Training Passes

Training Passes are a great way to offer learners unlimited access to a selection of your course catalog for a pre-determined access period. Deepen relationships with your learners, build engagement with your catalogue, and unlock new potential revenue streams by setting learners free to select from a suite of content with one simple mode of access.

Creating a Training Pass

Training passes are created and managed in the Control Panel. In order to begin offering Training Passes to your learners, you must first create at least one Pass.

Creating a Training Pass Type 

1. Navigate to the Control Panel by clicking on the cog icon on the top right of the TMS menu bar.
2. Scroll to the Training Passes option under the Financial header, or enter ‘Passes’  into the search bar on the top right of the screen to filter the options.
3. Click into the Training Passes option which will direct you to the Training Pass Types page, where you’ll see the display of all your active, draft, and archived pass types.
4. In order to create your first Training Pass Type, or to create an additional Type in the future, click the ‘Create Training Pass Type’ button. 
5. Enter a Name, Code, and Description for the Pass. The Name you enter will be shown to users once it is activated, while the Code is a shorter designation for internal admin use within the platform. Description is an optional field to capture details about the nature of the pass and the types of courses and learning paths it will contain.
6. Select OK when finished, and you’ll be directed to the Details screen for your new Training Pass Type. Here you can create and manage Training Pass Options, associate events and learning paths from your course catalog, and publish or archive the Pass Type.
7. In order to Publish the Training Pass Type, you will need to create and publish at least one Training Pass Option, the process for which is described below. Once at least one Option is Published, you can select the Publish option for the Pass Type on the top right of the details screen.

 

Creating a Training Pass Option 

A Training Pass Option is used when assigning a pass type with a set length of access time and price to a contact. For example, a Training Pass Option that you select to be Annual with a valid period of 12 months will automatically set the expiration date one year from the day you assign that Training Pass Option to a learner’s Contact. You can use the following steps to create a Training Pass Option for your new or existing Pass Types.

Establishing an Annual Pass Option in the Training Pass details screen

1. Navigate to the Training Passes feature in the settings screen and then click into a specific Training Pass Type. 
2. Here on the Training Pass details screen, you will see a table containing all current Training Pass Options, as well as a button labelled ‘Create Pass Option’.
3. Click this button and you will be prompted to enter a Name for the option, as well as a Period of either Days or Months. As in our example, an annual or monthly pass are some likely options, but you have control over exactly what length of pass time makes the most sense for your operation and your learners. 
4. Once you click OK, the Pass Type will be created and displayed in the table at the top of the Training Pass Type screen. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary to reflect the wealth of training pass options you plan to make available to your learners. 
5. Now that the Option has been created, it will need at least one Price in order to be published. Click into the ellipsis button on the Option in the table and select the 'Add Price' option.
6. Select a Region in which the pass will be offered, a Pricing Method between Training Tokens and Currency, the Currency for the Option among those utilized on your instance, and an Amount to be charged to learners as a price for the Pass Option.
7. With at least one valid Price associated with the Option, select the Publish entry on the ellipsis menu and the status for the Option will update accordingly.

Adding Courses and Learning Paths to Your Training Pass

In order to offer a Training Pass, you will need to designate which items from your course catalogue should be included, which will then be offered to learners with pass access and distinguished in the course catalogue for all learners reviewing their options among your training content.

Adding content to a Training Pass by filtering the Catalog

1. Navigate to the Training Pass option in the Settings Screen, and then select the Training Pass Type to which you would like to add a catalogue item.
2. Once on the Training Pass Detail screen, where we previously created a Training Pass Option, there is a section called Training. Here you can search among all the catalog items that are included in the Pass, but first let’s add our first item to the Pass. Click the Add Training button.
3. Use the Search bar to locate the specific catalog items to include in this Training Pass Type. The search functionality supports a free text option to look for all catalogue items that contain a given word or phrase, such as Introduction. You can also filter your catalogue by Category that you set during the creation of the course template for a given training. Type enables you to distinguish between multiple training types such as course or learning path, and we even enable you to search for catalogue content that’s already assigned to another Training Pass. All of these search items can be used in concert to hone in to the specific training you seek to add.
4. Once you have identified an event or learning path from the catalog to add to the pass, simply click the checkbox to the left of its entry in the Training table and then click the ‘Add Training’ option in the bottom right of the dialog window.
5. Once you add the trainings you prefer to the Pass, you can return at any point to add or remove items as the needs of your operation change over time. You may even elect to add multiple catalog items in bulk by selecting all the checkboxes together and selecting the ‘Add Training’ option as we did for an individual event.

Assigning a Training Pass to a Contact

Now that you have a Training Pass Type with Options and included trainings, you’re ready to assign a pass to a contact and grant that learner access to the wealth of content on offer.

