How To Rent Voting Systems From Audience Response System Companies,
What They Are, and Where To Rent Them

If you need to rent audience response systems, visit the site we like best: www.audience-response-rentals.com where you get rental price quotes instantly, from some of the industry's very best audience response system rental companies.  Plus, you can order right from your quote.  When you do, the system assigns a Project Manager and creates an entire rental project for you, online. 

If you'd like to learn about the industry in general, we suggest the Audience Response Learning Center.  There, you will learn how to create interactive meetings, what devices to buy, where to buy them, where to rent keypads and software, how to author questions, and how to interpret graphs, all  through a series of audience response related pages.  There is also a section for classroom response systems.  For additional information on Reply audience response systems, you might also want to check www.comtec-ars.com.

Why Do People Use Audience Response Systems? The primary reason is that they want to engage the audience. There are probably as many different ways to use this voting technology as there are people using it. But, it always comes down to the same thing, engaging the audience to create an interactive meeting.

And, this is the perfect tool. It keeps the audience interested. It shows you how they feel on questions you've posed. More important, it shows them how they feel.  An Audience Response System is typically used for soliciting opinions, determining attitudes, or reinforcing learning. The most common applications are; presentation support, business gaming, focus groups, strategic planning, customer/employee surveys, group decision making, classroom training, and even parliamentary style audience voting systems.

Best of all, it's interactive! And, that's critically important in a world where Interactivity is everywhere.

What Types Of Systems Are There?

Radio Based Wireless Systems
Radio based systems are the technology of choice for the industry as a whole. We estimate that there are roughly 300 - 400 companies worldwide that sell and rent Audience Response Systems. The vast majority are using wireless RF equipment that is manufactured by either Fleetwood, Responsive Innovations, IML, Braehler, OneTouch, or a number of other small manufacturers.

The basic reason is that radio can cover very large areas, and is therefore capable of servicing meetings of not only hundreds of people with keypads, but thousands. And, there are plenty of meetings in huge Ballrooms and in Convention centers where an audience of 5000, 6000, and even 7000 people (each with a keypad) must be serviced. In cases like this, Radio Frequency audience response technology is by far the best choice.

Infrared Based Wireless Systems
In general, infrared technology has come a long way in the last 4 years, or so. And one of the areas in which it has been most successful is in Audience Response systems. Today, infrared is clearly a viable alternative for small audiences, and especially for classrooms.

By small, we mean something less than about forty people. Now, you'll hear claims that infrared can be used by groups as large as 100 - 200 people. While there is truth to that statement, we feel strongly that RF devices are the better choice for larger audiences.

However, in small audience voting applications, today's infrared technology is quite reliable. And, because it is less expensive to manufacture infrared devices than radio devices, it is often the technology of choice in low budget applications such as public schools where they are used as student response systems.

Other Wireless Voting Systems
There are a host of other wireless voting systems based on cell phone technology and PDA networking. It is our opinion that this is the direction in which the industry is ultimately headed.  Of these, the one we like best is offered in the USA through Audience Response Rentals (http://www.audience-response-rentals.com/cellular.htm).  It is a cellular service that uses SMS text messaging as its technology platform.  It is very easy to use, and extremely powerful.  We say that because it lets you send messages and questions to potentially thousands of cell phones around the world in as little as 30 seconds.  People reply to a question, answering with a number from 1 - 8 and responses are displayed as a pie chart in your browser.  It's pretty amazing to see in action.

Should I Rent or Buy?

If you think you will use an audience response system more than five or six times, you should probably buy.  But before you run out and do it though, check out the issues to ownership and general pricing at the Audience Response Place on their 'Pricing Info' page.

If you plan to rent, we suggest you read the do's and don'ts of renting at How To Rent An Audience Response System.  

And if you choose to buy, be sure to check ComTec Audience Response Systems for some of the most advanced, stable software in the industry.

This article is published by fan club member as a special interest story on Audience Response Systems and is within the guidelines of publishing for this site.

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