Animated videos are a core part of content marketing, let alone the free open-source animation software tools help bestir the marketing and promotion, the passage reads as follows!

Animated videos come in an easy-to-digest format, much as a reliever from the overabundance of textual information available online. Most of the consumers always want to see more video content from big brands or the businesses they support. But putting out video content in there has its repercussions. Some handy free tools do help you save up some time, increase organic traffic, with marked growth in revenue, and increase landing page conversions. Video content can be Brand/Culture Videos, Video Blogs (VBlogs), Instructional Videos, Webinars. Nevertheless, human brain processes video 60,000 times faster than text. They enhance the emotional connection with viewers. But there are equal chances that you could be developing some sort of addictions that could hurt your brain.

Free Open-Source Animation Software Tools help create motion videos from cartoon structures or inanimate objects. These allow adding multiple effects like stop motion, motion capture, augmented reality, tweening, rotoscoping, VFX and Simulation. Animations involve two dimensions (2D) three dimensions (3D), Clay Mation, Cel Animation and Paint-On-Glass Animation.

Here is a list of best animation software tools (open-source) – in no particular order:

Blender

It features Rendering, Modelling, Animation, VFX, Simulation, Pipeline, Game Creation, Video Editing, Scripting and Customization. It is an advanced animation software tool, completely free to use. It can be used to create an array of animations and simulations for movies/games.

Synfig Studio

It features Vector Tweening, Layers and Filters, Bones, Animation, Bitmap Artwork and Advanced Controls. It is best used to animate cartoons and comics. It is two-dimensional animation software but can as well enable minor 3D aesthetic to the animation. While it focuses on Tweening, and Bitmap Art frame, it enables minor tweaking of colour bits. It’s a complete package for 2D animators.

Pencil 2D

It features Minimal Design, Raster and Vector workflows, Cross-platforms, Hand Drawn Animation and Bitmap Artwork. It is useful for creating intricate animation and hand-drawn animations and then animate it frame by frame along with adding real vectors to it.

OpenToonz

It features Powerful Drawing Tools, Indexed Colour Palettes, Effects and Compositing, Frame-by-frame Animation, Motion Tweening and Tracking, Scripting and Particle Systems. It helps in scaling and modelling of animation features. It can efficiently handle frame-by-frame animation along with tweening, tracking and scripting. It also has particle systems that help in a minute and intricate animation tweaks.

Maefloresta Tupitube

It features Rotoscoping, Stop Motion, Frame-by-frame Animation, Cut-out Animation, Hand-Drawn Animation and Virtual Assist. This tool is popular among kids, students, teachers and is good enough for creating simplistic design and UI, cut-out animation, rotoscoping and stop-motion animation.

GIMP

It features Image Manipulation Program, 2D Animation, Frame-by-frame animation, Simplistic UI, Hand-drawn animation and Basic Animation Program. GNU Image Manipulation Program works like Adobe Photoshop and is used to animate hand-drawn 2D figures and drawings. It also provides frame-by-frame editing and composition.

Krita

It features Compact UI, Brush Stabilizers, Brush Engines, Resource Manager, Pop-up palette, Wrap-around mode, Drawing assistant, Mirroring tools and OpenGL Enhanced. It is an open-source painting software, fully OpenGL enhanced which helps in drafting graphics for bigger projects.

Adobe Animate

It is a free animation software that helps design interactive vector and bitmap animations. It supports export to HTML5 Canvas, Flash/Adobe WebGL, SVG, and AIR. It has powerful toolset for animation that lets users create apps, multimedia content, and ads. It can be used to build game environments, integrate audio, and design start screens and interfaces. It has a simple frame-by-frame animation, and users can code right inside the projects. It features Asset Sculpting, Layer Control, Auto Lip-Sync, VR Authoring and Publishing. It saves Animate documents (FLAs and XFLs) incrementally. It comes with a quick auto-recovery mode. It helps to export images with the right resolution. It enhances asset warping. It optimizes text atlas outputs, generates multiple bitmaps and retains the audio effects when you split the audio, which is imported. This tool can also be used to create secure AMP-based ads and blend modes applied at the layer or frame level.

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D design and drafting platform that offer 3D modeling and visualization capabilities in addition to 2D drafting, drawing, and annotation tools. Additionally, AutoCAD allows users to view, create, modify, and share drawings using any smartphone or tablet while on the road. The tool is majorly used by architects, engineers, construction specialists, field personnel, and contractors. Along with photorealistic rendering, 3D scanning, point clouds, and more, users may manage solid, surface, and mesh modeling, 3D navigation, and visual styles with the help of 3D modeling and visualization tools.

