Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to the questions most frequently asked by visitors.
If you have a question that we haven't addressed, please contact
us toll free at (800) 211-6967, or (949) 585-1500. Or, email .
We'll respond usually on the same day; always by the next business
day.
Creating Surveys
How long does it take to get a survey online?
Your survey can be created and launched as quickly as within
a few minutes.
Using our step-by-step, form-based application, you can quickly
enter your questions and answer options, choose your layout preferences,
and configure your survey with your logo, images and instructions.
Preview your survey in test mode, then activate your survey instantly
or schedule it for later activation. Post an open link to your
survey on your web site or Intranet, or upload your respondent
list or panel and send personalized email invitations.
You have ultimate control over your survey project; there is
no need to wait for anyone. You can do-it-yourself with grace
and simplicity, or ask our team of experts for help with any aspect
of your project. If you hire us to do some of the work for you,
we'll setup your survey, design your questionnaire and deliver
it to you for your online review within 3 business days for most
surveys. If you're in a bind, we'll save the day.
How do I invite people to take my survey?
When your survey is ready to launch, you can post an inviting
link or banner on your web site or Intranet. This method is typically
used when your survey is open to general visitors, employees,
or the public, especially when the respondent list or panel is
not known in advance (as in a consumer opinion poll, visitor feedback
questionnaire, or product registration).
When your respondent list or panel is known, you can use our
automated email invitation feature and distribute a personalized
invitation to hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of recipients
with just one click.
Alternatives to email invitations include branching from another
software application (such as a registration, e-commerce or customer
service system or process), posting your survey URL in a newsletter,
printing your survey URL on a postcard, brochure, letter, or any
other printed material for distribution, printing the survey URL
on a product registration card or within the product itself, or
presenting your survey at a kiosk or on-site computer.
Can I test my survey prior to making it active?
Yes. At any time during the design process you can preview and
test your survey. Use this feature to check for content, style,
usability, and the proper working of various navigation controls,
data constraints, required fields, user messages and optional
links to supporting material, artwork, or multimedia.
How many questions can I include per survey?
As many as you need. With Hosted Survey™ you can ask an
unlimited number of questions - and offer an unlimited number
of answer options - choosing from our varied list of question
types. For more information, please read more about our product
.
Do you support conditional skips and branching?
Absolutely. Use our skipping/branching feature to display subsets
of questions based on specific answers to a previous question,
or bypass portions of your survey altogether. You can also use
conditional branching to screen participants for various attributes
or responses and terminate your survey early if your evaluation
criteria are not met.
Can I run multi-page surveys?
Yes. The flexibility of Hosted Survey™ allows you to display
your entire survey on one page, or break up your survey on multiple
pages. You can specify how many questions you would like to display
per page, or take control and put your page breaks in manually.
Furthermore, questions can be segmented into sections or chapters,
allowing a logical flow to long and complex surveys.
Can I add my own logo and other images to my survey? Can I make
my survey appear to be part of my web site, or retain my organization's
color scheme, style and branding?
Yes. You can add logos and thumbnails, even Flash and .AVI files,
in a variety of places on your survey pages. You can add a watermark
or background texture, and include images or other media as part
of your questions and answers. You can customize the text of messages
and prompts, and tailor the borders, fonts, colors and other attributes
to achieve just the right look and feel. You can even replace
the default command buttons with your own words or special images
you design.
Our custom branding and private-labeling features can get even
more extensive, advanced and detailed for channel partners, resellers
and very large organizations. Please contact us toll free at (800)
211-6967, or (949) 585-1500. Or, email
for more information.
Can I create the same survey in different languages?
Yes. Our application supports multi-lingual surveys, even in
languages with double-byte characters such as Chinese, Japanese,
Korean, Vietnamese and others. Simply copy your survey and edit
in the language you need, or call us at (949) 585-1500 and ask
us about our "back-door" uploading capabilities.
You can universally code your international surveys to integrate
your response data for analysis across all languages and versions.
And, of course, even command buttons, images, message text and
instructions can be customized for each language.