Adding an Annual Pass to a specific Contact

1. Search for a contact in the TMS by clicking the magnifying glass icon in the right of the main menu at the top of the screen and entering their name or email address.
2. Navigate to the given user’s contact, where you will see a new section titled Training Passes. This table will list all of the training passes associated with this contact, including some key details which will update as soon as a pass is added.
3. Click the button labelled ‘Add Training Pass’ and you will be prompted to make three selections.
4. First, select a Training Pass from all of your active Types, which you can search among by typing a few letters of the name in the field. 
5. Then select a Training Pass Option. These Options are the pre-selected time periods of access for your learner created in a previous step on the Training Pass details screen.
6. Once you select a Training Pass option, the Training Pass Expiry date will automatically update to the specified period based on the current date. You can manually override the Training Pass Expiry by entering a date using the calendar picker, which gives you total control over when any specific pass should expire.
7. The contact now has access to all of the content included with the Training Pass until the expiry date.

Assigning a Training Pass on an Opportunity

Training Passes, in addition to being assigned manually, can be assigned through an Interest on an Opportunity. This process is much the same as working through any Opportunity, but now flows through information about the Training Pass Types and Training Pass Options you've previously entered. Once you click the Add Interest button, you will see Training Passes as a new option.

Training Passes as an Interest option on an Opportunity

Once you select Training Passes as an Interest, a window will appear asking for details about the Pass Type to process, as well as the Option, Price, and Quantity, along with a Tax level. Once you've entered the correct selections, you can add the Interest and proceed with the Opportunity normally.

Entering details about a Training Pass Interest on and Opportunity

Managing Training Passes on Contacts

Now that a learner has access to your training pass, you will have additional management options for that pass listed on their Contact page. Should you ever need to change the expiration date of their pass by Renewing or Extending it, or should the need arise to Cancel access, these options will be available for each individual training pass to which the user has access. 

Training Pass management options on the Contact page

1. Navigate to the specific contact by searching for them using the global search in the top right of the main menu of the TMS, indicated by a magnifying glass icon.
2. Enter their name or email address, hit enter, and review the returned contacts to ensure the correct learner is displayed. Click into the learner’s Contact and from there you will see the Training Passes table halfway down the page.
3. The Training Passes table lists the training passes that have been assigned to the user, as well as some additional details. 
1. Status displays the current state of the learners access: Active means the learner has access to the pass and its contents, Expired means the expiration date has passed and the learner can no longer access the contents, while Cancelled means the pass has been manually cancelled through this screen 
2. Pass Type displays the training pass type to which the learner has access 
3. Start Date and Expiry Date display the start and end dates of the access
4. External IDs and the Opportunity list opportunities and fields with which the passes were associated
4. Passes can be managed in three primary ways, by being Extended, Renewed, or Cancelled, all accessible by first clicking the ellipsis control on the right side of the entry in the table.
1. Renew a pass by clicking the ‘Renew Training Pass’ option which will then prompt you to select an Option or manually enter a new expiry date. Note that Renewing passes can be used as a communication trigger to generate communications to users, as opposed to Extending the pass expiration.
2. Extend the pass to manually select an expiration date without the need to select a Pass Option or consider any communications that will be automatically sent with  Triggers. A window will display, where you can select a new expiry date with a calendar picker labelled ‘New Expiry Date’
3. Cancel a pass by selecting the ‘Cancel Training Pass’ option. A confirmation window will appear asking you to confirm this decision. Cancelling a pass will immediately revoke a contact’s access to the course materials associated with the pass. This will affect their course progress and completion, so carefully consider your options for shortening the expiry period or communicating with the contact based on the circumstances that led to the cancellation. In order to grant access again, a new pass will need to be assigned as Cancelled passes cannot be made valid again.
5. On each pass there is also the option to ‘View Assignment History’ to keep track of any changes to the expiry date or assignment since the pass was originally associated with a contact.
6. Finally, there is an option to directly link to the Training Pass details screen for the Training Pass Type in the case you should like to review the details on the Training Pass Type itself.

Reassigning Training Passes Between Contacts

Training Passes can be reassigned from one contact to another to give you and your team the flexibility needed to serve your learners interests in accordance with your policies. In order to reassign a pass, simply access the Account page with which the contact is associated and use the Training Passes Tab as explained below.

Managing and reassigning Training Passes on an Account

1. Navigate to the Account associated with the Contact's training pass you'd like to reassign by either searching for it directly or searching for the contact and clicking the Account link from their Contact page.
2. Select the Training Passes tab on the top menu of the Account page.
3. The Training Passes tab displays a table listing all the training passes associated with the Account and their details, like the Start and Expiry Date and the Contact to which they're assigned.
4. Located the training pass you'd like to reassign in the table by searching the Training Pass Tab with the filter options at the top of the page. You can filter the Training Passes Table by Status, Pass Type, Active Between dates, and the associated pass.
5. Once you've located the specific pass and contact, simply click the ellipsis control to display the pass management options, and select Edit Assignment.
6. A window will appear displaying the currently assigned Contact on the Pass, where you can also select a new Contact to associate with the pass. Select the new Contact, and click Save.
7. Reassigned passes will reflect the change in their Assignment History accessible from this Account page or on the Contact page should you ever need to review the past changes in pass assignment.

