LMS demo checklist: what to test in 30 minutes

In a 30-minute LMS demo, test what a slide deck can't fake. Run the student app on a budget phone over mobile data, try screen recording and a second-phone login, and take a short mock test. Then do everyday admin tasks and check where fees and data go. Drive the demo yourself, on your own devices, with your own sample content, using the timed plan below.

Prepare before the call

A standard sales demo runs on a fast laptop, office Wi-Fi and a test account full of polished content. Your students use budget phones on patchy 4G, often in Hindi or a regional language, and often all at once before a test. A demo only tells you something when it looks like that.

Ten minutes of preparation makes the 30 minutes count:

• Ask for two logins on the day: a student account and an admin account. Watching the presenter's screen is not a test.
  
  
• Bring real devices: a budget Android phone on mobile data, an iPhone if many of your students use one, and a Windows laptop.
  
  
• Bring a small sample of your content: a two-minute lecture clip and a PDF with Hindi text. Add five questions in a Word file, including a formula, a diagram and one question in Hindi.
  
  
• Send your numbers in advance: students, courses, hours of video, live classes a week and the size of your largest test. Then the pricing and capacity answers will fit your institute.
  
  
• Bring the right people: the owner, the person who runs batches and content day to day, and one teacher.
  
  

Tell the vendor at the start that you would like to drive. A confident vendor will welcome it, because it is the quickest way to prove the product works.

The 30-minute plan at a glance

Keep to the clock. If a block overruns, note what is still unanswered and move on. Anything you couldn't see goes on the follow-up list, and the length of that list is part of the result.

Minutes 0 to 9: the student app on a real phone

Spend the first three minutes getting both logins working and the student app open on your Android phone, switched to mobile data. Then use it as a student would for six minutes:

1. Log in. How long does the OTP take to arrive, and what happens if it doesn't?
   
   
2. Find a lecture from the home screen without help, and count the taps.
   
   
3. Play it. Note how long it takes to start, whether the quality drops smoothly when the signal weakens, and whether the speed controls work.
   
   
4. Close the app and reopen it. The lecture should resume where you stopped.
   
   
5. Open the PDF and check that Hindi text renders correctly and is readable on a small screen.
   
   
6. Try offline viewing if the vendor offers it: download a lecture, switch on flight mode and play it inside the app.
   
   

If your students study on computers, repeat the login and one lecture on the laptop. A clumsy desktop experience is one more reason for a student to look for a copy they can watch anywhere.

Minutes 9 to 14: video and PDF protection

This is the block most demos describe instead of showing. Ask to see each of these on your own devices:

• Screen recording on the phone. Start the phone's built-in screen recorder while a lecture plays. Does the video go black, does playback stop, or does nothing happen?
  
  
• Screen recording on the laptop. Ask the same question for the Windows or Mac app and for the browser, where protection is often weaker.
  
  
• A second phone. Log in to the same student account on another phone. What happens to the first session, and how many devices does one account allow?
  
  
• The watermark. Is the student's name or phone number visible on the video, and does it move? Ask whether there is also an invisible mark, and how the vendor would trace a leaked copy back to the account it came from.
  
  
• The PDF. Can the notes be downloaded or shared as a file, and are they watermarked with the student's details?
  
  

No system can stop someone filming a screen with another phone, so the honest answer to that question is about tracing, not blocking. Be wary of any vendor that says its videos "can't be pirated". Our guides to preventing screen recording of online courses and stopping students sharing accounts explain what is realistic.

Minutes 14 to 23: tests and the admin panel

A five-question mock test

Take a short test as the student. Check the screen against your exam: sectional timer, question palette, mark for review and negative marking. Submit it and see what the student gets straight away: score, rank, solutions and topic-wise analysis.

Then hand over your Word file and ask the vendor to import it while you watch. Formulas, diagrams and Hindi text should come through without retyping. Ask for the largest number of students the vendor has run through one test at the same time, and how it knows. If tests are central to your business, put dedicated online test series software through the same check.

