Select the category below that pertains to your question.
Account / Logon
Satellite / Webcast
How A Satellite Teleconference Works
Video
Audio
Silverlight
RSS
Other
Do I need an account to watch a broadcast video?
No. All broadcasts are available to the public and can be watched by clicking a video option button on the Video Information page for the broadcast. Only surveyors and certification specialists who wish to receive completion credit for watching a broadcast need to log onto the site.
How do I get an Id number?
Only surveyors and certification specialists are granted Id numbers recognized by the CMS website and the LMS that captures trainee registration and completion data. An Id is not required for users to view webcasts, access Web-based Training courses, or other content.
I don't remember my Logon. What do I do?
If you do not remember your logon information, click the Forgot User name or Password? link in the Surveyor Logon box on the left side of the page. Using the email address you used to create your account, you will be provided with your original user name and a new random password that you can use to log onto the site.
Can I register two people with the same email address?
No. We need some personal information that is uniquely belonging to one registrant, and no more. If you do not have an email address of your own, one of the free services will be more than adequate for your needs. Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, and Google GMail are just some of the many free email services.
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Is there any charge to take a course?
There is no charge to take a CMS course.
Can I receive copies of the programs that are archived?
To obtain copies of the program, please call the National Technical Information Services at 703-605-6186.
What organizations accept CMS CEUs?
CMS is an International Association for Continuing Education & Training (IACET) authorized CEU provider. Organizations accepting IACET CEUs are located at http://www.iacet.org/resources/accept_ceu.htm 
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Finding a Site
You can find a local downlink site to provide you with a viewing room for our event(s). You need to find a receive/viewing location that has a steerable C-band satellite dish with a room large enough to hold your potential audience and either monitor(s) or a large screen projection system.
Check with your local:
- Other government offices/Agencies
- Community Colleges
- Junior Colleges
- Universities
- V.A. Hospitals
- Technical Schools
- Libraries
- Schools/School District Offices
- Public Television Stations
- Fire/Rescue Stations
- County Health Departments
- Cinema Houses (those that have a satellite dish on their premises)
- Restaurants (those that have a satellite dish on their premises)
Be aware, even though you may be with the government, some of these sites may want to charge you. Those of you who are not with the government, there will likely be a fee to use these facilities.
What do I need to say to potential sites when I call them?
Tell them:
- Who you are and who you represent
- That you wonder if they can be a receive/viewing site for a satellite event on the date of the broadcast
- That you need the room from the beginning of the test time through to the end of the program
- Which satellite(s) it will be on
- How many folks you expect to have and then ask if they have enough (or large enough) monitors or screens for that many
- That you need to have easy handicap access, if applicable
What do I need to receive and/or watch the program?
You need a C-band, steerable satellite dish and a TV monitor or large screen projection system.
Will the signal be scrambled?
No. Our signal will be "in the clear."
I have a small dish at my home for getting cable programming. Will I be able to get the program on my dish?
No. That's a different kind of satellite dish. It's digital and is fixed on the satellite that is providing your home entertainment.
What if we don't have a satellite dish?
You can rent a local facility that has satellite access capability. Check with your local community college, university, public television station, fire station/rescue house, Cinema & Draft movie house (those that have a satellite dish on their premises), or even sports bar. The colleges, universities and public television stations may want to charge you, but if you impress them with your cause, perhaps you can get it waived. Certainly if you have some connection to the college or university, use that connection to get the fee waived. You can also rent a transportable dish for the day. A transportable would pull up to your building and park for the day. You will have to supply a monitor or projector and screen or you can rent one from the same vendor. The dish needs to have an unobstructed southern "look" at the sky. The cost for renting a transportable dish can run between $500 and $1200/day, depending upon your city and what the cable run needs to be. These folks can usually be found under "satellite" in your local yellow pages.
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The Origination Site
A satellite event originates live from a studio, or some other similarly "outfitted" facility (a place that has cameras and equipment for TV production). From the studio, the video and audio signal either travels via fiber to an uplink antenna located at a "teleport" just outside the city, or to one located on the premises. The uplink transmits the signal to the satellite.
The Satellite
For teleconferences, we use satellites that are in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. This orbit is perfectly matched with the rotation of the earth, making it seem like the satellites are "fixed" above the earth. There are two types of communications satellites: C- and Ku-Band. They each have different frequencies, kind of like the difference between AM and FM radio stations. The satellite you use depends on your network of receiving sites.
Viewing Sites
The audience attends the program at facilities equipped to receive the signal, i.e., they have a "receive-only" satellite dish. The viewing room contains either large screen projection or TV monitors, seats for the audience and, sometimes, a phone or fax machine in the back of the room. The audience sees the picture and hears the audio about a 1/4-second after the speaker actually speaks. This is known as the "satellite delay." That's because it takes approximately 1/4 of a second for the video and audio signal to travel at the speed of light the 44,600-mile round trip from the origination point to the satellite and back down to your location. For interaction there are several options: Calls, faxes and/or emails may be taken during the program and/or questions faxed or emailed in prior to the program.
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The video does not begin playing immediately when the page loads.
The audio/video for most of the WBT on this site is streaming; that means it does not have to download completely before it starts playing. It does, however, have to buffer a certain amount of the video before it begins playing. This means that, for most users, there will be a 5-second delay before the video begins playing.
Video does not play.