VistaCreate

The online visual design platform VistaCreate (formerly known as Crello) provides a large selection of pre-made templates along with tools for modifying images and photos. A collection of 1 million+ royalty-free photos, movies, and vectors as well as 100,000+ editable design templates are included with the VistaCreate Starter subscription. Pro customers also have access to a premium template collection and over 70 million royalty-free images and videos. Users can use pre-made templates in various formats to generate graphics for events, branding, marketing, and advertising.

Renderforest

RenderForest is an animation software that helps users make explainer animations, slideshows, video CVs, music visualizations, promo videos, and intros all in the cloud. All you have to do is look through their extensive collection of video templates, select your favorite from dozens of categories, and begin editing online. Using their tools and cloud storage, the entire editing process is completed online. You can play with text and color schemes, as well as upload pictures and videos.

Selecting Best Open Source Animation Software

Watching a video can be pleasurable, as it does not require active participation, so it doesn’t take up as much energy for the brain to process. It is best for sharing personal stories about your company, history and brand; to form an emotional connection with the viewer and to show how to do something. The animation is as well treated as a primary element in content creation in the modern world. The animation tools discussed here are free open-source animation software and widely used to create VFX animations.

Top FAQs – Open Source Animation Software Tools

What is an Animation software tool?

Animation software are computer-aided tools that allow people to build motion graphics, moving images, and 3D models. These tools are used by designers and artists to build their animated videos on budget. Notably, the tools can be integrated with other third party tools like editing and drawing software.

What is the best animation software in the market?

There are several tools in the market and the best animation software depends upon your project requirement. Some of the best tools include –

• Blender
• Pencil 2D
• Open Toonz
• Adobe Animate
• AutoCAD
• VistaCreate

What are the top features of the best animation software tools?

Some of the must-have features of animation software tools to look for include animations, transitions, templates, rendering, 2D/3D modeling, content library, media imports, templates, drawing tools, audio editing, and video/image editing.

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According to a Research, mind mapping can boost productivity by about 23%, on average

Organizing and executing ideas into real life is much difficult than one may think. Statistically, a human mind gets about 60,000 thoughts in one day, including several improvement ideas & plans. However, the problem lies in execution and organizing these ideas. That’s where mind mapping software tools come into picture.

A mind mapping software is a tool to brainstorm and convert your ideas into visual diagrams. Mind-mapping tools can range from simple to complex depending upon the need to visualize and diagram the situation. The article, below, will cover top mind mapping tools available that have proven their worth in the market with their robust features and top notch results.

What are the various ways in which Free Mind Mapping Software can be useful?

• Idea into a Visual Sketch: They can help brainstorm and sketch out a solution by converting an idea into a visual design.
• Engineering + Software Development And Design: Mind Mapping tools also help create engineering diagrams, wireframes, and project timelines, and architectural plans/drawings, site-map diagrams.
• Business Intelligence: Mind-Mapping tools can be used to import and visualize live data from business applications in form of charts/diagrams etc.

Simple Steps to Make a Mind Map

The elements like the map’s central idea, branches, colours, keywords, images must be considered while creating a Mind Map. These work as binary or tertiary trees and grow proportionally. The basic steps to create these are as follows:

• Think of a main theme/category/idea around which you wish to create your application (e.g. Let’s assume that it is food)
• Then think of all sub-themes/sub-modules/all the factors concerned with this main idea (e.g. Types of food like bakery, dairy, cooked, raw)
• Make use of single words or very short phrases
• Add suitable images to complete your idea and understand it better
• Try to figure out two sub-points for each sub-category

Various mind-mapping software are available to accomplish this in less amount of time, with accuracy and relevant details.

Let’s have a look at the best free mind mapping software:

Compendium

This tool provides a flexible visual interface to manage the connections between ideas and information. Ideas can be converted into wireframes by adopting a certain methodology to support structured working. Compendium works well for projects of all sizes. Compendium helps in dragging and dropping the documents and websites onto a map. It enables freedom to arrange icons, tag keywords, map and label the connections between concepts to illustrate links, create dialogue maps to display links between the group projects, create argument maps collaboratively, editing each other’s writing.

Pricing: Free

Freeplane

It is a free and open-source application to a mind map that analyzes the information, creates the script, applies formulas and structures out the node format. It features: Simple script invocation, Simple Hotkey Assignment, Add-ons (packaged scripts), Format Panel, Formulas, Node formats, Attributes Panel.

Pricing: Subscription

Wisemapping

Wisemapping comes along with features like Flexible Deployment, Open Source Software, Full-Featured Mapping, Private & Public Workspaces, Security Integration, Drag-and-Drop Function, Text and Style Formatting, Icons, Notes, HTTP Links, Zoom In & Out, Autosave, History Recovery, Personal Workspace, Collaborative Workspace and Maps Import & Export etc. It is open-source, web-based compatible with all modern browsers and vector graphics animation technology.