Everyday admin work

Switch to the admin login. Have the person who will run the platform do these tasks, not the vendor:

1. Create a batch with a start date, a validity period and a price.
   
   
2. Upload your clip and PDF and add them to the batch.
   
   
3. Create a coupon for 20% off, limited to 50 uses.
   
   
4. Enrol a student manually, as you would for someone who paid at the centre.
   
   
5. Open that student's progress: watch time, test scores and attendance.
   
   

If your staff can't finish these without the vendor's help, every new batch will start with a support ticket.

Minutes 23 to 30: live class, money and data

A live class from both sides

Ask the vendor to start a live class as the teacher while you join on your phone over mobile data. Have the teacher hold up some fingers and count the seconds until you see them. Send a chat message, answer a poll and raise your hand. When the class ends, ask how soon the recording appears in the course and whether it is protected like other videos. Ask where attendance shows up.

Money and data

Ask two direct questions, and watch the screen rather than the slides:

• Where do fees land? Ask to see the payment settings. Student fees should go into your institute's own payment gateway account, not the vendor's, so refunds, settlement and records stay with you.
  
  
• Can you export now? Ask for an export of students, enrolments and payments, downloaded on the spot, and look at the columns. Then ask how you would get your original video files and question bank back if you left.
  
  

The open questions

Use the last two minutes to list what you didn't see, and ask for written answers on:

• the total yearly price at your current size and at three times that, including usage such as video bandwidth, SMS and live class minutes;
  
  
• whether your apps will be published from your own Google Play and Apple developer accounts;
  
  
• the notice period, data export and app transfer terms in the contract;
  
  
• support hours on exam days and early mornings;
  
  
• two institutes of your size and type that you can call.
  
  

Red flags, and what to do afterwards

Some answers should slow the conversation down, or end it:

• The vendor won't give you a student login or let you drive.
  
  
• Protection is explained with diagrams but never shown on your phone.
  
  
• Something you need for your next batch is "planned" rather than working today.
  
  
• Exports need a support ticket, take weeks or cost extra.
  
  
• Fees are collected in the vendor's account and paid out to you later.
  
  
• The price arrives as one number, with no breakdown of what is included and what is billed by usage.
  
  

Score each vendor the same day, while details are fresh, on the same sheet for everyone. Our LMS features checklist has a weighted scoring sheet, and the buyer's guide to the best LMS for coaching institutes covers the wider decision. Then call the references, and ask what went wrong in their first three months and how quickly it was fixed.

Bring this checklist when you book an Upclass demo. Upclass gives coaching institutes branded apps in their own name on Android, iOS, Windows and Mac. It covers courses, live classes, tests and online test series through Upclass Mock Test, and student fees go to the institute's own payment gateway. VidSafe adds VidSafe proprietary encryption, dynamic watermarking, screen- and camera-recording detection, account-sharing prevention and PDF watermarking. Book a demo and try it on your own phone.

Frequently asked questions

What questions should I ask in an LMS demo?

Ask to see rather than hear. Watch what happens when a screen recording starts and when the same account logs in on a second phone. Check where student fees land and whether you can export your data on the spot. Then ask for written answers on total yearly cost at your size, app ownership, exit terms and support hours on exam days.

How long should an LMS demo take?

Thirty minutes is enough for the essentials if you drive and keep to a plan. Cover the student app, protection, a short test, admin tasks, a live class, and money and data. A longer second session makes sense for shortlisted vendors, ideally with the staff who will use the admin panel every day.

Should I ask for a free trial after the demo?

Yes, if you can. A trial lets your team upload a real course, run a mock test with a few students and check the apps on more phones. Agree what the trial includes before it starts, and don't move live batches until the contract, payment set-up and export terms are settled.

How do I compare LMS vendors after the demos?

Use one scoring sheet for every vendor. Apply pass-or-fail gates first, such as fees into your own gateway, full data export and apps in your own developer accounts. Then score the remaining areas with weights that suit your institute. Compare total yearly cost at your expected size, not the headline price.