How to evaluate electronic voting systems?
Sarfaraz Khan
Do you think that paper feedbacks are good enough for voting? With the vast overspread of work region, something electronic system is needed. If we are analyzing in the right direction, then I can say electronic voting systems, are best suited for this purpose. They are sharper as well as smarter.
An Electronic Voting System such as an ARS is a system of wireless keypads used by a presenter to poll the audience and receive answers to the questions being asked real time. Electronic voting systems can speed the counting of votes and can provide improved accessible responses by the audiences.
Electronic voting systems consists of various components such as a wireless keypad for the audience to feed response, a software system to capture response, a storage device to save responses and a display unit to display the data collected. When the presenter shows the PowerPoint presentation with a computer with built in ARS software; questions are displayed on the screen and audience responses with their wireless keypads. The answers are immediately sent to a receiver that is attached to the presenter's computer, and the audience response software collects and displays representation of the data within the presentation.
If there is attention of audience there is a true feedback. Any Electronic Voting System should also be able of tracking individual audience responses and displaying polling results immediately. And a summary report should be created immediately after the responses are collected.
The incoming data from the audience is stored in the database that is located in the host computer, and the reports can be generated for further analysis and judgment.
Its hardware includes two technologies to send data to the base station: These are Infrared and Radiofrequency.
" Infrared (IR): Infrared audience response systems are suitable for smaller groups.
" Radio Frequency (RF): are better suited for large group environments, RF systems can accommodate hundreds of voters on a single base station.
" Browser-Based: Browser-based audience response systems are still in the early phases of its development.
ARS applications and successful stories in Education
In the field of education if you are going to conduct a poll You only need to capture the thoughts and opinions of the students or trainees and evaluate them effectively With PowerCom software and electronic voting system the data is transferred to word, excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.
These systems may also provide a means for transmitting individual student opinion or vote totals to a central location for consolidating and reporting results. In the field of education and research electronic voting systems are used to get the feedback of trainer according to the trainees point of view. It provides the idea of education system and the providers effectiveness as well as positive points that should be enhanced and weaknesses also that should be avoided.
ARS applications and successful stories in Marketing Research
The use of keypad voting system is not limited to only education or training field; rather it is being used in marketing research also. Some companies are initiating approaches of keypad voting System to know the needs and choices of customers and clients. They arrange polls to know the interests of their clients and customers.
Audience response is also required in the departmental meetings, training workshops, Medical symposiums and a lot more. And the list will go on.
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