Sync Methods
Organization Admins can adjust their organization's Sync Method to limit certain data sent to Ovation servers.
There are three types of Sync Methods: Default, Limited, and Local. All organizations begin with Default but can change it on the Organization/Settings page of the web portal immediately after their trial or subscription begins.
Default – Most resources, including Speeches and Recordings, are backed up to Ovation servers, can be modified on the web portal, and can be shared. Analytics and Grades can be reviewed on the web portal and Reports can be generated.
Limited – Metadata (name, date created, venue, etc.), Analytics, and Grades for Speeches and Recordings are sent to Ovation servers, but all Recording playback data (audio, events, etc.) and Speech Items (Text, Slides, Board images) are kept on the user’s local PC. Analytics and Grades can still be reviewed on the web portal and Reports can be generated for Organization Members. Cloud Sharing is no longer available.
Local – No Speech and Recording data, Speech Items, Analytics, or Grades are sent to Ovation servers. Cloud Sharing, Analytics, Grades, and Reports are no longer available on the web portal.
Default - Changing to Default will allow new resources to be synced and backed up to Ovation servers. Resources created before the change will remain in their previous sync state.
Limited - Changing to Limited will permanently delete from Ovation servers all existing Speech Items and Recording playback data of everyone in the Organization. Resources on the local PC will not be affected.
Local - Changing to Local will permanently delete from Ovation servers all existing Speeches and Recordings, Speech Items, Analytics, Grades, and Report data of everyone in the Organization. Resources on the local PC will not be affected.
Limited and Local Sync Methods prevent certain data from being sent to Ovation servers, but there are some temporary exceptions and clarification needed.
Speech-To-Text: Some of Ovation's most important features are Filler Word Training and Voice analytics. In order for both to function, they require Ovation to send recorded microphone audio from the local PC to a third-party speech-to-text provider (IBM Watson) who then returns a text transcript. For all Sync Methods, the recorded audio is sent directly to the speech-to-text provider, not to Ovation servers. For Organizations with Default and Limited Sync Methods, the text transcript of the audio is sent to Ovation servers in order to display Analytics on the web portal. For Organizations with Local Sync Method, the text transcript is never sent to Ovation servers.
Speech Item Import: Before PowerPoint, PDF, Word, and other proprietary files can be imported into Ovation, they first need to be converted to a format Ovation can read. This is done by sending the file to our server, converting it, then sending back the converted file to the application. For Organizations with Limited and Local Sync Methods, the files being converted are only stored on our servers for the time necessary to perform the conversion process and to send them back to the application. The original and converted files are then immediately and permanently deleted from our servers. If users want to avoid the conversion process altogether, they can import directly into Ovation certain files that do not need to be converted, such as .txt, .jpg, and .png.
Sync Methods other than Default limit some important Ovation features that you may want available. Further, changing between methods can permanently delete Organization and Member usage data. If you have any questions about the method that is right for you, please contact us at support@ovationvr.com.
