Update to "Any DSCE's . . ." Uh-Oh!

So, I get a set of instructions from my contact at Dell Education Services
with regard to the enrollment and payment process for the DCSE exams. I
call the 800 number provided and, viola, I am speaking to "Russell" in
India. After a brief few minutes of conversation with "Russell", it is
apparent he does not have a clue what the hell I am talking about. Neither
does his supervisor, "David".

They offer to transfer me to someone in the United States of America. Not
someone in Round Rock, Texas. But someone, somewhere stateside. Ok.

A couple of seconds later, a sweet, southern drawl comes on the line and
introduces herself as Kioshi. I explain what I want to do, quoting the
email of instructions I received. I am placed on hold for a very short
time, really just about a minute, and Kioshi comes back with some bad news.

She has never even heard of the Dell Certified Systems Expert examinations.
Neither has any of the more than 20 people she is working with at Dell
Sales. Yes, no one has heard of the DCSE program sponsored by Dell. I am
asked again to read the instructions I received, provide the name and
department of the person who sent me the instructions, and explain, again,
what the hell I am talking about.

Sigh. I am waiting for my contact, who apologized profusely for the huge
misunderstanding with Dell Sales.

And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I am
informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser windows can
be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It is not known if I
can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the test on my desktop. The
implication is that the test is not "open book" as was previously indicated.

> And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I am
> informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser windows can
> be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It is not known if
> I can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the test on my desktop.
> The implication is that the test is not "open book" as was previously
> indicated.

As I said in my original answer, open the IFR materials in a separate window
BEFORE you start the exam. You can then refer to them as you need to during
the exam. No need for second PC.

I do this everytime it works fine.

B

"Basill" <gospam1@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:Q8OdncvC_620S1janZ2dnUVZ8qClnZ2d@pipex.net...
>> And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I am
>> informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser windows
>> can be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It is not
>> known if I can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the test on my
>> desktop. The implication is that the test is not "open book" as was
>> previously indicated.
>
> As I said in my original answer, open the IFR materials in a separate
> window BEFORE you start the exam. You can then refer to them as you need
> to during the exam. No need for second PC.
>
> I do this everytime it works fine.
>
> B

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

"Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:47c5d7bc$0$10304$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>
> "Basill" <gospam1@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
> news:Q8OdncvC_620S1janZ2dnUVZ8qClnZ2d@pipex.net...
>>> And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I am
>>> informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser windows
>>> can be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It is not
>>> known if I can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the test on my
>>> desktop. The implication is that the test is not "open book" as was
>>> previously indicated.
>>
>> As I said in my original answer, open the IFR materials in a separate
>> window BEFORE you start the exam. You can then refer to them as you need
>> to during the exam. No need for second PC.
>>
>> I do this everytime it works fine.
>>
>> B
>
> Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

Kevin you need to read the answers people gave you to your Original posting.
And the DCSE are definatly open book.thats why they do not have as much
credability as HP or Compaq accreditation or the Compia stuff.

Also just for information IFR means Initial field Readyness in case anyone
else was wandering

"Fixer" <ram.systems@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
newszlxj.5747$St5.5275@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
>
> "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:47c5d7bc$0$10304$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>>
>> "Basill" <gospam1@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>> news:Q8OdncvC_620S1janZ2dnUVZ8qClnZ2d@pipex.net...
>>>> And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I
>>>> am informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser
>>>> windows can be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It
>>>> is not known if I can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the test
>>>> on my desktop. The implication is that the test is not "open book" as
>>>> was previously indicated.
>>>
>>> As I said in my original answer, open the IFR materials in a separate
>>> window BEFORE you start the exam. You can then refer to them as you
>>> need to during the exam. No need for second PC.
>>>
>>> I do this everytime it works fine.
>>>
>>> B
>>
>> Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.
>
> Kevin you need to read the answers people gave you to your Original
> posting. And the DCSE are definatly open book.thats why they do not have
> as much credability as HP or Compaq accreditation or the Compia stuff.
>
> Also just for information IFR means Initial field Readyness in case anyone
> else was wandering

I just received an email from my contact at Dell Education Services and the
tests are not "open book". She flatly states that ANY other browser window
or attempt to log in from another machine will boot you out of the exam.
She was quite clear on this.

"Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:47c5f95c$0$10299$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>
> "Fixer" <ram.systems@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> newszlxj.5747$St5.5275@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
>>
>> "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:47c5d7bc$0$10304$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>>>
>>> "Basill" <gospam1@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>>> news:Q8OdncvC_620S1janZ2dnUVZ8qClnZ2d@pipex.net...
>>>>> And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I
>>>>> am informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser
>>>>> windows can be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It
>>>>> is not known if I can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the
>>>>> test on my desktop. The implication is that the test is not "open
>>>>> book" as was previously indicated.
>>>>
>>>> As I said in my original answer, open the IFR materials in a separate
>>>> window BEFORE you start the exam. You can then refer to them as you
>>>> need to during the exam. No need for second PC.
>>>>
>>>> I do this everytime it works fine.
>>>>
>>>> B
>>>
>>> Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.
>>
>> Kevin you need to read the answers people gave you to your Original
>> posting. And the DCSE are definatly open book.thats why they do not have
>> as much credability as HP or Compaq accreditation or the Compia stuff.
>>
>> Also just for information IFR means Initial field Readyness in case
>> anyone else was wandering
>
> I just received an email from my contact at Dell Education Services and
> the tests are not "open book". She flatly states that ANY other browser
> window or attempt to log in from another machine will boot you out of the
> exam. She was quite clear on this.

