Today's virtual world offers spectacular opportunities in providing optimal education and support services. Bomgar, one such company which provides secure remote support solution, extended its relationship with B Virtual (News - Alert) by signing yet another deal with the company.
This deal will not only provide secure, remote support solution, but will also allow B Virtual to offer world-class technical support to the steadily growing number of home-based employees and online education programs.
"The need to support 'non-traditional' students is a rising trend among higher education organizations," explained Scott Braynard, vice president of public sector at Bomgar (News - Alert).
"Having the ability to provide remote support to all students, whether they are on campus or studying remotely as part of an online program, increases productivity and success of both students and IT support teams," Braynard added.
B Virtual is a company specializing in remote workforce innovation. The company has been building partnerships by providing outsourced support products and services to three distinct market segments: traditional technical IT support, support for online learning management systems (LMS) used by educational institutions offering online programs of study, and proctoring services for online exams. B Virtual required a remote support solution that was as innovative and flexible as its business model to deliver the highest-quality technical and online proctoring services to its client organizations.
"Students who take courses online usually don't live anywhere near the institution putting on the program. When the end of the semester arrives and it's time for students to take exams, the school needed a way to ensure the integrity of the exam session, just as a proctor would do by monitoring a live exam on campus,” Tim Dewey (News - Alert), chief operating officer at B Virtual, said in a statement.
To ensure the integrity of the exam session, B Virtual's proctors watch the student on a webcam, as well as need complete access to the student's computer to ensure that he or she does not have unauthorized applications running, multiple monitors open, or someone else taking the test remotely.
Dewey also emphasized that Bomgar was the right solution to support online proctoring specifically because of its capabilities. "There are a number of Bomgar features we use to get connected and monitor the student's machine,” he explained.
The company statement also stressed on one Bomgar feature that B Virtual uses extensively – canned messaging. With this feature, B Virtual proctors can send prewritten consent forms and exam instructions to the students via Bomgar's web-based chat tool. Furthermore, Bomgar's recording capabilities also support B Virtual's ability to ensure exam integrity.
"We are able to see the student's desktop and everything they are doing, so we can prevent unauthorized activities, such as a student taking a screenshot to record some of the exam questions," Dewey said.
Bomgar supports B Virtual's other two business segments as well.
Edited by Allison Boccamazzo