Technical Support

Most modern computers are able to stream our webinars, however, there are specific Operating Systems and Device System Requirements to view our webinars. 

Hardware Minimum Recommendations:

 

• 2.3 Ghz, dual core
• 4GB RAM
• 1600x900 screen resolution

Operating System Recommendations:

• Windows 10
• Apple Mac OS X 10.14 or higher
• iOS 10+
• Android 4.3 +

Browser Recommendations:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge are not recommended for viewing our webinars, these browsers experience increased issues while viewing.

Please note the latest version of the browser must be installed. To update your browser version, click the browser menu, access the “about” section of the browser, and check for updates to install.

 

• Cookies and JavaScript For Attendees:

In order to access the event, your computer must have cookies and JavaScript enabled. If your operating system currently does not have cookies or JavaScript enabled, contact your network administrator or reference the help links located on the registration page.

* - Support for Windows 7 devices was discontinued in January 2020. Please see "Why am I being told Windows 7 is no longer supported?" for further information.

Note: Attendees may be able to view webinars on older systems, however, attendees do so at their own risk. Viewing webinars on incompatible systems may cause unexpected results. We will not be able to provide technical support for incompatible systems.

DISCLAIMER:  SurgentCPE’s Viewing Recommendations are intended to serve solely as suggestions based off user data collection concerning live streaming success and product testing by our Surgent’s webinar developers and technicians. Due to the constantly changing nature of this technology and variables that are outside of Surgent’s control, these Viewing Recommendations do not guarantee that you will not experience technical difficulties while streaming your future webinars with Surgent. This information should be supplemented with individual testing and proper maintenance of your streaming device. 

Please see below for our viewing recommendations:
Both iOS and Android mobile devices should be able to view our webinars. Other devices, such as Kindles and Microsoft tablets, are not compatible at this time.

Apple devices should be running iOS 10 or later and Android devices should be running Android 4.3 or higher, please contact an IT professional to confirm you mobile device will be able to view our webinars with minimal difficulties.

Note: Attendees may be able to view webinars on older systems, however, attendees do so at their own risk. Viewing webinars on incompatible systems may cause unexpected results. We will not be able to provide technical support for incompatible systems.

Disclaimer: SurgentCPE’s Viewing Recommendations are intended to serve solely as suggestions based off user data collection concerning live streaming success and product testing by our Surgent’s webinar developers and technicians. Due to the constantly changing nature of this technology and variables that are outside of Surgent’s control, these Viewing Recommendations do not guarantee that you will not experience technical difficulties while streaming your future webinars with Surgent. This information should be supplemented with individual testing and proper maintenance of your streaming device. 

At this time, we do not support the functionality to download webinars or self-study webcasts for offline viewing. 

To start the test and access downloadable tech support documents, click here: https://onlinexperiences.com/Launch/Event/ShowKey=54117.

As of January 1st, 2020, we officially support Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox to view our webinars. We have discontinued our support of Internet Explorer and Legacy Edge.

Send questions to the Presenter, or to Tech Support, using the Question & Answer pane. In the lower right corner, type your question and click “Submit.” A Surgent Admin will review every question submitted, determining if it is designated for the presenter or for Tech Support.  The presenter will answer as many questions as possible during the webinar.

Disclaimer:  The webinars offered by Surgent are intended to serve solely as an aid in continuing professional education. Due to the constantly changing nature of the subject of the materials, this webinar product is not appropriate to serve as the sole resource for any accounting opinion or return position, and must be supplemented for such purposes with other current authoritative materials. The information in the course manual and the slides have been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. In addition, Surgent’s authors and instructors are not to be engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services and will not be held liable for any actions or suits based on these slides or comments made during any presentation, and have the right to decline answering questions that are outside the scope of the webinar materials. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, seek the services of a competent professional. 

In simple terms, it means three things:

• No Technical Support
• No Software Updates
• No Security Updates

In order to provide the best user experience for our customers we need to always be looking ahead and sometimes that means we have to say "No" when asked if a certain device can be used for our products. Customers can expect that certain devices and software will not be supported or will reach end of support. Because these devices and software are unable to utilize our products, we are unable to provide technical support if you experience technical issues. Future releases will not be tested to ensure that new features work on older devices and software.

