For as long as companies have been having meetings and advertisers have been soliciting consumer information, various types of audience response systems have allowed them to do just that. However, whereas many earlier systems were complicated for people to use, today’s audience response systems have become much more user-friendly and can be accessed through a user’s mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. As the technology has improved, so have the number of industries that have started to rely on interactive tools.
Electronic Polling and Voting
While electing public officials has not yet reached this stage, electronic polling and voting is used by major companies throughout the world. Viewed as a great way to replace such traditional voting methods as paper ballots or voicing a preference, these audience response systems can also be used to take attendance, pass parliamentary motions, change bylaws and amendments, and make sure voting is recorded accurately and in a secure manner. Used quite extensively in this manner at shareholders meetings, it has also been used by all branches of the U.S. military as well as state and local governments and fraternal organizations.
Pharmaceutical Companies Additional Advantages
Used extensively by the pharmaceutical industry for more than 40 years, audience response systems perform a number of key functions. Some of the most important include employee training and education, providing salespeople with training information at national sales meetings, offering easy ways for them to give feedback, and to analyze data gathered from specific demographic groups after product launches.
Healthcare
Of all the areas that have been impacted by technology, perhaps none have reaped the benefits more so than healthcare. Used by medical personnel for patient evaluation as well as for documenting various types of certification and auditing requirements, audience response systems are also used in a growing number of community outreach programs to gauge consumer interest in certain programs and allow program participants to rate the effectiveness of programs while offering anonymous opinions on how improvements can be made.
Government and Military
Just as in healthcare, audience response systems have found widespread use in many functions of the military and government on all levels. Local, state, and federal government agencies use these systems when holding town hall meetings or political conventions, and a growing number of politicians use these systems to give potential voters options for feedback about certain issues. Military branches such as the U.S. Army and Navy have used this technology to assist them in classroom training of soldiers as well as benchmarking of instructor-led instruction, allowing instructors to gain instant feedback from students who may be having difficulties with certain concepts.
Additional Advantages
Along with being used by numerous industries as well as all branches of government, audience response systems offer plenty of advantages. One of the most important involves real-time analytics, which allows teachers, managers, and others leading discussions to focus on certain areas of interest to the group. By having this capability, content can be shifted instantaneously and new discussions created that allow deeper exploration of certain concepts. By making this technology compatible with today’s most popular mobile devices, event organizers no longer have to worry about renting expensive equipment or having to have large sums of money in order to take advantage of these expanding technological capabilities.
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