Is there a way to completely remove the "HostedSurvey.com"
name from my survey URL? Can I use my own domain name?
Yes. You have several options for invisibility or autonomy.
One option is to set up (or we can set up for you) a framed page
and place the survey within the frame. When you invite people
to take your survey, you include the link to the frame page rather
than the system-generated URL. None of your survey respondents
will know you are using a third party host "behind the scenes."
If you choose this option, your webmaster will need to allocate
space on your server and design the frame page. Or, we can design
and host the page for you at a very reasonable cost. Please contact
or call toll free (800) 211-6967, or (949) 585-1500, to reach
our friendly technical support team.
Another option is to register your own survey domain name and
use it as a virtual URL. This is a very exciting option, as you
can personalize your survey URL to your organization. For example,
a company named ABC, Inc. could register ABCSurvey.com, and send
participants to http://www.ABCSurvey.com/takesurvey.asp, etc.
There is a small setup charge and hosting fee for this option,
and we will do all the work for you, including registering the
domain name, if desired. Please contact
or call toll free (800) 211-6967, or (949) 585-1500, for more
information about these options and services.
What if we want to be invisible? Can you co-brand the survey and/or
serve as a "third party administrator" or "independent
research organization"?
Yes. We can send the survey on your behalf and function as a
third party administrator or independent research organization.
In the same way we can make ourselves invisible and transparent,
we can also do the opposite make YOU invisible and anonymous.
We can provide all administrative, technical and even call center
(phone and email) support with your own dedicated toll free number.
If you prefer to be visible yet emphasize the fact you are working
in partnership with an independent research organization, we can
co-brand the survey with both our logos, reinforcing the fact
that your company has partnered with an unbiased service provider
conducting the survey in conjunction with you.
You tell us how you want your survey to appear, how and when
you want it delivered, how you want it supported. We'll administer
your project, and you'll be the hero :-).
Reporting and Data Analysis
Can I view my results in real-time?
Yes. You can monitor the status of your survey online from your
computer anytime, anywhere, with easy-to-read, canned and configurable
reports and online views of your data. Optionally, simply export
the data directly into Microsoft® Excel, Access, XML or your
favorite statistical analysis package as frequently as you need
to update it.
Do you create custom reports and data analysis? What about presentation
materials?
Yes. Our team of experts in Microsoft® Excel, Access, PowerPoint
and web development can create beautiful, effective, and highly-customized
reports, analysis and presentation materials based on your exact
specifications. If you aren't sure what you want or need, give
us a call. We can point you in the right direction and offer cost
effective suggestions that you'll be thrilled with. Let us take
the design burden from your shoulders and provide meaningful options
ranging from low-cost, bare necessities for tight budgets, to
high-end, ad-hoc, web-based data mining and presentation systems
for very large projects and organizations.
Can I analyze my data directly, by going straight to the underlying
database tables and storage mechanisms (e.g., client/server, ODBC,
SQL, et al) using another reporting, charting, statistical analysis
or presentation software?
We offer dedicated database and dedicated server plans that will
provide these capabilities to varying degrees, depending on your
needs. Without any downloading, you can connect directly to your
data with software such as Microsoft® Access, Crystal Reports,
Cognos or Oracle tools, and others, and run online, ad-hoc queries
and reports in real-time.
Can we get our data out of your database and into ours using automated
processes?
Yes. We have API's, code fragments and libraries that help us
create custom data transfer programs very efficiently for you.
Dedicated server customer can leverage your own team of programmers,
data management and conversion tools, and create scheduled processes
or triggers to move information from your hosted survey database
to virtually any other systems environment.
We can also work with you to design custom data marts for the
most user-friendly ad-hoc reporting environments available to
you, your clients and other end-users. Please contact
or call toll free (800) 211-6967, or (949) 585-1500, to reach
our friendly technical support team.
System Requirements, Application Architecture and Security
Are their any specific operating system or browser requirements
for Hosted Survey? What do you estimate is the percent of the
Internet population that has systems compatible with Hosted Survey?
