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There are many
reasons that are not commonly known or referred to by web-based service
providers:
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Licensing: With
HOMES you get permanent licensing for an unlimited number of
projects, so you don't have to pay by the lot or unit for each
project.
(HOMES can easily pay for itself on your first project, and the fees
for an ASP web-based application for a single project can easily
exceed the one-time fee for HOMES.)
-
With HOMES you can host
your own system, so you don't have to expose your data to 3rd
parties and you are not dependant upon their systems in addition to
your own.
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With HOMES, when
Internet access goes down, you are not left helpless at head office
because you are not completely reliant upon it. With web-based/ASP providers
you are completely dependant on Internet access for everything, and
that means if your Internet, your ASP provider (or anywhere
in-between) goes down your operation grinds to a halt until service
is restored. (Most Internet Service Providers claim about 99% uptime
which seems good, but at 99% that means you may be without service 3
or 4 days per year, and that may be multiplied by the number of
providers/servers between you and your ASP.)
-
If your Internet
connection is broken at the sales or site office, since HOMES is
actually running at your head office there's no risk of data
corruption or lost transactions because the program continues to run
at head office and is waiting for you right where you left off when
you reconnect. With remote desktop, you also have the option of
sharing screens/sessions with other users regardless of geographic
location at no extra cost, which is helpful for collaboration and
assistance.
-
Much Better
Performance (Less waiting): When accessing HOMES especially at head office, but also via remote
desktop, you get faster performance (less waiting) as you are not
sharing bandwidth with other builders, and you do not have to send
large amounts of data via the Internet (encrypted or not) because
with remote desktop you mainly just receive screen updates and you
only send encrypted keystrokes. (Having to encrypt all your data
(not only to remote offices but also to head office) increases
bandwidth usage and slows performance, and with web-based systems
more actual encrypted data has to be sent to you via the Internet
from a shared server.)
-
Similar to web-based
systems, HOMES does not have to be installed
at remote sales or site offices, so you only need basic
hardware: a computer with Internet access and a printer. HOMES
need only be installed at your head office and we are happy to
install and maintain it for you. (Typically updates only need be
installed on your server since local head office workstations load
the most up-to-date version from the server.)
Remote users can access
head office data using Remote
Desktop technology which is already included with Windows, and is a free download for
other operating systems like Mac®. (It is also available for iPad®.)
-
With HOMES you are not
limited to viewing one task screen at a time as you are with
web-based systems that must work with one web page at a time. HOMES
can load multiple projects simultaneously, and within each project
you can load multiple lots/units, lists and reports on the screen
simultaneously which greatly improves productivity and gets the job
done faster.
-
With HOMES there
are less liability concerns regarding your customers'
sensitive information since you can enforce your own privacy policy
without concern for whether a 3rd party provider's policies and
procedures measure up.
-
With HOMES Customer
Service you can perform Pre-Delivery Inspections without the
need for Internet access at the construction site. You still
have full access to all the customization specifications for each
lot or unit, and once the day’s inspections are completed, you can
just connect from anywhere with Internet access and automatically
synchronize with head office and generate the necessary work orders.
No need for unreliable and/or expensive full-time Internet
connections at the construction site.
-
Hardware requirements are very minimal and usually HOMES is
implemented without any additional hardware purchases necessary.
While hosting your own system does mean you should perform your own
data backups, with the advent of the new USB flash drives etc, it is
now a very inexpensive consideration and can be easily fully
automated without the need to purchase any additional software. We
are happy to help you set it up.
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