How Large Assessment Programs Run Thousands of Concurrent Exams Without Adding IT Overhead

Last year, just 0.58% of Integrity Advocate learners required support during their exam. That’s less than one person for every hundred.  

Why is this number significant? In our conversations with clients and prospective customers, a resounding theme is the desire to keep support rates as low as possible. Learners require support for a number of reasons: device compatibility issues; download and installation issues; connectivity issues — each of these things takes time and effort to resolve, and leads to general frustration among participants. 

If you run online exams, qualifications or continuing education programming, ask yourself: what are these issues costing you? We break down some of these ‘hidden costs’ in a separate blog post, but we encourage all organizations to do an audit and really dig into the impact this is having on their bottom line. 

So, this begs the question: what are we doing differently? There isn’t any one answer — in reality, it’s a combination of multiple innovations, as well as an overarching commitment to the learner experience. That being said, here’s a look behind the scenes at the top five secrets to our industry-leading support. 

1. No installation, no plug-ins

Our number one secret to low support is to remove the biggest learner pain point: installation. Integrity Advocate is the only proctor that doesn’t require the learner to download and install an app or browser plug-in. This is particularly helpful in large organizations with device policies that may prohibit the installation of third-party software. Plus, it’s just easier for learners: simply log in, follow the instructions on screen and take their exam.  

2. Mobile device/tablet compatibility

Because Integrity Advocate works without plug-ins, it’s fully compatible with all mobile devices, tablets, Chromebooks and their operating systems. That’s great news for learners on the go; not only does it offer BYOD convenience, it eliminates panicked support calls from learners trying to get up and running on an unfamiliar device. Plus, Integrity Advocate has a low bandwidth protection for seamless operation in areas with poor wifi or mobile connectivity. 

3. No scheduling

Tech troubles aren’t the only frustration learners typically experience with online proctoring. There’s also scheduling. Requiring that participants complete their exam at a specific time negates the benefits of online learning — and creates additional admin hassles and support issues. Fortunately, Integrity Advocate’s services are all available on demand — any time, any place, with less stress for everyone. 

4. Privacy by design

Learners concerned about invasive proctoring systems will be happy to know that Integrity Advocate is built on Privacy by Design principles, which means we only collect the data we need, use it for its required purpose (ie — we don't sell it) and delete it as soon as possible. This leads to fewer support calls, data deletion requests and privacy issues. (As an added bonus, this greatly simplifies compliance with GDPR, CCPA and related legislation.)

5. Simple, easy to understand interface

By now it should be pretty clear that we’ve done a lot of backend work to make Integrity Advocate the easiest-to-use proctoring solution. But what does that look like in practice? Book a demo.

See? Simple. Easy. Secure. Our goal always has and always will be to provide the best service possible to our customers and we take great pride in leading the industry in terms of support rates.

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Professional training doesn't only happen during business hours.

For late-night learners, global teams and high-stakes rollouts, the ability to verify identity, track participation and prove compliance—anytime, anywhere—is essential.

That kind of access sounds simple, but in practice, it’s anything but. According to a report by Imprivata and the Ponemon Institute, just 28% of IT leaders believe their organization can adequately secure mobile devices and access to sensitive data. Meanwhile, productivity losses from downtime on shared devices add up to over 872 hours lost per week, while an average $5.45 million lost annually to missing devices alone.

What’s the takeaway in all this? In mobile-first environments, training infrastructure that can’t scale (or worse, that introduces security or usability roadblocks) quickly becomes a liability. Whether it’s healthcare, retail, or manufacturing, organizations are discovering that flexibility without oversight is just another form of risk. 

This is where scalable proctoring infrastructure becomes indispensable. The right tools ensure the right person completed their assessment, stayed engaged and left behind a clear, auditable record. All without adding friction, requiring installs or generating costly IT overhead.

