Videotel Produces 500th Computer-based Training Course

Press Release

June 2, 2015: VideotelTM, the leading international provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), has launched its 500th computer-based training (CBT)  e-Learning course. This milestone confirms Videotel as the number one provider of  e-Learning CBTs to the maritime, offshore, and ports & pilotage sectors, among others. Videotel’s maritime training solutions are on display in KVH Stand B04-16, Hall B, at the Nor-Shipping maritime event in Oslo, which opens today and continues through June 5.

Videotel’s latest course, entitled “The Work of the Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV),” covers the crew’s key objectives and emergency procedures when operating these vessels in global offshore oil and gas fields. The CBT course also details the day-to-day operational function of the ERRV. As with all Videotel training titles, this CBT has been produced in accordance with the relevant Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) regulations.
“We deliver the highest quality e-Learning training material across the board in a wide range of formats,” says Nigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel. “CBT is an extremely popular and important method of training, and our commitment to this medium is clear to see with the launch of our 500th title in this format.”

CBT allows learners to follow easy on-screen instructions to progress through the courses at their own pace. The courses contain a mixture of text with optional English language voiceovers, still photographs, video clips, 3D animations, and interactive exercises. To verify the trainee’s understanding, there are multiple choice on-screen tests to complete at the end of each module, plus a longer final test, consisting of randomized, timed questions, at the end of the training course.

In addition to the CBT format, Videotel’s training solutions, which are currently in use on more than 12,000 vessels worldwide, include video, 3D animation, and interactive distance learning courses. Videotel has also announced plans to continually update its training programs via KVH’s IP-MobileCastTM content delivery service free of charge. This service utilizes multicasting technology to deliver content to subscribing vessels via their broadband connection.

Videotel commenced producing training courses for the maritime industry in 1973 when the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), the forerunner to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), wanted to improve the quality of training materials available to seafarers and called on the company’s services. Since that time, Videotel has been at the forefront of developing world-class training material to help ship owners and ship managers comply with the STCW Convention, operational practices, and pertinent health and safety regulations.

The importance of quality training materials and Videotel’s long-standing relationship with the IMO are demonstrated by the fact that IMO, which is part of the United Nations, has chosen maritime education and training as the theme for this year’s World Maritime Day, scheduled for September 24, 2015.