Pricing: Free/Subscription-based

Semantik

Semantik is a mind-mapping application for KDE to create documents, reports, presentations. It can be used to edit flat trees, tables, text, pictures and convert into flat documents like presentations or reports. The interface is easy to use. This tool allows adding text/attachments for each item, add diagrams, support pictures, generate several documents – LaTex reports, LaTex slides, OpenOffice.org documents, HTML and plain text.

Pricing: Free

Xmind

It features a centralized image that radiates branches comprising key images or key words on associated lines. These are referred to as ‘Twigs’ and form a connected nodal structure.

Pricing: $39.99/6 months, $59.99/year

Coggle

It is an online tool to create and share mind maps and flow charts. It comes with an initial price per annum and is a browser-based application for taking notes, brainstorm, plan, document, research; report an idea or any other undertaking. Coggle also features Brainstorming, Publishing/Sharing, Flowchart, Project Planning and Templates.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $50.00 per year. But there is a free version as well. It also comes along with 3 free private diagrams, upgrade for unlimited private & advanced features.

Mindmeister

This mind-mapping tool includes everything from quick keyboard shortcuts to the ability to embed live videos inside the application. It comes along with some collaboration features to add members to the mind map, upvote, downvote the ideas and leave comments. It is widely used by businesses, academic institutions and creative consumers. It features: Activity/Newsfeed, Idea ranking, Mind Map, Workflow, Collaboration, Ideation, Status Tracking, Brainstorming, Presentation Tools, Publishing/Sharing, Project Planning, Templates.

Pricing: Its pricing starts at $4.99 per month, per user; however a free version is also available.

Microsoft Visio

Microsoft Visio is a cloud-based mind mapping software for creating flowcharts and diagrams that connects real-time data with corporate procedures and facilitates collaboration. The platform makes it possible to communicate complicated information using flowcharts, org charts, floor plans, and data-linked diagrams, among other visual aids.

A variety of pre-built templates are available in Visio, and they can be altered and tailored to meet specific business requirements.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $5/Month Subscription and goes upto $530 One time Fees

Lucidspark

A web-based whiteboard tool called Lucidspark was created to facilitate idea sharing and teamwork across teams. A variety of tools for brainstorming and collaboration are available with Lucidspark, including as sticky notes, commenting, freehand sketching tools, an integrated timer, up-votes, dot voting, and more. Teams can organize their brainstorming sessions using Lucidspark’s pre-built project templates, which include a 2×2 matrix, customer journey map, and project roadmap.

Pricing: Free Plan Available; Paid Plan starts at $7.95/User per month

Miro

With the help of Miro, remote teams of any size can collaborate to imagine, create, and construct the future. With Miro, remote teams may collaborate to quickly make decisions, simplify complicated concepts, and synthesize information. Diagramming, real-time data visualization, workshop facilitation, and integrated support for standard product development methods, such as agile techniques like estimate and retrospectives, are just a few of the innovative features that Miro offers.

Pricing: Free Plan Available; Paid Plan starts at $10/User per month

Conclusive: How to choose amongst the best Stats software?

Custom software development companies use mind mapping to reframe the ideas and get information that can be creative + logical. Every mind map makes use of lines, symbols, words, colour, and images and put them into brain-friendly concepts. These convert the idea of observation into pen and paper, giving it a colourful, memorable, and highly organized diagrammatic representation in a natural way. It can be compared to creating a city map where the city centre or city hub is connected to various roads and various landmarks like parks, schools, hospitals, cafes, hotels, playgrounds, museums are represented by picture icons or thumbnails.

Top FAQs – Open Source Mind Mapping Software

What is a mind mapping software tool?

A mind mapping software facilitates users to build, manage, and edit mind maps digitally, majorly used by project managers, students, and teachers. The tool is useful in building diagrams & charts to display useful information in an organized way with each idea/concept connected to each other.

What are top features of mind mapping software?

Some of the top features to include in mind mapping software are –
Template Library Having an in-built template library helps move things fast. Different types of templates can include concept maps, flowcharts, org charts, UML diagrams, etc.
Keyboard ShortcutsKeyboards shortcuts are the better way to perform basic tasks such as commenting, inserting shapes, or attaching anything
CollaborationFacilitating collaboration features such as note-taking, sharing, uploading, etc., help teams build things simultaneously
Organic Mind MapsOrganic mind maps allow users to draw free hand, like a whiteboard, and boosts create an approach to planning

What are the top benefits of using mind mapping software?

