How to access the control interface

As a System Administrator, you can grant access permissions for the Control Interface by clicking the gear icon to enter your organization's System setup area.

Next, follow these steps:

1. Scroll to the Exams section.
2. Click on Permissions.
3. Click Edit and search for the user to add them as an Administrator in the Access Control Interface area.
4. Click Save.

You will also determine whether learners need a password to log into exams. Once permissions are saved, Administrator users in this area can configure and manage exams.

Layout buttons

At the top of the Control Interface screen, you will find the following buttons:

1. Floorplan Only – Selecting the Floorplan Only button shows a grid set up of rooms. 
2. Vertical Split – Clicking the Vertical Split button displays the floorplan on the left and a list of the rooms on the right. 
3. Horizontal Split – Clicking the Horizontal Split button displays the floorplan at the top of the screen, with a list of the rooms at the bottom. 
4. List Only – Clicking the List Only button displays only the list of rooms.

Lock symbol

A lock symbol appears when a room is started through an ad-hoc or scheduled session and is in use. This indicates that the room is locked in the exam system and cannot be interacted with.

How to use the control interface

To start using the Control Interface, log in as an Administrative User and click Control in the global navigation bar. This will open the main screen of the Control Interface, allowing you to configure the room as desired.

Configuring a room

1. Click the kebab menu (3 dots) to the right of the room name that you will work in. This opens a form for setting up the room. 
2. Click Configure room. 
3. Fill out the form which contains the following options, and click Save. Click Save and next if you want to configure additional rooms.

• Course – A field for selecting the scenario's associated course. This should be used whenever a scenario is linked to a course.
• Scenario - A list of available scenarios that include an exam flow. If a course is selected, the list is filtered to show only scenarios related to that course.
• Patient - A standardized patient is required. If none are configured for the selected scenario, you can click Click here to configure this scenario to set up a Standardized Patient.
• Color - An optional field for filtering sets of rooms visible in the Control Interface. Colors can be customized according to your facility’s preferences, often matching the case or scenario being run in the room.

You can also customize the visible columns in the Control Interface by clicking the gear icon and selecting from the dropdown list. These preferences will be saved even if the user logs out.

Room without a configured SP 

Room with configured SP 

Note: If the Skip Configured Rooms option is checked, clicking Save and next will move you to the next non-configured room.

Running an exam session

Once a room is configured, an administrator must initiate the exam session by clicking Start Encounter. From that moment, the exam is primarily managed by the student and the standardized patient (SP) following the exam flow established by the administrator.

When the encounter starts, the small gray circle icon turns red to indicate that the room is recording. The room will display one of three colors:

• Blue – Indicates the room is in the Pre-Encounter state.
• Red – Indicates the room is in the Encounter phase.
• Purple – Indicates the room is in the post-Encounter state.

While the exam session is in progress, administrators can click the video camera icon to access the Monitor Interface. This allows them to watch sessions in real-time, annotate, and conduct live evaluations.

Monitor interfaces do not require dedicated workstations and can be accessed from anywhere within the SimCapture Central network. In contrast, learner and standardized patient (SP) workstations are dedicated computers used exclusively during an exam flow session.

Troubleshooting

For help with troubleshooting, see SimCapture Enterprise with Exam System: Control interface troubleshooting.