About Central Office Services (COS) and the COS Online Help

The Central Office Services (COS)A set of software tools for the setup, configuration, and management of the DRC INSIGHT locally installed software, the COS Service Device (COS - SD), and the secure Testing Devices. software application provides a central location for the setup, configuration, and management of the DRC INSIGHT software that is installed locally for testing: the COS Service Devices (COS - SD) software and the DRC INSIGHT Secure Applications installed on all Testing Devices.

The COS Online Help contains topics describing how to use COS. This online help can be used in conjunction with the volumes of the DRC INSIGHT Technology User Guide, located in the DRC INSIGHT Portal under MY APPLICATIONS-General Information-Documents and in the WIDA Assessment Management System (WIDA AMS) under MY APPLICATIONS-General Information-Documents.

Last Project Update: 06-28-24

Introduction to COS

The complete COS software consists of a number of functional components, including the COS Service Device (COS - SD) software, Content ManagementA COS - SD function used to manage the delivery of test content to each site that needs Content Hosting. Sites can be configured to download only the test content needed to reduce download times and storage space requirements. For example, a site could download test content for only one test administration. Content Management can also be set up to download content to a network shared location that multiple Content Hosting services can access., and Content HostingA COS - SD function used to provide content to student Testing Devices. Content Hosting authenticates content requests, decrypts content, and aggregates items into forms..

COS users create and manage COS Configurations that associate Testing Devices with test administrations and test content using the COS - SD software, which provides Content Hosting, and Content Management.

For an overview of COS, its functional components and related terminology, see the Glossary of this online help as well as Volume I: Introduction to Online Testing of the DRC INSIGHT Technology User Guide.

Basic Tasks

The following is a short list of some basic COS tasks you may want to perform and a link to further information.

Task: Become familiar with the COS Online Help.

Reference: Using the Central Office Services (COS) Online Help

Task: Use the COS DashboardProvides visual status information for all COS Configurations, COS - SDs, and Testing Devices plus links that can be used to manage each COS Configuration, including COS - SDs and Testing Devices. to monitor your COS Configurations, COS - SDs, and Testing Devices

Reference: The COS Dashboard

Task: Use the Configurations tab options to manage your COS Configurations and devices.

Reference:Managing Configurations

Task: Create a Pool of COS - SDs

Reference: Creating COS - SD Pools

Task: Configure DRC INSIGHT to allow student testing without using a COS - SD (for an extremely low number of testers)

Reference: Creating COS Configurations