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What is ARS Rental?
ARS Rental is a rental service for a TurningPoint audience response system (ARS) with wireless ResponseCard keypads. Instead of a one-way presentation, attendees press a keypad button to answer questions shown on screen, and results appear in real time. The system integrates with PowerPoint, so interactive questions are added like ordinary slides, and the rental is described as do-it-yourself, including a free online training session.
What you get from it
- Live voting: multiple-choice responses from the audience as a session unfolds.
- Data collection: demographic data and pre/post-test questions to track knowledge or opinion changes.
- Reporting: response reports generated after the meeting.
- Engagement formats: fast-paced games and quizzes alongside formal questions.
Who it suits
Organizers of conferences, training sessions, workshops or internal meetings who already work in PowerPoint and want measurable audience input without buying hardware. Typical uses include confirming understanding during training, gathering candid opinions on contentious topics, and comparing views before and after a session.
Practical trade-offs
Renting avoids a hardware purchase and suits one-off or occasional events; frequent, year-round programs may find ownership more economical. A do-it-yourself model keeps costs predictable but puts setup and slide-building on your team, so budget time for testing keypads and question flow before the event. Keypad distribution and collection at the door also needs a plan for larger rooms.
As a next step, list your session's question types (single-choice polls, pre/post tests, games) and the expected attendee count, then request a quote sized to that plan.
How much does it cost to rent audience response keypads for an event?
ARS Rental advertises $4 per keypad per day plus shipping for its TurningPoint/ResponseCard rental, with a free online training session included and no hidden fees according to the site. For a 200-person, one-day meeting, that works out to roughly $800 in keypad charges before shipping; a two-day event would double it. Confirm the current rate and any minimum order through ARS Rental's quote page, since listed pricing can change and shipping varies by location and turnaround.
What the price covers and what to check
The quote is per keypad, per day, so your main cost driver is the number of voting participants, not the number of sessions. Ask these questions before booking:
- Event length and setup days: Are shipping and setup days billed as rental days, or only the days the keypads are in use?
- Return shipping and insurance: Who pays for the return label, and is loss or damage covered?
- Quantity buffer: A few spare keypads are worth the small added cost if attendance is uncertain.
- Software and training: The site says TurningPoint integrates with PowerPoint and that training is included with a do-it-yourself rental; verify laptop compatibility and whether a facilitator is available if you want hands-on help.
Is renting the right fit?
Renting suits one-off conferences, training days, or annual general meetings where buying a few hundred keypads would be hard to justify. For a recurring series of large events, or an organization that runs frequent workshops, buying may pay off over time; compare the rental total against purchase and storage costs. If your audience already carries smartphones, a web-based polling tool can be cheaper, but dedicated keypads avoid app downloads, login friction, and Wi-Fi problems in large rooms, which matters for high-stakes votes or anonymous feedback.
A practical next step: estimate your headcount, multiply by $4 and the number of billed days, add a shipping allowance, and request a written quote for that scenario so you can compare it directly with a purchase or software-based option.
How do I set up TurningPoint questions in my existing PowerPoint presentation?
TurningPoint works as a PowerPoint add-in, so you build questions as slides inside the deck you already have rather than in a separate app. ARS Rental's own description says interactive questions "can be customized just like any other slide in your PowerPoint presentation," and that a rental includes a free online training session to get you comfortable with the system.
A practical setup sequence
- Install the add-in and confirm the TurningPoint tab appears in PowerPoint. Do this on the machine you will present from, not just your office laptop.
- Open your existing deck and add a question slide where you want a poll, using the TurningPoint question options rather than a plain slide.
- Type the question and answer choices, matching the options to the buttons on the ResponseCard keypads (typically labeled A–E).
- Set the correct answer if you want scoring, pre/post-test tracking, or a grade; leave it open if you just want opinion.
- Test with one or two keypads before the event: open the presentation, start the poll, press a button, and confirm the chart appears.
- Run a full rehearsal in slideshow mode at the venue, including the receiver plugged into the presenting computer.
Matching question types to your goal
| Goal | Question approach |
|---|---|
| Check understanding mid-session | Single-answer multiple choice with a correct answer set |
| Compare before and after | The same question repeated as pre-test and post-test |
| Collect audience profile | Demographic questions at the start |
| Lighten the room | Fast-paced quiz or game format |
Decision criteria
If your session is mostly lecture with a few checkpoints, insert three to five questions at natural breaks and keep them short. If you need reporting afterward—for a training certificate or a stakeholder summary—decide the question set and correct answers up front, because that structure determines what the reports can show.