For designing and creating surveys, we recommend Microsoft Internet
Explorer 5.5 and above and Netscape 7.0 and above. Both PC and
Mac are supported. (No client-side downloads, plug-ins or applets
are required.)
For taking surveys, we support virtually every browser that can
support the most basic HTML and JavaScript. Both PC and Mac are
supported. (No client-side downloads, plug-ins or applets are
required.)
The population compatible with our system when taking surveys
is estimated at 99.8%.
Does Java or any other software get downloaded to my computer?
No, never. Hosted Survey™ requires no Java, no downloads,
no installations, no applets. We have been extra careful to design
our applications to run 100% over the web, without any special
configurations or files on your (or your end-user's) computer.
Hostedware® applications will never cause your computer to
crash, never spread a virus, and you'll never have to worry about
corrupting your computer's setup, configuration or network files.
And, those participants who may still be using older equipment
or outdated web browsers won't be denied access, and won't be
asked to download big (and slow) software programs, before taking
your survey.
Can your service support high volumes of survey respondents and
email invitations?
Yes. Hosted Survey™ can manage thousands of simultaneous
survey respondents at one single time. We have documented peaks
of 1,000+ simultaneous users, and in all of these cases, server
and resource utilization were still at low levels. We have also
managed custom web polls where invitations were broadcast nationally
on television and received thousands of "hits" in a
very short period of time and our servers did not suffer any degradation
in performance.
From a technical perspective, the architecture of Hosted Survey™
is such that users are "connected" to the server and
database only at the moment in which data is delivered to their
browser (when a page is opened or refreshed), or at the moment
when data is saved to the database (when the user submits the
page). Each connection is open and closed dynamically, and lasts
only for fraction of a second. This architecture significantly
reduces the possibility of ever having too many concurrent users.
If the customer decides to use the built-in invitation system,
Hosted Survey™ will deliver, in batches over a short period
of time (usually less than 24 hours), all of the desired number
of email invitations.
And Hostedware® software applications are built to scale.
As our volume increases, so does our capacity. We strive to stay
ahead of the growth and anticipate future needs, which we have
been doing successfully since we began operations in 1999. Our
outlines our commitment to satisfactory performance
and response times. Please review for more information.
Does Hosted Survey support images, audio files, and video objects?
Are their any limits on file sizes? Does Hosted Survey support
image protection (so images can not be "Saved As")?
Hosted Survey™ supports all browser-supported images, documents
and file types (.jpg, .bmp, .gif, .pdf, .tiff, .png, .xls, .doc,
.ppt, etc.), audio files (.wav, .mp3, etc.), and video (.avi,
Flash, etc.) within the survey form and/or by using hyperlinks
to supporting material.
There are no theoretical limitations on the file size or type,
as long as standard web browsers can handle them. If files are
hosted by us, we charge modest hosting fees depending on the size
of the files and the duration of the project.
Using special commands, you can hide the name of the files to
prevent survey participants from saving them (Save As…).
Can Hosted Survey handle other types of questionnaires besides
surveys?
Yes. Our customers use Hosted Survey™ to collect online
data in a number of specialized ways: web polls, virtual voting
booths, contests and sweepstakes, employee applications, online
registrations, information gathering, and more.
Our programmers are here to add new features, functionality, reports
and custom data exchanges - just for you - to support
all your online data collection needs.
How does Hostedware address my security concerns?
Hosted Survey™ is completely secure. The website and databases
are password protected and hidden safely behind appropriate firewalls.
Encryption during data transfer and communication between your
computer and our servers is enforced using Secure Socket Layers
(SSL).
All your data is confidential and owned by you. Hostedware®
will never sell nor provide your data to any third party, and
never uses it internally or externally for any purpose whatsoever,
other than to communicate directly with you about your account,
our products and services, and to fulfill our service agreements
with you.
Your data's safety, security, integrity and privacy is of primary
concern to us. It's important data, it's your data, and we protect
it for you. Please see our , (SLA), , and for more information.
Advanced Features
Does Hosted Survey provide or support saved survey libraries and
templates?
