Frequently Asked Customer Questions

• General FAQs
• Onsite Private Seminar FAQs
• Public Seminar FAQs

General FAQs

1. What are your office hours?
   • 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific time Monday-Friday.
2. Is this event hands-on or heads-up?
   • It depends on the event. All of our Cisco and Linux workshops are hands-on. Our security and workplace skills seminars are heads-up, but they are still very interactive for the learners.
3. What is the difference between a "hands-on" and a "heads-up" event?
   • Simple. Hands-on workshops include computers for the students. Heads-up seminars don't, but they do include lots of student interaction and discussion. We can't think of anything more boring than sitting and listening to someone lecture all day, so we don't do that.
4. What is your refund policy?
   • You must be satisfied with the training you receive or, upon request, we will offer you a credit toward another seminar or workshop or we'll refund your enrollment fee or your onsite fee.
5. What's the difference between a "public" seminar or workshop and an "onsite private" seminar or workshop?
   • Again, it's really simple. Public seminars and workshops are available for anyone to register and attend. They are typically held in hotel meeting facilities. Onsite private seminars and workshops are held upon request for one organization at their location and have closed enrollment. Public seminars and workshops are perfect when you have three or fewer learners. Onsite private seminars and workshops start to make sense when you have four or more learners.
6. Who built your website?
   • We built it ourselves using Joomla 1.5.  It's an open source CMS and very cool for building sites.  It requires some technical knowledge, but not a lot.

FAQs for Private Onsite Seminars and Workshops

1. What equipment do we need to provide? And what does soundtraining.net  provide?
   • soundtraining.net provides all of the instructor's equipment including his/her computer(s) and a projector. For router and firewall classes, we provide one router or firewall for each student workstation (we recommend two students per workstation). You are responsible for providing a classroom with a projection screen or a clean white wall, a dry-erase marker board, and student computers for hands-on seminars (we can arrange rentals if you prefer).
2. What are the computer specs needed for the private onsite training?
   • For our public workshops, we generally use P4 laptops with 1GB of RAM. The minimum requirement for onsite workshops varies by seminar, but in general the requirements for student computers (obviously, the more powerful, the better) are:
     • P3, 700 MHz or better
     • 512 MB RAM or better
     • 20 GB hard drive or better
     • Keyboard, mouse, and monitor
     • IMPORTANT FOR CISCO SEMINARS: One working and available DB-9 serial port or USB port (please advise if your computers will NOT include a DB-9 serial port)
     • One working Ethernet port
     • Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, or Windows Vista Business Edition or Ultimate
     • IMPORTANT: The student computers should NOT be connected to your corporate network
3. Are we using our "live" computers hooked into our company's network?
   • Not recommended. See above. During the course of the seminar, you will be using services and protocols that could conflict with your corporate network. It is STRONGLY recommended that your seminar be conducted in an isolated classroom network which we will provide.
4. How do we confirm dates that we want?
   • It's easy. Check date availability with our training coordinator at 206.988.5858. Give us your verbal confirmation, return the signed training agreement with your payment, and the dates are confirmed.
5. What dates are available for a private onsite seminar or workshop?
   • Just give us a call and we'll let you know. We typically schedule three-to-four months in advance, but if you're flexible, dates are often available with shorter notice.
6. For private onsite training, is the training fee all inclusive?
   • Yes. The only additional expense you might incur would be to rent student computers. See #1 above.
7. How do we customize the private onsite training to address our specific needs?
   • Prior to the training, you and your trainer will go over the learning objectives and the course outline to tailor the training to your specific needs.
8. What type of training room set up is required for private onsite training?
   • We try to be very flexible, but in general you'll need the following:
     • A 6ft x 30in banquet-style table for every two students
     • A 6ft x 30in banquet-style table at the front of the room for the instructor
     • A projection screen or a clean white wall
     • A dry erase marker board
     • The room must be secured in the evening between the first and second day for two-day seminars
9. Are the hours flexible for a private onsite seminar or workshop?  We have different work shifts to consider.
   • Absolutely. You're the customer. We want it to work for you.
10. What is the minimum number of students for a private onsite class?
    • There really isn't a minimum. Most people find that it makes financial sense to conduct onsite training with a minimum of four people in the class, but some of our clients will even do it with only two learners. That's really up to you.

FAQs for Public Open-Enrollment Seminars and Workshops

1. Are you going to definitely hold a public seminar that is scheduled?
   • In general, we will hold a public seminar or workshop if two or more students are enrolled. Sometimes we'll even hold it for one person. If it's necessary to cancel due to low enrollment, we will make every attempt to accomodate you in another seminar or workshop. If that doesn't work for you, we will refund your enrollment fee in full.  Our agreements with our hotel partners require us in most cases to give 30 days cancellation notice for meeting room space.  If you know you would like to attend a workshop, please try to enroll at least 30 days prior to ensure that it will be held.
2. What do I need to bring to the seminar or workshop? My laptop, any books?
   • We will provide a laptop for each student workstation. You do not need to bring any books. We provide a student workbook with plenty of room for note-taking.
   • We strongly encourage you to bring a flash drive to save your configurations and download tools from the instructor's computer.
   • We also recommend that you bring a jacket or a sweater, even during warm months. Hotel meeting room temperature can sometimes be difficult to regulate.
3. How do you pick the locations for your seminars and workshops?
   • We consider many factors including ease of access for you, proximity to public transit, free or low-cost parking, proximity to restaurants, and the venue's reputation. If you would like to recommend a location, just give us a call at 206.988.5858 or drop us an email. Our contact info is here.