Upgrades for Rival Technologies

In Vancouver, Canada, conversational research specialist Rival Technologies has announced product enhancements including enhanced mobile-first, AI-enabled methods; community and survey administration features; and the addition of a proprietary 'Thoughtfulness Score' for open-ended answers.

Rival Technologies and its sister company Reach3 Insights merged with the Angus Reid Group (ARG) in May, under the Rival Group name, creating a company with projected revenues of more than $60m and operations in five US and Canadian cities.

Rival says the latest upgrades reflect its focus on practical innovation, including help with recruiting the right participants, managing communities, distributing surveys, and analyzing results - all in a streamlined platform that handles quant, qual and video responses.

On the AI front, the package includes a new Unstructured Data Agent (UDA), bringing together Rival's existing tech to transform open-ended survey feedback into actionable insights. A new Authoring Assistant pilot and AI Smart Probe support faster creation of conversational chat surveys, with tone suggestions and smart follow-ups.

Other new features include Pinterest Pixel Tracking, joining existing integrations with Meta, Reddit and Taboola; and new recruitment capabilities via QR codes, CRMs, and branded web sites and apps. There is also initial support for WhatsApp as a distribution channel, joining SMS and email.

The new Thoughtfulness Score evaluates open-ended responses across video, voice, and text on dimensions like relevance, clarity and emotional depth.

Admin enhancements include advanced filtering and sampling logic; a real-time Community Health Dashboard tracking subscription trends, engagement rates, demographics, and active participation; and back-end upgrades including member management tools, and survey distribution via external platforms.

Founder and CEO Andrew Reid (pictured) comments, 'These updates are about giving insight teams what they actually need right now. Smarter recruitment, easier community management, new distribution channels, AI that actually saves you time and respects the participant experience. We're building tools that help researchers move faster and dig deeper, without losing what makes this work human.'

Web site: www.rivaltech.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.