Worry not, any new windows you open before the exam starts stay open and do
not affect the certification. Just try it, use one of the practice tests if
you dont believe me. This applies for all the desktop and laptop certs.
What level are you doing?
The ESF2 ones really are closed book, we have to go to a Prometric centre
for those. I cant offer any advice apart from study for those.
B

"Basill" <gospam1@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:wO-dnaeVcZrYLFXanZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@pipex.net...
>
> "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:47c5f95c$0$10299$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>>
>> "Fixer" <ram.systems@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> newszlxj.5747$St5.5275@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
>>>
>>> "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:47c5d7bc$0$10304$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>>>>
>>>> "Basill" <gospam1@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:Q8OdncvC_620S1janZ2dnUVZ8qClnZ2d@pipex.net...
>>>>>> And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I
>>>>>> am informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser
>>>>>> windows can be opened other than the one the test is displayed in.
>>>>>> It is not known if I can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the
>>>>>> test on my desktop. The implication is that the test is not "open
>>>>>> book" as was previously indicated.
>>>>>
>>>>> As I said in my original answer, open the IFR materials in a separate
>>>>> window BEFORE you start the exam. You can then refer to them as you
>>>>> need to during the exam. No need for second PC.
>>>>>
>>>>> I do this everytime it works fine.
>>>>>
>>>>> B
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.
>>>
>>> Kevin you need to read the answers people gave you to your Original
>>> posting. And the DCSE are definatly open book.thats why they do not have
>>> as much credability as HP or Compaq accreditation or the Compia stuff.
>>>
>>> Also just for information IFR means Initial field Readyness in case
>>> anyone else was wandering
>>
>> I just received an email from my contact at Dell Education Services and
>> the tests are not "open book". She flatly states that ANY other browser
>> window or attempt to log in from another machine will boot you out of the
>> exam. She was quite clear on this.
>
> Worry not, any new windows you open before the exam starts stay open and
> do not affect the certification. Just try it, use one of the practice
> tests if you dont believe me. This applies for all the desktop and laptop
> certs.
> What level are you doing?
> The ESF2 ones really are closed book, we have to go to a Prometric centre
> for those. I cant offer any advice apart from study for those.
> B

Thank you again for the very helpful information! I'm looking at the DCSE
exams for Desktop, Portables and Servers. This is a basic certification. I
must pass all three modules to get the DCSE certification. I got another
email from my contact, Cindy, at Dell Education Services, about the exams.
Again, she insists, very strongly, that the only browser window that can be
open is the one that displays the actual exam. She also emphasized that you
can not sign in to the DCSE website twice, having two instances of the login
page open. She seemed quite upset about the information she has checked out
on this newsgroup and is reviewing their (Dell's) online examination
process.

But, this may all be a moot point as I have still not heard from a Dell
Sales Representative. It seems there is some issue as to just which
department at Dell is supposed to be selling these exams. With this being
the case, I have to wonder just how many of these exams are being taken on a
daily basis. Do you have any guess as to how many DCSE certified techs are
working out there?

DCSE's? Ptooey! You need a service manual, some patience, a good visual
sense of how things come apart (and go back together), and a couple of
screwdrivers. Spare parts help, too... Ben Myers

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:16:21 -0800, "Kevin" <webman6@hotmail.com> wrote:

>So, I get a set of instructions from my contact at Dell Education Services
>with regard to the enrollment and payment process for the DCSE exams. I
>call the 800 number provided and, viola, I am speaking to "Russell" in
>India. After a brief few minutes of conversation with "Russell", it is
>apparent he does not have a clue what the hell I am talking about. Neither
>does his supervisor, "David".
>
>They offer to transfer me to someone in the United States of America. Not
>someone in Round Rock, Texas. But someone, somewhere stateside. Ok.
>
>A couple of seconds later, a sweet, southern drawl comes on the line and
>introduces herself as Kioshi. I explain what I want to do, quoting the
>email of instructions I received. I am placed on hold for a very short
>time, really just about a minute, and Kioshi comes back with some bad news.
>
>She has never even heard of the Dell Certified Systems Expert examinations.
>Neither has any of the more than 20 people she is working with at Dell
>Sales. Yes, no one has heard of the DCSE program sponsored by Dell. I am
>asked again to read the instructions I received, provide the name and
>department of the person who sent me the instructions, and explain, again,
>what the hell I am talking about.
>
>Sigh. I am waiting for my contact, who apologized profusely for the huge
>misunderstanding with Dell Sales.
>
>And, on a technical note to those that replied to my original post, I am
>informed that during the taking of the actual exam, no browser windows can
>be opened other than the one the test is displayed in. It is not known if I
>can simply sign in on my laptop while taking the test on my desktop. The
>implication is that the test is not "open book" as was previously indicated.