Yes. Hosted Survey™ offers a question and answer library (Q&A
Library). This is a user-defined library of re-usable answers,
answer groups, questions, question groups and templates, where
these questions and answers can be shared amongst all surveys
in a private account. In the case of dedicated database or dedicated
server customers, channel partners, and resellers, an additional
"global" Q&A Library can be created in the master
account, and be made accessible to all sub-accounts.
Hosted Survey™ offers a user-definable classification system
so that components can be categorized by "survey type"
for easier organization and navigation within the Library.
Can email invitations be sent out using my own email system?
You have the option of extracting your respondent email addresses
out of your email system and uploading them into Hosted Survey™.
Then the application will send out email invitations using the
respondent or panelist data you provided. Within the application,
you can write, edit and manage the message that is delivered,
view whether each respondent has completed the survey or not,
and send out reminder invitations to those who haven't completed
the survey. Each email is sent out individually (no bulk email
with copies or blind copies, cc/bcc), and can be personalized
with greeting name and other optional information and customized
prompts and text.
If you would like to bypass Hosted Survey™ and send out the
invitations using your own system, a URL link to the survey can
still be added to the email invitations you create so the user
can click on and go directly to the survey, and (optionally) enter
a secret password or other code. The more programmatic control
you have over your email system and respondent data files, the
more personalized you can make your email invitations.
To help you track who has completed your survey, Hosted Survey™
also has an option to trigger an automatic confirmation email
to a pre-determined recipient, the respondents themselves and/or
an email address specified by each respondent (the answer to a
survey question).
Can we trigger a survey and communicate the respondent's ID to
the survey in a way that does not require respondent or panelist
intervention?
Yes. The respondent's ID is embedded in the survey URL delivered
individually to each respondent, using the Hosted Survey™ built
in email invitation functionality (or programmatically from your
own email system). The respondent simply clicks on the link (URL)
and opens their private survey without any intervention. The respondent's
ID is stored with the survey response.
Does Hosted Survey provide the ability to program and control
panelist access? For example, optionally preventing backup, optionally
requiring usernames and passwords, locking out IP addresses, preventing
ballot box stuffing, defining start/stop dates, and defining the
maximum number of acceptable responses.
Hosted Survey™ has controls for requiring respondents and
panelists to enter a code and password to enter a survey. Start
and end dates automatically allow or prevent respondents from
completing the survey if outside specific date/time parameters.
Re-entry and related options can control whether a respondent
can leave and re-enter the survey, go back and forward within
a survey, and if re-entering, to which point the respondent will
return within the survey upon re-entry, and whether the respondent
can re-enter after the final page has been submitted.
Surveys can be easily configured to permit only one survey response
per IP address, and/or to permit only one survey response per
computer. The browser menus can be turned on or off to control
navigation, printing, copy/paste and other features.
You have the ability to control the maximum number of responses
allowed by survey in total using our quota management feature.
Can Hosted Survey take into account additional parameters? For
example, parameters included into the survey URL, participant
demographic details coming from a panelist database, prior online
behavior, or responses to a previous survey. Can these parameters
have an effect on the questions asked?
Hosted Survey™ has built-in interfaces to accept query-strings,
hidden form fields posted from an external web page or calling
program, and an interface to accept data from cookies.
Some of these advanced features (API) to handle these alternative
sources of data into the survey may require some custom "back-door"
configuration in each instance to implement, and we may charge
a nominal setup fee for each instance, depending on the complexity
of the requirements.
In addition, Hosted Survey™ offers user-defined respondent
fields, for surveys where the panel is known and uploaded into
the system. This user-defined demographic data can be used in
data analysis to compare results from different demographic groups
or other attributes.
The Hosted Survey™ API allows respondents to be created
"on the fly," generated from a previous registration,
signup or login process, and user-defined demographic data can
be passed to the survey automatically (with no additional setup
on our end).
Can we show a survey invitation, describe an incentive to take
the survey, and use graphics or animation as part of the first
splash screen pop-up?
Yes. Hosted Survey™ offers the ability to define a "Begin
Page," which is a pop-up displayed prior to the actual survey.
