Since the dawn of democracy we have valued our ability to be heard. Since the explosion of social media, we have grown accustomed to having a real-time voice and being active participants in collective conversations. Bing Pulse allows broadcasters, organizers and other organizations to enable the conversation and allow their viewers and customers to be heard.

At Bing, we are committed to bringing together information from a variety of sources – the web, social media, and more – and enabling users to engage and act. Today, we’re taking this a step further with the launch of Bing Pulse 2.0 beta.

Over the past two years, Bing Pulse has enabled massive real-time viewer polling and feedback for a range of broadcasters and organizations, managing 35 million votes for events ranging from small auditorium conversations hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative to two of President Obama’s State of the Union addresses on Fox News. Most recently, Bing Pulse was adopted by CBS News for its program on the 50th anniversary of the US Civil Rights Act and was integrated into CNN’s election coverage. MSNBC launched its Great Debates series built around Bing Pulse’s audience engagement.

Now, Bing Pulse 2.0 beta brings an easy-to-use, self-service version of this voting technology to event planners, producers and participants of any size gathering.

Free during part of the beta phase, Bing Pulse 2.0 beta delivers unique benefits to both consumers and customers, including live event organizers, broadcasters, educational institutions, opinion research firms and more. Participants can make their voices heard, and make more informed decisions about the content they’re viewing by understanding others’ reactions to events unfolding in real-time. Event producers keep their audiences more deeply engaged, and can use audience sentiment to deliver content that best meets their needs. Bing Pulse 2.0’s self-serve technology enables event producers and organizers to bring these benefits to participants at events of any size – from 10 people at a nonprofit meeting to 5,000 people gathered in a Vegas ballroom to millions watching a nationally-broadcast show.

An estimated 80 percent of Americans use a second screen – a smartphone or tablet – to enhance their experience while watching news, sports and entertainment on television or attending live events. Bing Pulse enables broadcasters, organizers and advertisers to engage customers deeply on second screens.

To support and lead this phenomenon, Bing Pulse 2.0 makes it easy for businesses and other organizations to setup and for consumers to participate. Bing Pulse 2.0 beta features a highly flexible producer dashboard that puts the organizer in control of the experience by allowing them to easily set up, customize and control a Bing Pulse. This includes allowing their audience to provide real-time feedback throughout the event, pushing poll questions to the audience at any time, and customizing the look-and-feel of a Bing Pulse, including integration of social media handles or hashtags, to map back to their brand. The producer also has the ability to immediately view results in easy-to-digest graphics, and to share these results in real-time by displaying them live on in-room or on-air screens, integrating them into video feeds, and embedding them on their web site. Alternatively, organizers may choose to analyze insights and share them later.

Participants can vote from their browser on a web-enabled device across various platforms. With a click of the mouse or tap of the screen, audiences let speakers know if they agree or disagree as often as every five seconds. Voting is anonymous so participants’ privacy is protected.

Visit http://pulse.bing.com/ to see if Bing Pulse can help you, how it works and to give it a try.

– The Bing Pulse team