You should ask your system administrator before changing settings on your computer. Windows Media Player (download now ) must be installed on your computer to see video. It is recommended that you have the latest version of Media Player installed. Windows NT does not support Media Player 9 or higher. If you have Windows NT, you may be unable to see the video. The video in this course is done through streaming media. If your firewall blocks streaming media, you will be unable to see the video. If you have a very old video card, it may not support the video. You may need to download and install a new driver for your video card if your current driver is not up to date. To see the videos properly, you will have to have your screen set to high color. If you still have a problem, submit a trouble ticket to the CMS Training Support Help Desk.
What ports need to be open in my firewall?
MMS and RTSP protocols are used for the streaming media with port utilization as follows:
- MMS port 1755 TCP inbound and outbound
- MMS port 1755 UDP send and receive
- RTSP port 554 TCP inbound and outbound
Video plays audio, but no picture.
You should ask your system administrator before changing settings on your computer. Windows Media Player (download now ) must be installed on your computer to see video. It is recommended that you have the latest version of Media Player installed. Windows NT does not support Media Player 9 or higher. If you have Windows NT, you may be unable to see the video. The video in this course is done through streaming media. If your firewall blocks streaming media, you will be unable to see the video. If you have a very old video card, it may not support the video. You may need to download and install a new driver for your video card if your current driver is not up to date. To see the videos properly, you will have to have your screen set to high color. If you still have a problem, submit a trouble ticket to the CMS Training Support Help Desk.
Video starts to play, then stops or becomes jerky.
This is most likely a problem with your Internet connection. If you have a slow connection, the video may not be able to play smoothly and may have to rebuffer repeatedly. If this continues to be a problem, try viewing the videos from a computer with a faster Internet connection or, if you are using the High bandwidth option, try viewing the Low bandwidth video option.
The video is rather dark for viewing. What can I do to make it brighter?
Different monitors display colors differently. The pictures and videos in this course are set to a level of brightness that should be sufficient for the majority of monitors. If the course or videos still look dark, try adjusting the brightness settings on your monitor.
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I can't hear the audio.
There are several reasons this could be happening. First, check to make sure that the audio has not been muted. Check to make sure that your computer has speakers and that they are on and the volume is turned up to a sufficient level. There are other factors that may require your system administrator's assistance. Check your computer for a sound card. If you don't have one, you will need to add one. Also, if the driver for your sound card is out of date, you may need to download and install a new one. You will also need to download the most current version of Windows Media Player (download now ). Windows NT does not support Media Player 9 or higher. If you have Windows NT, you may be unable to hear the audio. The audio in this course is done through streaming media. If your firewall blocks streaming media, you will be unable to hear the audio. If you still have a problem, submit a trouble ticket to the CMS Training Support Help Desk.
The sound is not clear or has a metallic sound.
The audio/video for most of the WBT on this site is compressed to keep the file sizes to a minimum (to decrease download time). The compression causes a loss of quality in both the video and the audio. This loss sometimes causes the audio to sound unclear or to have a metallic sound.
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What is Silverlight?
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in developed by Microsoft for delivering media (such as video) and Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs) for the Web. It is provided as an alternate method to receive video for all users regardless of operating system* or browser.
* Linux users will need to install the Moonlight plug-in developed by Novell.
How much does Silverlight cost?
Microsoft has made the Silverlight plug-in free to all supported browsers and operating systems. The plug-in can be installed from the following link: Microsoft Silverlight .
What browsers can I use with Silverlight?
The videos on this site have been tested with Silverlight using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Due to issues with Silverlight and Google Chrome (BETA), the CMS Training Support Help Desk is unable to provide Silverlight related support to Google Chrome users.
Should I use Silverlight instead of Microsoft Media Player?
Internal testing conducted by the CMS Training Support Help Desk and discussions with users in the field have suggested that users with some firewall settings benefit when using the Silverlight control versus Media Player. If you cannot or do not want to install Media Player then you can use the Silverlight control to view the videos instead. If you can view the videos using Media Player and experience no performance problems then it is probably best to continue to use Media Player as you are provided with additional functions (such as built-in volume control and the scrubber bar).
Where can I find out more about Silverlight?
For more information about Silverlight, see Microsoft's Silverlight website: Microsoft Silverlight: Light Up the Web
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RSS
RSS (which stands for Really Simple Syndication) is a Web content syndication format used by news and data websites to distribute updated content quickly and regularly. It is an XML-based format that provides a convenient way for users to keep up with the latest headlines from their favorite sites without having to visit each one of them to see what's new.
If you are using the latest version of IE, Firefox, or Opera you can click the RSS Feed Icon 
in your browser to subscribe to the CMS Survey and Certification Group Training Site News feed. You can also copy and paste the feed URL, in parenthesis below, into the RSS Feed Reader of your choice.
CMS Survey and Certification Group Training Site News
(http://surveyortraining.cms.hhs.gov/rss_feed/cmso_news.rss)
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I cannot see the whole site.
To use this site, screen resolution should be set to at least 1024 x 768. While the site will attempt to shrink or expand the display for users with other resolution settings, anything less than 1024 x 768 may cause some parts of the website to shrink too small to easily navigate through. For Windows XP users: use the Start menu at the bottom left of the screen, select Settings, then Control Panel. A window opens showing control panel elements. Double-click the display icon. Another window will open. From the Display Properties window, click on and move the slider scale to 1024 x 768. If you still have a problem, submit a trouble ticket to the CMS Training Support Help Desk.