How To Choose an Audience Response System

Have you watched a reality show on television lately?  If so, then probably you are familiar with the voting system that reality shows do to determine the winner of their search.  The show producers ask for the audience votes, and their choices can be sent through various media like phone calls, short message sending, or Internet voting.  This is basically what an audience response system is all about.

An audience response system’s main purpose is to engage the audience and let them interact with what is going on.  It is not only used in voting systems for TV reality shows.  This system is also used in interactive meetings, seminars, and conventions.  It is also used in focus group discussions, organizational surveys, strategic planning, training, and decision making. Being interactive, an audience response system makes the audience attentive and eager to respond.

There are various types of audience response systems that cater to different purposes.  These are:

1. Radio-Based Wireless Systems.  Radio frequency is used to get responses from the audience.  It is suited for events having more than 5,000 attendees.
2. Infrared-Based Wireless Systems.  Infrared devices are used to gain responses from a small audience of 40 to 100 people.  It is commonly used in classrooms or student voting.
3. Wireless Voting Systems.  Personal handheld devices are used to gain audience response.  This is when short message sending comes in handy and can be used by respondents from around the world.

If you think you will need to use an audience response system for your organization or for an event that you are organizing, you should first know the basics in choosing the right audience response system.  Here are some things you need to do:

1. Determine the purpose of the meeting or convention where the audience response system will be used.  Even when the event has not happened yet, being the organizer, you should at least have an assumption of how things will go about.  You need to know what the objective of the event is.  For example, is it going to be a training session for a team of individuals?  Is there going to be a decision making process involved before the session ends?  Knowing these details will help you decide on the type of audience response system to use.
2. Assess the size and capabilities of your audience.  Some types of audience response systems may not work with large groups and vice versa, as described above.  Knowing the size of your audience will also give you an idea on the budget that you can use for your audience response system. You should also assess if your audience is tech savvy or not, so you can adjust the gadgets to be used in getting their responses.
3. Determine the presentations that will be used during the event.  Some audience response system companies offer production of interactive slide presentations to captivate your audience more.

A lot of businesses and organizations today rely on what their customers and members think.  An audience response system effectively captures important responses that can help them improve their services.