Hughes Unveils Expanded Features of Comprehensive Learning Portal

GERMANTOWN, Md., Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- New live training and a powerful reporting dashboard have transformed the Hughes Learning Portal into a comprehensive training management solution that encompasses every corporate learning activity from online tutorials to classroom instruction, Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) announced today.

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The expanded Learning Portal supports blended learning -- combined online and instructor-led training -- through new live training management functionality such as class scheduling, user registration, class role printing, attendance, and grade tracking. The Hughes Learning Portal is an easy-to-use eLearning solution that delivers and tracks training for employees, partners, and customers. Delivered as a hosted solution, the Hughes Learning Portal is especially effective for small- to medium-sized organizations or departments of larger companies that want rich training programs but need to hold down costs; the Hughes Learning Portal requires no IT investments or long-term contracts.

"Pairing online and live instruction is the most potent learning strategy we can offer our channel partners," said Bonnie Lam, director of Channel Sales at RingCentral, an award-winning business phone systems provider. "Training is one of the key cornerstones of success for our channel partner program. The Hughes Learning Portal provides us with a cost-effective way to deliver and manage training to our partner community."

The new reporting dashboard in the Hughes Learning Portal gives companies a strategic view of their learning efforts. Users can run customized reports that depict, for example, which courses are most popular, which employee groups are most active in training, and whether employees have met mandated training requirements by set deadlines.

"Access to learning should be barrier free, both for companies and individual learners," said Mike Tippets, vice president of Hughes Solutions Group. "These new features of the Hughes Learning Portal provide a single source solution for managing corporate training and education, representing one component of Hughes Corporate Learning Solutions -- complementing the additional components of Video on Demand and Interactive Classroom Solutions."

The updated reporting and classroom management functionality adds to the Hughes Learning Portal's broad range of features for creating and delivering:

• employee, sales, and channel partner training
• product demonstrations
• human resources communications
• dynamic marketing collateral
• reports and assessments to meet compliance programs; and
• customer surveys.

The Learning Portal's simple interface makes it easy to store, manage, deliver, and track training and achieve a quick and measurable return on investment. SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) conformance enables course designers to take full advantage of both off-the-shelf contents, as well as wide variety of authoring tools.

For additional information about the Hughes Learning Portal, please visit training.hughes.com.

About Hughes Network Systems

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the world's leading provider of satellite broadband for home and office, delivering innovative network technologies, managed services, and solutions for enterprises and governments globally. HughesNet® is the #1 high-speed satellite Internet service in the marketplace, with offerings to suit every budget. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 2.5 million systems to customers in over 100 countries, representing over 50 percent market share. Its products employ global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI, and ITU organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A, and GMR-1.

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes operates sales and support offices worldwide, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), a premier global provider of satellite operations and digital TV solutions. For additional information about Hughes, please visit www.hughes.com.

©2011 Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Hughes and HughesNet are registered trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC.

SOURCE Hughes Network Systems, LLC