Built to keep pace with your workforce

When training is essential to doing the job, whether for safety compliance, regulatory credentials or global certifications, systems have to perform under pressure. And in enterprise environments, that pressure isn’t occasional. It’s constant.

Organizations today are rolling out training to workforces that span shifts, regions and roles. That means late-night modules, onboarding from the field and recertifications happening across time zones. When those sessions hit a technical snag, the impact ripples.

• One failed login can delay an entire shift.
• One broken identity check can stall a recertification deadline.
• One missing audit trail can escalate into a compliance liability.

Since many of these programs run on shared devices or in BYOD environments, complexity compounds fast. In mission-critical industries like healthcare and manufacturing, delays don’t just impact productivity, they raise safety risks. In manufacturing, unplanned downtime can cost an average of $260,000 per hour, with equipment failure responsible for nearly 70% of these incidents. These failures can often stem from human error, such as when employees skip steps or misuse machinery due to poor training or rushed onboarding.

That’s where reliable, verifiable training becomes essential. When organizations can prove not just that training was assigned, but that it was completed, understood and monitored, they reduce the likelihood of mistakes that lead to breakdowns. When those assessments are delivered without delay—across shifts, regions, and devices—they help keep production lines moving and compliance risk in check.

When training tools fail to keep pace, it’s not just learners who lose time. It’s the entire system.

What breaks when your training system can’t scale

It’s not always obvious when a platform isn’t built for high volume, then it gets pressure-tested—and the cracks start to show. Here’s what can go wrong when your training infrastructure falls short:

• Help desks get overwhelmed. Minor friction points turn into major support backlogs when hundreds (or thousands) of users run into the same issue at once.
  
• Learners abandon or delay training. If systems are slow, confusing or inconsistent across devices, users will disengage, especially in mobile or after-hours environments.
  
• Compliance teams lose visibility. Without clear, verifiable records of participation and identity, oversight becomes fragmented and audit risk increases.
  
• Delays derail productivity. In critical operations, even short disruptions can stall onboarding, extend downtime or delay recertifications.
  
• Reputation takes a hit. When learners, regulators or partners experience unreliable systems, it reflects on the credibility of your credentials or compliance program.

Consider a medical training provider issuing certifications for frontline healthcare roles. If their assessment platform fails to detect impersonation or AI-generated responses during a critical exam, what’s going to happen? The risk isn’t limited to the individual who cheated. It undermines the perceived value of every credential issued through that system.

So aren’t most assessment security tools built for scalability? Well..many can handle volume on paper. But far fewer are designed to maintain reliability, oversight and integrity when tested in the real world—under pressure, across time zones, and on a range of personal devices.

What real-world scale actually looks like

Picture this: A national safety organization announces a recertification deadline that affects thousands of frontline workers. In a single week, training volume spikes to more than 20 times the usual load.

Learners log in from job sites, personal phones and public Wi-Fi. Some are in rural areas with limited bandwidth. Others are squeezing assessments in between overnight shifts. On top of it all, every single session has to be secure, compliant and verifiable—because the stakes are high, and regulators are watching.

These are the conditions modern training systems need to meet to ensure admin and support teams don’t burn out. And so the integrity of every credential holds up under pressure.

Online proctoring built for the pressure

At Integrity Advocate, scalability isn’t a feature, it’s a standard. Our platform supports organizations where training never stops, learners are always on the move and there’s no room for downtime.

• We've supported rollouts with 20x traffic spikes—without service disruption
• Our support rate remains under 0.58%, even at scale
• We’ve done it all with no installs, no downloads and no added risk

Whether you're certifying workers across shifts, regions or regulatory jurisdictions, we help you deliver training that holds up under pressure—because in compliance-driven environments, it’s not just about training more people. It’s about protecting what that training stands for.

Scaling secure training online takes more than software, it takes a partner you can count on. So count us in.