We recommend switching to a supported device and/or software in order to view our webinars if you are experiencing technical issues.

As of January of 2020, Microsoft discontinued their technical support for Windows 7 and recommends that customers upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10. In order to better be able to assist you when technical issues arise, we have also discontinued support for Windows 7, as of January 1st, 2020. If you experience a technical issue regarding your webinar or self-study webcast, we will no longer be able to offer assistance on a Windows 7 device. Customers may still be able to access webinars and self-study webcasts using Windows 7 at their own risk. Surgent will not be held liable for any security risks or implications.

Customers are advised to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 in order to continue receiving critical security updates from Microsoft. If you have any questions or concerns please get in touch with your IT specialist to make a plan to upgrade. Please also take a look at Microsoft FAQ page regarding the ending of support for Windows 7.

Microsoft - Windows 7 Support Ending

In order to provide our attendees with quicker and more effective solutions when technical issues arise, we have discontinued support for the browsers Internet Explorer and Legacy Edge, effective as of January 1st, 2020. Attendees are encouraged to use the latest versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox in order to continue viewing webinars with minimal disruption.

If you experience a technical issue while streaming a live webinar, Technical Support will not be able to offer assistance in troubleshooting unsupported browsers, and will encourage you to try a supported browser instead. Attendees may still be able to access Live Webinars and Self-Study On-demand Webcasts using Internet Explorer and Legacy Edge, however, attendees will be doing so at their own risk. Surgent will not be held liable for any security risks or implications that arise from using an unsupported browser.

Here are some options that should help you reconnect to the webinar audio:

1. Confirm that your speakers are still working by playing something else with sound on the computer, or by playing a video with sound on another website. In your webinar, click the "wrench" Widget at the bottom of the screen to open the "Webinar Helper" tool. You can click on our "Audio Internal" test to test your speakers.
2. Reload the webinar room. Click the refresh icon near the top of the browser window, click F5 on your keyboard (Windows) or CTRL + R (Mac), or click the “wrench” icon near the bottom of the webinar screen to open the "Webinar Helper" tool.
3. Try switching browsers. We recommend using Chrome or Firefox for the best viewing experience.
4. Check your internet speed. You may have lost audio due to low bandwidth. Try a stronger connection, or getting closer to your wireless router. We recommend using an Ethernet cable for a fast and reliable internet connection.

This is generally a sign of audio lag on your computer, most likely caused by a brief interruption in your connection.  Try refreshing the webinar room by clicking the refresh icon near the top of the browser window, click F5 on your keyboard (Windows) or CTRL + R (Mac), or click the “wrench” icon near the bottom of the webinar screen to open the Webinar Helper tool.

We do not offer a call in number for our webinars. All webinars are run entirely through your browser. Attendees should make sure that they are using a computer that is capable of both audio and video.

Here are some options that should help you improve the webinar video feed:

1. Try refreshing the webinar room by clicking the refresh icon near the top of the browser window, click F5 on your keyboard (Windows) or CTRL + R (Mac), or click the “wrench” icon near the bottom of the webinar screen to open the Webinar Helper tool.
2. Decrease the video streaming quality. Roll your mouse over the live video feed box of the webinar instructor, and click on the gear icon that appears. Select a lower quality setting (smaller number) to stream the webinar, or disable to video completely for yourself (this will not disable to audio).
3. Load the webinar in a new browser (Firefox or Chrome work best for our webinars).
4. Check your internet speeds. The webinar platform is integrated with technology that analyzes your internet connection and overall strength of your connection to the webinar. For users with low bandwidth, the video will automatically be disabled, and only audio and the slides will display on the screen. For those with limited bandwidth, but strong enough to stream video, the video quality will automatically decrease to a lower resolution and bitrate. Test your speed at Speedtest.net

First, confirm that the video feed is supposed to be visible to attendees. Some webinars are audio only!

Next, check your internet connection. The webinar platform is integrated with technology that analyzes your internet connection and overall strength of your connection to the webinar. For users with low bandwidth, the video will automatically be disabled, and only audio and the slides will display on the screen. For those with limited bandwidth, but strong enough to stream video, the video quality will automatically decrease to a lower resolution and bitrate. Test your speed at www.speedtest.net.

