According to London-based Videotel, more than 52,000 crew and 1,600 ships now use its webFTA (Fleet Training Administrator) system – an online solution that allows a company access to all the training records of its shipboard personnel across the fleet. We won’t be surprised if the figures will go on rising. Not only does webFTA provide an easy way to schedule rank-specific, statutory and non-statutory training, create reports and upload certificates. A service such as this has actually become a necessity.
Videotel Deputy Chairman Stephen Bond couldn’t have said it better: “”In today’s litigious climate with seafarers so easily criminalised for perceived infractions, it is even more important to ensure that crew receive the most relevant and necessary training for their roles and for companies to have comprehensive records to demonstrate that appropriate training and qualifications have been achieved.”
Here’s what training administrators and managers can do with webFTA:
- Track training on board
- Receive alerts when training has not been received
- View an individual’s records and see what training is missing
- Create more than 20 styles of reports
- Export reports for further analysis within other software packages
- Use the system in harmony with its partner programme Onboard Training Manager Plus (OTM+)
- Print reports
- Add certificates and onshore data
- Set rank-related pass rates
- Schedule frequency of rank-specific training and export to ships
- Schedule statutory and non-statutory onboard tasks
- Show a clear training structure to Port State Control
We put forward two questions to Videotel we thought were likely to be asked by those new to webFTA: how much does it cost and is the service secure? Costs are yearly and will depend on the package tailored to the client, so you’ll have to request a quotation from Videotel. As for security, the individual is protected with unique login IDs. We have been assured that data transfers from ship to server are secure and “have been successfully independently tested by companies specialising in security auditing.”
Call or email Videotel. They’ll be happy to enlighten you further. ~Barista Uno
