Reply® Technology Advantages
Low cost isn't a useful trait if a system is built cheaply.
Here's why Reply® technology is demanded for high value, professional audience response solutions.
With over 6 MILLION pads manufactured, Reply® Wireless Group Response technology has proven to be the choice of audience response and interactive meeting professionals who require the highest levels of performance, flexibility, and reliability in their applications.
We are one of the leading producers of wireless (RF) audience response systems, and Reply® RF technology provides a combination of advantages you will find in no other product:
- Reply® systems exclusively use radio frequency to exchange data between keypads and the system controller. Such wireless audience response and electronic voting systems are much easier to setup and, as necessary, move from location to location. Additionally, radio communications are inherently more reliable since these devices do not depend on a maze of cables and connectors. Competitive advantage: Reply® sets up in a fraction of the time required by competitive products. Setting up meeting areas with wired products means installing and securing a multitude of cables, and infrared systems generally require repeaters and concentrators.
- Reply® users enjoy unequaled flexibility. It is possible to walk about the room, transmit through or around tables, and move the pad about a work area while remaining linked to the presentation at all times. Competitive advantage: Reply® offers the freedom to move. Reply® also offers the ability to send and receive data through barriers and at a considerable distance. Wired systems are 'tethered' to a fixed location, and infrared systems are limited in range and subject to line-of-sight communications restrictions.
- The radio design of Reply® supports audiences of nearly every size. A single base station can communicate with of up to 400-2000 keypads (maximum capacity varies according to model). When base stations are operating on different channels, that means up to 3,200-16,000 keypads can operate in a single room (again, max capacity depends on model). Competitive advantage: Reply® is scalable out of the box. Both wired and infrared systems are significantly limited in capacity-per-controller and capacity-per-site.
- Reply® is fast. Polling speeds are adjustable, and they may be optimized to virtually any group size to ensure the fastest possible data collection. For example, responses from a small group of, let's say, 40 keypads can be processed in less than 1/2 second, whereas a large group of let's say 2,000 participants can be polled every 3-5 seconds (depending on product configuration). Additionally, certain Reply® models can 'time stamp' responses to as fine a resolution as 1/20th of a second for accurate speed scoring and true moment-to-moment polling. Competitive advantage: Reply® is quick and accurate. It offers "instant" response with no perceptible delays when viewed side-by-side with wired or infrared systems.
- Reply® offers long range in even the most demanding installations. Its radio design allows users to transmit information from wherever they are seated, without concern for any barriers (bodies, chairs & tables, equipment, etc.) commonly found in meeting and training environments. Also, several models of Reply® systems now employ spread spectrum technology to boost operating range even further. Competitive advantage: Reply® can transmit and receive data 5 to more than 10 times farther than most infrared interactive keypad systems. For example, the Reply® Interact Mini is designed to transmit data over 250 feet, while Reply® Engage is designed to transmit over 500 feet. Most infrared systems offer significantly shorter range, typically 40 to 50 feet (and some even less). Infrared is also limited to line-of-sight transmission, which means you need to know where the controller is, have a clear view of it, and point to it.
- Reply® wireless keypads operate and communicate with the system controller independent of each other.Competitive advantage: Reply® is robust. Many wired and infrared systems incorporate intermediary devices (junction boxes, repeaters, and even other pads) that, when malfunctioning, could jeopardize the operation of groups of keypads.
- Reply®'s two-way communication ensures that all responses transmitted by keypads are positively acknowledged as 'received' by the system controller.Competitive advantage: Reply® confirms to each user that data sent by the keypad was indeed received by the system. Infrared usually requires users to look at a grid on a projection screen and re-transmit their response manually if an entry was not captured.
There are, of course, many more advantages to using wireless RF response systems. We invite your call to discuss them in detail.