simple exams will be included in the course deployed on the LMS with exams that are to be provided by Client as SatProf Quiz XML format files. Question formats are limited to true/false, multiple-choice, and multiple response questions. SatProf will offer a license to Client to install copies of the SatProf “Quiz Maker” application on authorized quiz preparers’ computers in order to readily generate the requisite Quiz XML files. SatProf will provide documentation, guidelines, and technical support for the use of Quiz Maker and its interactive editor.

In general, these courses/exams will have a per-student enrollment fee but no development charge as long as Clients commit to a minimum quantity of trainee course enrollments.

23 Custom-developed training courses

SatProf can also prepare longer courses or exams, or courses requiring Flash simulations, interactivity, or animations, such as 3-D antenna simulations by mutual agreement. Features as spectrum analyzers and numerical analysis exercises are unique SatProf specialties and can be inserted into Client-specific custom courses. For such courses, or those requiring satellite system engineering support or content from SatProf, course pricing will be determined by mutual agreement and may include a development charge.

24 GVF specialist courses

If there is sufficient level of interest from the satellite community and SatProf can develop new standard GVF courses in collaboration with the Client. Specialist courses are typically for the installation and troubleshooting a particular modem, terminal, or antenna and are designed to follow the generic GVF VSAT course series. A GVF specialist certification can be issued to trainees who complete the specialist course and meet other requirements (typically Advanced or Marine Operator Certification).

25 Continuous access and recertification

By default, all courses on the GVF/SatProf learning system (catalog GVF and custom) have a 90-day access time limit. For a per-student, per-year subscription fee, GVF/SatProf will provide a “continuous access” (subscription) option for Client students to have ongoing access to all courses they have been previously enrolled in and authorized reference document resources. Direct support from SatProf will also continue to be available. This allows Client students to use the learning system not only as a site for initial training, but a technical reference resource available at any time for them to refresh their knowledge. This service is especially useful as course materials, hardware configurations, and reference documents are updated.

This option will also include access to online recertification exams, enabling trainees to renew their GVF certifications when they expire.

26 Translations

The SatProf lesson player software, working with the SatProf Flash learning page structure, has the capability of allowing the trainee to instantly switch between any languages that have been pre-programmed into the learning page. For example, currently in course GVF 510, trainees may click on a language selector button on any page to choose English, Spanish, or Portuguese on the displayed learning page. By special agreement, SatProf can insert additional languages and/or add built-in translations to other GVF courses.

27 Integration with client’s LMS

By mutual special agreement, SatProf will work with the Client’s IT staff to facilitate automated exchange of information between the Client’s own Learning Management System and the SatProf system, on which all learning courses and certifications are hosted. Such data could include new student registrations, student profile information, course enrollments, course progress status, and certification completion.

28 Use of SatProf animations in client’s ILT presentations

SatProf has a large library of Flash animations (many interactive) illustrating a wide range of satellite technical topics. By special arrangement, certain animations can be made available to be integrated into the Client’s PowerPoint presentations for instructor-led training. New custom animations can also be developed. In this way, Client ILT courses can be optimized to complement GVF catalog training. Use of SatProf content is subject to Client’s agreement that any training materials they appear in are not to be used as an alternative to any catalog or custom GVF online training, and generally will be in conjunction with a sponsorship or other quantity commitment.