PSGCNJ TECH TIP

Getting Started With NJ DoL/MS Online Training Vouchers

Below are some steps and technical tips for getting started with using your NJ DoL-provided Microsoft Training vouchers.  These steps only go up through the point where you'd pick the specific training course.  (If we missed something important, send us your own technical notes that we can add.)

  • Tip:  We heard one report of a person whose voucher was already used by someone else by the time she got around to trying to use it, so don't wait too long to use yours.
  • Tip:  We heard another report suggesting that most voucher codes are only usable for MS Office training, not IT training.  (When that happens, following the IT Professionals section link instead of the MS Office systems link will still only lead to MS Office training courses.)  If the DoL gave you a technical IT training voucher and it won't offer you the technical IT courses (e.g., Visual Studio, server or Exchange software, etc.), you'll want to go back to the DoL for assistance.

Prerequisites

  1. You'll need to have received the email from the NJ Department of LW&D (DoL) that gives you the voucher and instructions.
  2. Before you start, be sure you have a "Microsoft Live" account ID and know its password. 
    • Microsoft has renamed their ID and password a few times over many years, but they're all basically the same Microsoft account used for a variety of services, everything from managing your registration for Microsoft software to using services like Microsoft Live SkyDrive.
    • The sign-in (log-in) ID is usually looks like an email address, but that doesn't mean it has to be an email account from Microsoft MSN or Microsoft Live Hotmail.  The ID portion is probably whatever your primary email address was at the time you registered some software or for some service (and hopefully not an email address you gave up when you left your former employer).
      It is important that the email address associated with your MS Live ID account works and you can receive emails sent to it!  (If not, you'll want to fix that before proceeding.)
    • Before you start trying to use your voucher, you'll want to verify that your MS Live account ID and password work.  If you forget your Live account password but can guess the ID (email) you might have used, you can either follow their "I forgot my password" link to try to have it re-sent to that email address or reset it, or you can decide to create a new MS Live account.  Here's where you can test your sign in:

http://microsoft.com/live (or http://login.live.com)

    • Before you start taking the online training, you'll probably want to already have the software  you'll be learning (the specific version of it).  For Microsoft software (including MS Office), see our Tech Tip for affordable ways to get MS software (including ways to get it free for periods ranging from 1 month to 3 years, depending on your eligibility).
    • You'll need a PC with Internet connectivity.  (Public workstations at a public library or in our PSG Room at our DoL office might suffice if they have the right version of the software you need to practice with, but be sure to log out of your MS Live account and anything else you signed in, then double-check again at the sign-in page to verify that you've signed out.)

Activation Step-By-Step

  1. Open the email message you received from the DoL which indicates your voucher "key" code and click on the link to go to the activation site in your web browser. (http://microsoft.com/elevateamerica).  (If you get stuck with the below, their phone number is 800 636-7544.)
  2. Click on "Redeem your voucher."  This link will be listed under the "Redeem a Voucher" section of the web page.
  3. Click "I have a voucher for Microsoft Office or Windows product training.  (Or, if you're taking technical training instead, follow the link that makes sense for that instead.)
  4. Next, you'll probably be shown a web page with hardware/software requirements.  Click the link "Scan system now to ensure it meets all system requirements" and then next click "Scan My System Now."
    • It will proceed with checking your PC's capabilities.  You'll need to address any deficiencies it reports. 
      • For example, it might report you don't have Adobe Flash installed, even after you've just installed (or re-installed) it.  That could happen when Flash is deactivated in your web browser (MS Internet Explorer).  To fix that, follow these steps:
        • MS Internet Explorer > Tools menu > Manage Add-Ons >
          > Click the button on the left to pull down the menu to select All Add-Ons (rather than just Currently Loaded Add-Ons)
          > Find all the entries for Adobe software that might be relevant, especially ones that say Flash or Shockwave & for each one click on it to select it and press the "Enable" button if it isn't already Enabled
          > Close that window when done "enabling" all the Adobe add-ons you'd need.
  5. After you are finished checking that you meet their system requirements, you're ready to continue on to enter your MS E-Learning voucher, > then your Live ID, etc., and > then you'd probably want to click on the link that offers to verify the URL you had received via email.
  6. Next, you'll then be asked for a variety of registration information (name, address, etc.)
  7. After that, you'll click-into the link for "Discounts and Special E-Learning Offers."
  8. You'll then need to click-into the link for the training program that applies to you.  Typically that'll mean the "2007 Microsoft Office system - Learning Portal" link, but some people may need a link for Visual Studio, Windows Server, Exchange, MS SQL, or Sharepoint training instead (or, eventually, an Office 2010 version of the training).
  9. At that point you should be able to browse through their course catalog to pick the specific course you wish to use the voucher for.  (You might even need to click into a link captioned "Browse through Microsoft E-Learning courses on Microsoft Office 2010 (Training Catalog)" in order to reach the catalog in the prior step.)
    • WARNING:  Once you select a course and "submit" your choice, your voucher is committed; you won't be able change your mind and go back  Pick wisely the first time.  You should, though, be able to look over the list of courses and cancel out of making any selection (e.g., don't pick any and close/exit your browser).

That's as far though the process as my notes go, but you'll find more instructions at Microsoft's Elevate America web site (click here).  There's a "Redeem a Voucher" tab with links to instructions.  A right-side menu section captioned "How to Redeem a Voucher" repeats key how-to links and even offers a User Guide at the bottom.

Your feedback on additional steps or advice needed here would be welcomed -- just email your notes to us via our webmaster email address. 

Professional Service Group of Central New Jersey
at Somerville (PSGCNJ)
75 Veterans Memorial Drive East
Somerville, NJ 08876
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