For rental specifics such as keypad counts and pricing structure, see ARS Rental.
What kind of response reports and audience data can I get after my meeting?
ARS Rental's page says the system can generate response reports after the meeting and supports tracking demographic data and viewing changes in knowledge or opinion over time using pre- and post-test questions. Those are the report and data uses the site itself describes; it does not list specific report formats, export file types, or chart templates, so confirm those details before you book.
What the page supports
- Post-meeting response reports: Results from audience votes can be compiled into reports after the event.
- Demographic tracking: You can collect demographic data alongside responses, which lets you break results down by audience segment.
- Pre/post comparisons: Asking the same or similar questions before and after a session lets you see shifts in knowledge or opinion.
- Candid feedback: The system is positioned for collecting audience responses to pressing issues, useful when you want honest input rather than public hand-raising.
A practical scenario
A training manager runs a two-hour compliance session for 80 staff. At the start, attendees answer three baseline questions on their keypads. After the material, the same questions repeat, and a short demographic question captures department and role. The post-meeting report then shows both overall improvement and which departments lagged, giving the manager a targeted follow-up list rather than a vague sense that the session "went well."
What to verify before renting
The page does not spell out report granularity, so ask the provider directly:
- Can results be exported to Excel or CSV, and are per-participant or per-keypad breakdowns available?
- How are demographic questions linked to individual responses?
- Are reports generated in the TurningPoint software on your own laptop, or supplied by the provider?
For comparison, Turning Technologies, the maker of TurningPoint, publishes its own documentation at Turning Technologies, which can help you judge report capabilities before committing.
Can I use audience response keypads for pre- and post-test questions or games at my event?
Yes. ARS Rental's page describes using rented TurningPoint ResponseCard keypads for both pre- and post-test questions and for fast-paced games, alongside demographic polling and post-event response reports. The workflow is designed around existing PowerPoint decks: interactive questions are inserted as slides, attendees press the keypad button matching the on-screen choice, and results display in real time. Each do-it-yourself rental includes a free online training session, according to the site.
Matching the format to your goal
| Goal | How the keypads fit | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Measuring knowledge change | Ask the same or matched questions before and after a session, then compare results in the reports | Write paired questions in advance and keep wording identical so shifts are meaningful |
| Games and energizers | Fast multiple-choice rounds with live on-screen results | Keep rounds short and rules simple; test timing during rehearsal |
| Discussion and candid input | Anonymous polling on contentious topics, with results shown immediately | Decide beforehand whether comments or open responses will be collected |
| Data collection | Demographic questions plus tracked responses over the event | Assign someone to export and interpret reports afterward |
For a concrete case: a trainer running a half-day certification course could open with ten baseline questions, teach the material, rerun the same ten questions, and use the reports to show each participant's improvement—then close with a quick keypad quiz game as reinforcement.
Practical next step
Build a short pilot deck first: one pre-test question, one opinion poll, and one game round. Run it with a small group to confirm keypad distribution, question clarity and result display before committing the full agenda. For larger meetings, the main trade-offs are the per-keypad daily cost, shipping, and the logistics of handing out and collecting devices—so confirm the count against expected attendance and decide whether pre- and post-tests need separate question sets.
For pricing details, see ARS Rental.
How do I get a quote and arrange shipping and training for a rental?
Start by requesting a quote through ARS Rental's price page, ARS Rental, which is the route the site provides for pricing. The published rate signal on the page is $4 per keypad per day plus shipping, and the site states that a free online training session is included with a do-it-yourself rental. Treat those as page-stated terms to confirm for your dates, not a final total.
What to sort out in the quote request
- Dates and headcount: Give the event dates, number of attendees and how many keypads you need, since the per-keypad-per-day rate scales with both.
- Shipping: Ask for delivery and return logistics to your venue, including when the equipment arrives and how it goes back. Shipping is listed as a separate cost, so get it itemized.
- Training: Confirm the included online training session and schedule it before your event, ideally with the person who will run the slides.
- Setup fit: The system is built around inserting interactive questions into an existing PowerPoint presentation, so mention your software and whether you need help with question design.
A practical next step is to draft a short email with dates, audience size, venue address and a request for a line-item quote covering keypads, shipping both ways, and training time. Before signing, ask what happens if the event date changes and who to call on-site if a keypad fails.
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