On this page, instructional text and images can be displayed,
and/or a description of the incentive, links to supporting material,
multi-media, etc., as part of this first splash screen.
We also provide sample code our customers can use to generate
pop-up windows based on entering or leaving web pages, web sites,
shopping carts, or completing specific web site processes.
Finally, Hostedware has relationships with artists and animators
on a project basis who develop stock or highly-customized, graphical
animations that can appear to "float" over web pages
and invite visitors to take a survey. Or animations that "pop-out"
of survey pages to urge respondents to continue forward to the
end of the survey, and perhaps remind them of the incentive or
of the importance of their feedback. In the right environment,
animation of this nature can be used to increase response rates,
completion rates, and even the quality of responses.
As a consulting firm who conducts research, surveys, evaluations
and assessments for our clients, can we license Hosted Survey,
and use the software application, with our clients, as if it were
our own system?
Yes. Hosted Survey™ offers the capability for your firm to
completely brand and private-label not only each individual survey,
but also the entire survey application and database. This is a
significant benefit of using Hostedware applications. Hosted Survey
can easily become "ABC Survey."
Hostedware's patent-pending application architecture is designed
such that the text, images and prompts are "separated"
from the code and database in editable configuration files. This
means that with very little effort, your firm can customize your
version of "Hosted Survey" so that Hostedware will be
completely invisible to you and your clients - not just for
the surveys, but also when the end user logs in to their account,
uses the application to access their questionnaires, runs reports,
downloads data, etc.
Your firm can start with its own custom URL (this can be a "sub-domain"
such as surveys.abc.com, or a unique "top-level" domain
name, such as abc-survey.com). Your firm could then customize
the graphics, menu names and colors, text and prompts within the
entire application - with relative ease.
For example, your business may use language unique to your company.
Perhaps in your business you don't use the word "respondent"
but rather use "panelist" or "employee." Or
perhaps you don't use the phrase "Q&A Library" but
use the phrase "Master File." By simply changing a few
variables in the configuration files, the new language will appear
throughout the application. This is true for text, prompts, buttons,
links, images, menu items, error messages, even fonts and colors,
etc.
Your firm can then open "accounts" for each client
using your branded, private-label version of the Hosted Survey
application. You can then assign your clients access to their
personal account within your system, and let them use your custom
version of the application, view their content, data and reports.
Hostedware manages the infrastructure and provides help desk support,
and you're free to focus on your core business, your services,
and your client relationships.
My Account, Pricing and Optional Services
How do you charge?
Your account allows you to create unlimited surveys with unlimited
questions and answers. We charge for usage by asking you to purchase
packages of responses. A "response" is the equivalent
of a completed, or partially completed, survey by one participant.
You purchase and commit to responses in advance, and we dynamically
allocate database storage, access, and other resources based on
your anticipated responses. The more responses you purchase in
advance, the lower the per-response price.
You can purchase responses online by signing up and/or logging
in to your account and going to the "My Account" area.
You can also purchase responses by check, bank draft, and when
approved, by company purchase order. Or, purchase over the phone
by calling (800) 211-6967 or (949) 585-1500.
What if I want to outsource my project?
We offer a variety of project support and survey administration
options and packages. These services include survey setup, respondent
management and administration, email invitations and followup,
survey help desk for your respondents, data downloading, custom
reporting and analysis, data cleanup and other personalized services
such as logo design, graphical artwork, content development, data
entry, animation and splash page design. Please see
for more information and a description of some of these special
service offerings.
Can someone help me develop my actual survey (questions and content)?
While we are not a market research firm or a human resources
consultancy, we do have experts on staff with many years of experience
and familiarity with these types of projects, as well as informal
partnerships with experts in the various professional fields of
research, education and performance improvement. If you need ideas,
tips, templates, guidance, help with objective-setting, or would
like us to walk you through the process of creating a quality
survey, questionnaire, and related presentation materials, please
contact us at
or call (949) 585-1500 to reach our customer services team.
What if I need to setup a quick demonstration using part of our
survey to sell my boss (or my client) on using Hostedware for
our project? (And what if I need it to be ready by tomorrow?)
