Things to know before you begin

This feature is already available in your organization. The Control interface has a chat button that is grayed out until a room is selected. Once a room is configured, the chat icon will turn blue.

Welcome to SP chat

SP chat is a feature that allows the standardized patient (SP), who cannot easily alert the control room or room monitor, a way to communicate with the proctor or monitor if the SP has any questions or requests.

How it works – Control interface

To enable chat with your exam, once you have logged in to your organization, take the following steps.

1. Click Control in the global navigation bar.
2. Click a room to configure it. Once you have taken this action, you will see the chat icon turn blue. Additionally, you can access chat by clicking the kebab menu (3 dots) next to the room you've selected.
3. Click the blue Chat icon and your chat bar will appear near the bottom of the screen. 
4. Click the chat bar to open the chat window. If you only need to use chat with one room, accessing the chat via the kebab menu will immediately open the chat for that room.
5. Type your message to the Proctor and press Enter to send your message. Note: If you click the X in the chat window, the window will close but the chat will be saved.

How it works - Standardized patient (SP) interface

When the SP logs in, the chat view will look different from the control interface but will function the same. 

To chat with the Admin, the SP clicks Chat with Admin, types their text in the chat window and presses Enter to send. In this example, the chat text will appear on the control interface side in the Exam 3 chat window. 

Should the chat window on the control interface side be minimized, a red circle with the number of chats waiting to be read will be shown. You would then just click the chat bar to open the chat and see all messages. 

FAQs

Q. Can I have more than one chat open at the same time?

A. You can! Should you need to have more than one chat occurring at the same time, just select the configured rooms you want to open the chat in, click the chat icon and that number of chat bars will appear. From that point, just click the bar of the chat room you’d like to work with. 

Be aware that chat windows open in the same order as room selection.

Q. Can I use the kebab menu to open my chat windows?

A. You can! Instead of using the blue chat icon, you can select your room, click the kebab menu, and then select chat to immediately open your chat window. 

Q. Help! I clicked on my page and my chat bars/windows disappeared!

A. Not to worry. If you click on the small horizontal line above your chat bars/windows, your chat will minimize itself, indicated by a blue and white chat icon. Simply click the horizontal bar line to restore your chat. 

Note: If you type text into the chat window, don’t send the text and then minimize the chat window, that text will be lost. 

Q. How can I send multiple lines of text at one time when using chat?

A. To send multiple lines of text in one chat, use Shift+Enter to start a new line. Below is an example of a single line of text and 2 lines of text entered using Shift+Enter.