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EnglishHow to Rent an Audience Response System for Your Event: TurningPoint Keypads, Pricing, and Setup
Updated
Renting an audience response system (ARS) from ARS Rental is a per-keypad, per-day arrangement: the listed rate is $4 per keypad/day plus shipping, and each order includes a free online training session. This fits meetings and events where you want attendees to vote with wireless ResponseCard keypads and see results live inside a PowerPoint deck you already know how to build. If your event is a one-way lecture with no need for data collection, the rental is unnecessary; if you need tracked responses, pre/post tests, or post-event reports, it is the core use case.
What the rental includes and how it is priced
The pricing model is deliberately simple, and the site states there are no hidden or "gotcha" fees. The main cost drivers are:
- Number of keypads — one per voting attendee (plus spares, see below)
- Number of rental days — the rate is daily, so multi-day conferences multiply the keypad count by days
- Shipping — added on top of the keypad rate
A rough budget check before you request a quote: multiply attendees by days by $4, then add shipping. For example, 150 attendees over 2 days is 300 keypad-days, or about $1,200 before shipping. The site directs cost questions to its "How Much Does It Cost?" quote page rather than publishing a full price list, so confirm the exact total and any deposit or return-shipping terms when you request the quote.
The rental is described as do-it-yourself, and the free online training session is included to get you comfortable running the system yourself.
How TurningPoint works with your existing slides
TurningPoint integrates directly with PowerPoint, so you insert interactive questions into a presentation you already have rather than learning a separate authoring tool. The flow the site describes:
- Build or open your PowerPoint deck and add interactive question slides wherever you want audience input.
- Customize the questions like any other slide — the question and answer choices appear on screen.
- Attendees press the button on their wireless keypad that matches the choice displayed.
- Results display in real time, so the room sees the tally as it happens.
Because the questions live in PowerPoint, pre/post-test pairs, demographic questions, and knowledge checks can all sit in the same deck. The site also lists fast-paced games and post-meeting response reports as uses, which means the same keypads serve both engagement and data collection.
Planning the event: what to decide before you order
Use the same dimensions the rental depends on, and settle these before requesting a quote:
| Decision | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Keypad count | Attendees who will vote, plus spares for failures or late additions |
| Rental duration | Event days plus any setup/test day you need the equipment in hand |
| Content | Which slides get questions; whether you need pre/post pairs and demographic questions |
| Reporting | What data you need after the event and who receives the reports |
| Logistics | Who distributes and collects keypads, and how they are returned |
The site's stated benefits — improved attentiveness, knowledge retention, confirming audience understanding, and candid responses — are the reasons to add voting slides; they are not automatic, so plan questions that actually test the points you care about.
Setup and on-site checklist
- Test the full deck before the event, not just individual slides: run the question slides in presentation mode and confirm each keypad registers.
- Match keypad count to the room: count registered voters, not total registrants, and keep spares.
- Plan distribution: decide whether keypads are placed on seats or handed out at the door, and who collects them.
- Check the wireless environment: keypads are wireless, so confirm the venue's setup works for your room size and layout during your test.
- Use the included training to walk through inserting questions and reading results before you are on stage.
Common pitfalls
- Under-ordering keypads — a single missing keypad means a non-voting attendee; spares are cheaper than a fix on site.
- Slide and question mismatch — if a question slide is not set up as an interactive question, the keypads have nothing to respond to; verify each slide in presentation mode.
- Skipping the dry run — testing only in edit view hides problems that appear when results are displayed live.
- Forgetting the reporting step — if you promised post-event data, confirm the report format and timing as part of your plan.
To move forward, request a quote through the site's pricing page with your attendee count, event dates, and shipping destination, and confirm what the quote covers before you commit.