Finally, try clearing your browser cache and cookies, then close and re-open the browser. This will help clear out unnecessary data being stored within the browser, which could be slowing your computer down and interrupting your stream. Click here to see step-by-step instructions for clearing browser data: https://presentations.akamaized.net/ProductResources/Production/HTML/CacheClearing/CacheClearing.html

Buffering video can be caused by many factors such as slower internet speeds or an outdated browser plugin. There are a couple options that can be taken to resolve buffering while viewing the webinar.

 

1. Attendees can decrease the bit rate at which the webinar is streamed by hovering their mouse over the video feed and clicking on the gear icon in the bottom right hand corner of the feed. Select the smallest available option (ex: 150kbps) and the streaming experience should improve.^{1 2}
2. Try using a different browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Attendees have reported increased issues with buffering while using Internet Explorer and Legacy Edge.
3. Consider environmental factors such as how many users in the office are streaming video or other internet heavy applications and take that into account when viewing the webinar. Attendees may experience buffering if multiple individuals on the same network are using the internet at the same time.

 

^{1 - This option only available to attendees while viewing on desktop
2 - Refreshing the webpage will cause this to reset, if you refresh the webpage you will need to re-apply this setting.}

Attendees must click on presence checks that appear randomly throughout the webinar. These presence checks will take over the entire screen until you either click it away or miss the check. Attendees must click on 75% of the presence checks in order to receive full credit and 50% in order to receive half credit.

Attendees must click on 75% of the presence checks to receive full credit. If you miss the 75% mark then you will be given half credit when our system generates your certificate.

Attendees who feel that the credit displayed on their certificate does not reflect their actual attendance may send an email to info@surgent.com with the following information:

• Name
• Registration number
• Webinar
• Date and time
• Why the credit does not reflect your actual attendance
• Other information you feel may be relevant.

Attendees do not need microphones or cameras. All attendee communication will take place through the chat box in the webinar room. You may use the chat window to send a message out to the Presenter, Surgent Admins, and Tech Support. There is no means of communication to other attendees.

Due to a technical limitation with mobile devices there are no audible chimes accompanying the presence checks on mobile devices. Customers are encouraged to keep the webinar open in their line of sight to ensure that they are able to click on the presence checks as they appear. 

Your webinar is accessible via your Surgent account. Visit www.SurgentCPE.com, click “Login” at the top right portion of the screen and enter your username and password. If you do not remember your password, press the "Forgot?" button to receive a password reset email.

Once logged in, the page will refresh to display your account menu on the left side. Your webinar is located under the “My Webinar Registrations” tab.

The webinar will be accessible 20 minutes before the start time.

If you are experiencing an "Invalid Login Ticket" message please call us at 1-800-778-7436 or email us at info@surgent.com so that we may properly diagnose the issue.

Go to www.surgentcpe.com, click “Login” at the top right portion of the screen and enter your username and password. This will take you to Surgent's MyPortal, then click on "My Webinar Registrations" and click on "Enter Webinar" next to your registration.

If you continue having trouble staying connected to the webinar, please contact us at 1-800-778-7436.

If you see a plain white, grey, or blue screen, the most likely cause is a firewall preventing you from accessing the webinar. Please contact an IT professional for assistance with changing your firewall settings.

Customers using Chromebooks may also experience this issue. Unfortunately Chromebooks are not supported, we recommend you switch to a different device that is supported.

Additionally, if the webinar is loading slowly it is possible that your internet connection may be experiencing trouble trying to stream the webinar.

Due to privacy and security issues across different companies and professions we do not support viewing our webinars or self-study webcasts using a remote desktop or VPN (Virtual Private Network). Attendees viewing the webinar using a VPN or remote desktop may experience sporadic technical difficulties which negatively affect your webinar viewing experience. 

Please plan on viewing the webinar locally on your device instead of through a remote desktop or VPN.

No, there is not a mobile app. Attendees are able to join the webinar directly from their mobile device or computer using a web browser.