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You know the moment. You're trying to join a time-sensitive meeting. Or launch something important. The link won’t open. The app wants a permissions update. Your camera’s off, your stress is on, and now you’re refreshing several tabs while watching those three little dots repeat over and over as a support agent finally starts typing back.

In most tech environments, that kind of chaos is expected. In online proctoring, it’s practically baked in. 

At Integrity Advocate, we pride ourselves on support needs under 1%, always. 

We built our platform to eliminate that moment - for learners, administrators, and anyone else touching an assessment. Because whether people are logging in from a job site or their kitchen table, a secure, seamless experience shouldn't come with unnecessary installs or support on speed dial. 

Online proctoring support volume is more than a technical metric

When the stakes are high, the experience matters. Delayed logins, install issues, forgotten passwords or confusing navigation create friction that can add stress and derail performance before the test even begins.

For learners, that anxiety isn't theoretical. According to the 2022 EDUCAUSE Student Technology Report, over three-quarters (77%) of students experienced at least one technology issue in the past academic year, with over half (51%) reporting that these issues caused them stress.

Imagine a construction worker attempting to complete a mandatory safety certification on a job site. Having to download unfamiliar software or navigate a complex user experience, leads to delays and mounting frustration. Each minute spent troubleshooting is a minute not spent ensuring workplace safety.

Support volume—how often users need help—is one of the clearest signals that something's wrong. A tech glitch is frustrating, but it also creates apprehension. When learners don't feel confident in the system, the entire assessment loses credibility.

In all industries, that has a ripple effect. A poor user experience can compromise participation and ultimately undermine the defensibility of any program.

When users aren’t constantly seeking help,

• The experience is working as intended
• Learners aren’t forced to install software on their devices
• Administrators aren’t drowning in tickets

And most importantly, the focus stays where it belongs: on learning, trust and outcomes.

Support design should be intentional

Support volume doesn’t spike because users are doing something wrong—it usually means the system is. Downloads, login issues, permissions prompts and device restrictions may seem small in isolation, but they add up fast when the stakes are high.

If a learner hits a wall during setup, or an admin has to walk every user through the same confusing step, that’s not helping anyone.

At Integrity Advocate, our support rate is just 0.58%—the industry’s lowest. That means fewer than 1 in 200 users ever need to contact us. For us that means support needs under 1%, always. 

Proctoring in the time of ANSI/ASSP Z490.1-2024

Organizations trying to meet testing compliance standards like ANSI/ASSP Z490.1-2024, system stability and defensibility matter more than ever. Regulators are increasingly focused on whether training was actually received and completed.

A pile of support tickets? That signals risk.

According to ANSI/ASSP Z490.1-2024, training programs must be able to demonstrate both delivery and participation. The standard emphasizes learner engagement, accessibility and defensibility, especially in high-risk industries where training directly impacts public and workplace safety. If learners are derailed by preventable technical issues, the integrity of the assessment can quickly unravel.

That’s why system stability shouldn’t just be a technical preference. It’s a compliance necessity.

Online proctoring that gets it right

Proctoring with Integrity Advocate was built to be as invisible as possible in the best way. 

• No installs means there are no permissions or administrative roadblocks.
• Browser-based means nothing to download and no guessing games.
• Integrated into the LMS means learners don’t have to remember a second login or bounce between tabs.
• Compatibility checks run automatically to flag issues before testing begins.
• Built-in accessibility (WCAG 2.1  AA compliant) ensures no one gets stuck due to ability, device, or bandwidth.

We designed out the chaos to help learners reduce test-taking anxiety and stay focused on demonstrating what they know—not wrestling with the testing platform.

When testing works, everyone thrives

Proctoring was designed to protect what the test is meant to measure. When the technology disappears into the background, learners can focus on proving what they know. And when we reduce friction and anxiety, we create space for achievement, fairness and growth.

At Integrity Advocate, we believe assessment should support people. That’s how we protect trust. That’s how we build a better future.

Want online proctoring that puts people first? We’d love to talk.

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