Note: The Training Pass expiry is calculated from the moment it was initially added to the Account and not from when it is assigned to a Contact within an Account.

How Training Passes Affect Your Catalog and LMS

The Training Passes feature includes some changes to the course catalog that your users will begin to see once you have an active Training Pass Type. 

Training Pass filter options in the Course Catalog

On the catalog itself, there is a new filter functionality that enables learners to hone in on the specific catalog items and training is available to them as part of a given Training Pass Type. By clicking the Training Pass option on the top right of the catalog, the learner will see the list of all active Training Pass Types available to them. Clicking a specific pass will filter the catalog, only displaying the trainings that are included in the pass.

Indication in the Catalog that an item is included in a Training Pass

On the individual events and paths themselves, we also display a clear indication that a catalog item is included in a pass to which the learner does or does not, presently, have access. Catalog items included in a pass assigned to their account display a green ‘Pass’ icon, while catalog items included in passes to which they’re not assigned display a yellow ‘Pass’ icon. Mousing over these icons gives the learner additional information about how to access them as part of a pass.

The Training Pass display on the profile page in the LMS

Another important change to the learner's experience on passes is the addition of the Training Passes option to their Profile. By selecting 'My Profile' on their account in the upper right of the LMS view, learners will be able to see a new Training Pass option that contains a table with details about their active passes, when they were assigned, and when they expire so they can keep track of their access.

Learners will continue to have access to LMS content for as long as they have the Training Pass active for it even if the LMS content expiry is passed.

These changes to the course catalog and LMS ensure that learners can quickly and easily locate the content included in their pass; it also makes it clear to prospective pass holders the benefits of contacting your team about accessing their own training pass.

 

Booking and Registration with Training Passes

Training Passes introduce changes in functionality to the learner’s experience in the course catalog, including the registration and booking process, as well. When a learner registers for a course included in a training pass, they will be directed through the following flow.

Changes to Learning Path registration included in a Learning Pass

1. When a learner has identified a catalog item they’d like to register for by filtering the catalog and following the visual queues of the Pass icons, they can simply click into the catalog item as usual.
2. Once they’ve navigated to the catalog item’s page, they’ll see the Description, Objectives, and all other elements from the Course Template as normal.
3. When they go to pay for their registration and begin the process of checkout and payment, they’ll see a new option: the Register button is replaced with an Access Now button.
4. They can then complete their booking process without any payment being required and gain access to the training content on the normal schedule and access method.

Note: Point of Sale fields are not supported with Training Passes. This means, if you've set up additional Learner custom fields to be provided, learners will not be prompted to enter them. Learners can continue to provide this information by going to their profile page and updating their relevant information.

 

Training Passes and Communications Triggers

Training Passes offer a great deal of value to your learners, whom you’ll definitely want to keep in the loop on important events such as when passes are created and a warning about a future expiration date. This is why we’ve integrated learning passes as targets into our existing Communication Triggers feature.

Creating a Communication Trigger for Training Pass Expiration

1. In order to send out scheduled and automated email communications to learners concerning their passes, first navigate to the Settings page and search for Triggers. 
2. Once on the Communication Triggers page, click the option to Add at the top right of the table of all existing triggers. 
3. In order to set a trigger for Training Passes, enter the normal details you would for other triggers, like the name, a useful abbreviation, the template to be used, the address from which to send it, and decisions about automation and disabling.
4. On the Target option, click to select Training Pass which will then display additional prompts relating to important Training Pass events. 
5. Clicking into the Trigger field, you can select instances where Training Passes will be Issued, Renewed, Cancelled, and eventually Expired.
6. Once you’ve selected an option, you can specify a certain training pass type for communication; for instance, you may want to warn users of an expiration in the future, but on an annual pass that could be sent 30 days before while on a monthly pass, 7 days before expiration.
7. The Offset field allows you to indicate the number of days before or after an event to reach out to the Audience that you select. This combination of Triggers and Offsets with the powerful Communication Triggers function will ensure you have the tools necessary to keep your learners informed and engaged with their passes and your operation.

Students Cancelling from LMS Events

Student can now cancel from LMS events which they have registered on through their Training Pass. 

Note: this flow only applies to LMS Events. If you are interested in students being able to cancel from Classroom or Blended events, please reach out to our support team as we'd love to discuss this possibility further.