Research and Development Services Unit of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK), Finland, made a decision to start encouraging their seminar participants into more active dialogue. The earlier barrier for commenting in public was removed utilizing the SMS2Web feature of Widisys Wireless Event Manager.

"Interaction between the presenter and the audience is often likely to be very minimal. Commenting aloud does really not fit with us Finns - and separate voting gears in turn are often far too expensive. Then again, everyone seems to carry a mobile phone with themselves, ready for interaction", reasons Ms Riitta-Liisa Toppari, Service Secretary of the SeAMK R&D Services Unit.

SMS2Web feature consists of a web page displaying all the text messages sent to a certain number, and ready to be beamed onto the screen at the event. Commenting becomes easier, as the service allows the messages to be displayed as anonymous. In addition to free-form comment s and question s for the presenter, the technique allows also for quick opinion polls and votings to be conducted at the event. Remarks Ms Toppari: "Automatic archiving of the discussions was another important reasion for us to select this method".

”Seinäjoki University on Applied Sciences is innovative and forward-looking in everything it does. Pointing out the benefits of the SMS2Web feature was therefore a very straight-forward task”, muses Mr Petri Kaappola, technical assistant of the seminar, studying at SeAMK also himself.