In today’s society, all handsets, regardless of who you purchase them from, operate on the 2.4 GHz band. The 2.4 GHz radio band is licensed and approved for use all around the world. Here in the United States, the radio laws and regulations are governed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in Europe the laws and regulations are governed by the European Commission (EC), and in Asia there are various governing bodies that establish the laws on radio transmission.
Around the world, the 2.4GHz band is typically the approved bandwidth frequency that wireless handsets are using to communicate radio signals; this happens to be the same bandwidth that WIFI devices use. So, if you have a cell phone, laptop, or other WIFI device that is communicating with the internet using wireless signals directed to a WIFI access point, it can cause interference. As a result, the busier the traffic gets to be on the 2.4GHz band, the more competition there is for signal which slows all the devices down. Our devices are not WIFI; they use a completely different channelization. They are not on the same set of 16 channels that WIFI communication uses; however, they are on the same spectrum. Our devices happen to be what is called Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS). That means they have more sophisticated proprietary radio chips. The radio chips used in our systems are not used in other types of technology as they are designed solely for interactive response systems. The radio chips in our system hop around using proprietary and secure algorithms. This allows them to hop around the frequency hundreds of times per second. There are multiple channels available for our FHSS radio chips which allow many keypads to be used in the same venue. The FHSS allows our devices to be very friendly with other devices on the 2.4 GHz band. Our system is allowed to have ten times more power than other handsets that are not using FHSS radio chips.
Most buildings, convention centers, schools, hotels, meeting facilities, and business enterprise locations have multiple WIFI access points. There can be very busy traffic on this 2.4GHz band; therefore, it is something you need to monitor. However, you can configure your system to avoid certain channels and you can configure the WIFI to different channels which allows the 2.4GHz spectrum to be shared very well between our Audience Response systems and WIFI devices. We will do this for you with a turnkey rental.
People at home can vote during a meeting directly from their smart phone, tablet or computer. Those attending the meeting can vote with either the keypads provided or web based audience response software.
All of the data from the local and remote audiences flows to the presenter’s computer for immediate tabulation and display. Instantly! Participants typically watch a live webcast streamed over the internet. They use an event app called the Virtual Interactive Participate (VIP) system to answer polling questions and contribute their ideas.
With the VIP tool there is no need to download or install an app on your iOS, Android or Windows device. You simply open your browser and join in a simple 10 to 15 second process. Virtual Participants are able to see polling questions, view PowerPoint slides, take surveys, and send questions and comments to the presenter. It all happens in real time. Option Technologies regularly provides audience polling software and rental fleet of iPads for meetings, symposia and delegate events. If you would like to learn more about the solution or experience a live demonstration please contact us. We would love to talk to you about the benefits and functionality of Virtual Interactive Participant!
