Audience response systems have many uses and benefits for society and it also has applications in a broad range of industries and organizations.

1. How Do Audience Response Systems Benefit Us?
Audience response systems have many uses and benefits for society and it also has
applications in a broad range of industries and organizations.
An audience response system (ARS) allows large groups of people to vote on a topic or answer
a question. Each person has a handheld device from which he can select a choice or answer a
question posed by the presenter. In this way, interactivity is created between the presenter and
his/her audience. Systems for co-located audiences combine wireless hardware with
presentation software. Systems with remote audiences may use telephones or web polls for
audiences watching through television or the internet.
Parts of an audience response system
The presenter uses a computer and a video projector to project a presentation for the audience
to see. In the most common forms of Audience Response Systems, presentation slides display
questions with several possible answers (also referred to as multiple choice questions) to the
audience, and they interact with the presenter by selecting the answer they think is correct, by
pushing the corresponding key on their individual wireless keypad. The signals are then sent to
a base station or receiver connected to the presenter’s computer. The audience response
software collects the signals and the result is graphically displayed within the presentation for
all to see, mostly in the form of bar graphs. It is up to the presenter to track individual
responses or receive it anonymously. Some devices also have additional keys which allow the
presenter to ask True/False questions to the audience or even questions requiring numerical
answers.
Benefits of Audience Response Systems

2. Audience polling or voting offers many benefits when used in group settings.
It improves attentiveness of the audience. Many studies have been done in university
campuses and all the results show that student’s attentiveness increases when an
audience response system was being used.
It increases knowledge retention of the audience since presentations become more
interesting, interactive and enjoyable.
It allows you to poll anonymously. It reduces the tendency of crowd psychology because
unlike hand raising or oral answers, it is difficult to see what selection others in your
group are making.
Provides tracking features which can be beneficial in academic settings.
Wireless voting systems allow you to display data immediately.
It allows you to confirm understanding of key ideas by the audience immediately.
It speeds up decision making process.
Allows you to create an interactive and fun learning environment.
The use of audience polling system also allows you to gather data for reporting and
analysis.
A few problems of using audience response systems
Audience response systems may pose some difficulties both in their deployment and use. Not
everyone may be able to afford the per-unit purchase of Audience Response Systems devices.
There will be maintenance and repair issues of the devices. The configuration, trouble-shooting
and support of the related presentation software will have to be made.
Applications of audience response systems
The applications of Audience Response Systems are many and they are used in education,
corporate training, delegate voting, market research, game shows, conferences and events,
executive decision making, continuing medical education and ROI assessment and
measurement.