Examplify Customer Service — Expert Guide for Students, Proctors, and IT

Overview and what to expect from Examplify support

Examplify is the secure exam delivery client used by many universities and professional schools. Customer service is split across three layers: your institution’s ExamSoft/Examplify administrator (first line), campus IT and proctoring staff (second line), and ExamSoft’s official support team (third line). Understanding which layer is responsible for each issue reduces downtime: account and registration problems are almost always handled by the institution, while application bugs, account syncing, and server-side errors generally require vendor intervention.

During live exam windows institutions typically engage ExamSoft’s priority support. Expect response-times to vary: trivial issues (login, download retries) can often be resolved in 15–60 minutes during an exam window; more complex engineering-level issues (corrupted exam packages, cross-platform compatibility bugs) commonly take 12–72 hours to fully resolve. For the most accurate, up-to-date support paths consult ExamSoft’s support portal at https://examsoft.com/support and the Examplify product page at https://examsoft.com/examplify.

Common issues and first-line troubleshooting

Most student issues fall into a small set: installation/update failures, inability to download exams, syncing/upload failures, and application crashes. Before contacting support, perform three quick checks: verify you have the institution-specific Examplify installer (some schools use custom builds), ensure your device clock is accurate to within 60 seconds of internet time, and confirm your OS/build is supported by your institution (many schools require Windows 10/11 or macOS 10.15+; check your program’s requirements).

Practical steps that resolve ~60–80% of support tickets: reinstall the latest Examplify client (download link from your institution or ExamSoft), clear any cached exam packages in the application, and attempt a fresh sync on a wired or stable Wi‑Fi connection. If the client reports file sizes or exam package numbers, record the exact error text or screenshot it — these are essential for rapid diagnosis.

How to contact support and what to include

Start with your program’s ExamSoft administrator or testing center. If the issue is vendor-level, open a ticket through the official support portal (https://examsoft.com/support). Many institutions also provide a direct helpdesk number for exam windows; ask your testing center for that number ahead of time and save it in your phone. When contacting any support channel, use the following structured information to speed resolution:

• Student name, institution, course, and instructor; ExamSoft username/ID (if known).
• Exact Examplify version (shown in the app, e.g., 2.9.7) and OS + build (e.g., Windows 11 22H2, macOS 12.6). Include whether the machine is managed by your institution.
• Timestamp of the incident (local time + timezone), exam name, and exam ID shown in the client.
• Detailed symptom text or exact error code/message, plus 1–2 screenshots and a short video (30–90 seconds) if the problem reproduces.
• Network conditions: wired/Wi‑Fi, approximate upload/download speed (e.g., 150 Mbps down/20 Mbps up) and whether a VPN or proxy is in use.

Administrators and IT: setup, integrations, and SLAs

Administrators should maintain a single authoritative escalation path that combines campus IT, the testing center, and ExamSoft’s application support. Typical administrative responsibilities include provisioning student enrollments, scheduling exam windows, and distributing any institution-specific installer keys. Document your internal SLA: for example, set a 30-minute on-site/phone response during exams and a 24–48 hour vendor escalation for bugs requiring code fixes.

Integration points that commonly cause friction are LMS gradebook exports, single sign-on (SAML/OAuth) configurations, and remote proctoring hooks. Test these integrations in a staged environment at least 6–8 weeks before any high-stakes exam. During pilot runs, log error counts and time-to-resolution; aim for fewer than 5% support tickets per cohort and under 20 minutes average first-response time for exam-day incidents.

Common error codes and practical fixes

• Download/Sync stalled: switch to a wired connection, disable VPN, force quit Examplify, relaunch and use “Resync” or “Check for Exams”. If persists, collect logs and open a vendor ticket.
• Checksum/Package corrupt: remove the offending exam package from the client, re-download. If re-download fails repeatedly, capture network trace and escalate to ExamSoft.
• Authentication/Login failure: verify SSO credentials with campus IT, clear stored credentials in the app, or use the institution-specific token. If SSO redirect fails, check institution’s IdP logs.
• App crash on exam launch: update OS and graphics drivers, ensure no virtualization software is active, and review crash logs located in the Examplify logs folder. Provide logs to support with timestamps.
• Upload speed/timeouts post-exam: verify upload window and use a high-bandwidth connection (50+ Mbps recommended); if large images or media included in answers, anticipate larger upload sizes (50–200 MB per exam).

Exam day best practices and contingency planning

Create a one-page student-facing checklist to be distributed 48–72 hours before the exam: required Examplify version, permitted OS, recommended free disk space (minimum 5 GB), and a reminder to fully charge devices and bring charging bricks. Run a mandatory 15–30 minute pilot exam at least 24 hours before each major exam to identify last-minute compatibility or access issues — this single practice step removes the majority of time-sensitive incidents.

For contingency planning, maintain a rapid communication channel (SMS group, Slack, or a phone tree) between proctors, IT, and ExamSoft support. If you must switch to an alternative testing mode (paper backup or another digital platform), have that contingency documented, with roles, timelines, and decision triggers (for example: “if >5% of students cannot launch within 30 minutes, cancel and invoke backup protocol”). Post-exam, perform an incident review within 48 hours documenting root cause, resolution steps, and changes to prevent recurrence.