If you are under the gun and need ultra-fast assistance setting
up a demo for your boss, your client, or your project team, fax
us what you have in its current format (draft or final) to (949)
585-0050 ATTN: Customer Service. If an electronic version is available,
email to .
We'll setup the first 10 or 15 questions, plus add your logo and
some basic formatting, free of charge, today, or by the next business
day.
We'll even conference in and provide technical support, an online
walk-thru, answer questions, and participate with the utmost professionalism
in part or all of your meeting, as you require, and in the capacity
most appropriate for your purpose and mission.
We pride ourselves in providing the highest levels of service
and support to our customers, and are always happy to help. We
view customer services as a part of our business that supplements
our core software products; not the other way around. With that
model, we feel we can do more, for less. Many of our customers
have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of work we do, and
the quality of expertise we deliver, at the reasonable prices
we charge. We hope you will be, too!
About Hostedware
Who is Hostedware?
Hostedware Corporation, based in Irvine, California, serves the
multi-billion dollar research, education and performance improvement
markets. A pioneer in these markets, we have developed two leading
online software applications - Hosted Survey™ and Hosted
Test™. These self-configurable software applications, together
with our Customer Services team, provide feature-rich, easy to
use, cost effective and dependable solutions that meet the exacting
requirements of our customers.
What are Hostedware's core applications and services?
Hosted Survey™ is a self-configurable, online software tool
that provides organizations, service providers, individuals and
consultants with the ability to conduct online market research,
web surveys, opinion polls, voting mechanisms, evaluations and
appraisals, 360 degree feedback reviews, organizational climate
surveys, web site visitor feedback and other research, and report
that data in a timely and organized fashion.
This is done at a fraction of the cost and effort previously
experienced with traditional paper based systems and expensive
ad-hoc, internally-developed web pages.
Hosted Test™ is a self-configurable, online software tool
that provides trainers, hiring managers, educators, and certification
specialists the ability to easily design and administer online
tests, assessments, practice exams, certification programs and
graded homework and self-study aids, and report results, trends
and manage grade books in a timely and more automated fashion.
Hostedware® Customer Services include setup and administration
options, content development, and customized statistical analysis
and reporting packages, as well as web development and infrastructure
to support the special needs of our customers.
Where is Hostedware's data center? Is it reliable and secure?
Hostedware customers and their clients benefit from the security,
reliability and environmental controls of the Hostedware/InteleNet
data center in Irvine, CA, USA:
- Located in a building designed to meet rigorous federal and
state building code standards, designed to withstand earthquakes
according to zone four (4) specifications, and with extensive
fire detection and suppression capabilities.
- Environmental controls that address heating and cooling, humidity
controls and monitored status that notifies our operations staff
when conditions fall outside of planned ranges.
- Conditioned, clean power with redundancy and disaster recovery
configurations.
- Full-time monitoring and management of all aspects of the
data center, operated from our 24x7 Network Operations Center.
The NOC has access to all security operations data and monitors
the data center for external and internal security. The data
center is staffed 24x7 by Pinkerton security guards.
- Employs a staff of highly trained IP security engineers with
extensive Microsoft, Unix and Linux operating system expertise.
- Uses industry leading firewalls, such as Cisco PIX, Checkpoint
and NetScreen, to protect the data center network.
- Uses state-of-the-art security software that monitors conditions
behind the network firewalls. In the event of any suspicious
activity that gets through the firewall, the software identifies
the break-in and alerts the NOC.
- Computer incident response procedure for any computer or network-related
incident.
- Customer-friendly facilities, with work areas, conference
rooms, lounges and other accommodations.
Have another question?
Please contact us toll free at (800) 211-6967, or (949) 585-1500.
Or, email .
We'll respond usually on the same day; always by the next business
day.
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"The
work you have done for Hilton has demonstrated your wide range
of expertise and varied technical skills. 
"I
find the Hostedware staff very courteous, knowledgeable and
easy to work with. They have been proactive to my needs and
have met all my expectations of a quality survey provider."