Mind mapping software has several benefits such as –

• Increased Creativity
• Enhanced Productivity
• Structured Problem Solving
• Engaging Learning
• Saves Time & Efforts
• Improved Critical Thinking

The post Top Free/Open-Source Tools to Accomplish Mind Mapping appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

About 77% architects believe that architecture software have had a major impact on the design industry

Long gone are days when architects used to prepare the designs and interiors on paper. With the world going all-digital today, there are plenty of free open source architecture software solutions available in the market. Architects today use these softwares to document, visualize, and create interior & property designs. Some of these softwares are quite expensive and burn a hole in the pockets. However, there are several free open source architecture tools available in the market that charge no fees from their users.
The article lists such top free open source architecture CAD tools along with a detailed overview and best features of each tool. Let us delve deep into the topic without wasting a second now.

Architecture Software Solutions are the tools used by architects to design the interiors of a home. These are based on smart building technology that makes it easier to create construction drawings, floor plans, 3D renderings, elevations, 360 panoramic etc.

Here is a list of the best open-source architecture software:

Sweet Home 3D

Sweet Home 3D is an open-source and free architectural design software. Users can create 2D and 3D previews, decorate and arrange their interiors, adjust the placement of various things in the house or office or the property that they are trying to create. This architectural drawing software allows importing and arranging furniture to create a virtual environment. It brings in one of the easiest and fastest ways to design the interiors of a location and show the 3D view. It lets users create detailed plans for separate rooms and the whole house, place furniture and various objects within, supporting the 3D model files at OBJ, DAE, 3DS format, ZIP files, KMZ files and many similar types. Importing is easy.

Features of Sweet Home 3D

• It is a cloud-based and on-premise interior design solution that is useful for creating 2D/3D house plans, update colours, texture, orientation, size of furniture and dragging and dropping things that are required.
• Sweet Home 3D helps designers and architects to draw house plans and arrange things virtually within the space.
• It allows drawing walls and rooms on one or more levels.
• It allows drag and drops doors, windows, furniture from a catalogue onto the plan.
• Users can update the colours, textures, orientation of the furniture and rooms.
• This software also enables giving a 3D view of all the changes.
• It allows for creating photorealistic images and videos with various light sources.
• Sweet Home 3D allows importing additional 3D models and exports the plan in various formats.

Blender

Blender is a free and open-source 3D modelling software. It is good for creating technical and architectural drawings – modelling, animation, rigging, simulation, motion tracking, rendering, compositing, 2D animation pipeline and video editing. It makes use of NPR techniques and similar procedures to create 2D models and render full projects which look similar to AutoCAD, Revit, ArchiCAD etc. Blender integrates other 3D graphic design programs and pipeline tools. It is normally in form of non-compiled Python Scripts which are essentially just text files.

Features of Blender

• This is suitable for high-quality digital animation, VFX, and game design on top of 3D printing.
• This software is suitable to be used for commercial as well as for educational purposes.
• It comes with the support of external libraries that are helpful in animation.
• It comes with a free license and a great set of tools for texturing and lightning.
• It has a very intuitive and easy to understand modelling workflows
• This architectural software is suitable for small businesses or for individuals that are low on budget.
• Its built-in cycles rendering engine gives an ultra-realistic rendering
• It also has a feature for storyboard

TAD

It is a platform with many components. This software comes with extreme querying capabilities and helps in getting objectivity from bubble-diagramming stages. It is based on building an information modeller.

Features of TAD

• This software helps users with iterative design architecture.
• It is composed of a flexible design system with add-ons extended functionality.
• It is composed of ‘Ardela’ which is a built-in language for creating architectural designs.
• This software comes with robust object orientation, offering a 3D view (draft).

FreeCAD

FreeCAD is an open-source model to create 3D and 2D figures. It comes with many components to adjust dimensions, extract design details, sketch geometry, change parameters, design real-life objects of any size, read and write many file formats like STEP, IGES, STL, SVG, DXF, OBJ, IFC, DAE and many others, workable on may platform like Windows, MAC and Linux.

Features of FreeCAD

• FreeCAD equips the users with modern Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools
• It also brings in the experimental CFD, BIM, Geodata workbenches, Path workbench, a robot simulation module
• It allows users to study robot movements

SmartDraw

It is a diagram tool used to create architectural patterns, flowcharts, floor plans, mind maps, project charts, and business visuals. It appears in two versions – online and downloadable editions for Windows desktop. It offers a complete suite of templates, diagrams, symbols to design residential or commercial floor plans, organizational charts, electrical designs, CAD and engineering diagrams, landscape designs, app and suite mock-ups, network diagrams, wireframes etc. It also features easy file sharing and integrations with Confluence, Jira, MS Office, GSuite Apps, Trello, Box and more. It facilitates file storage, sharing, and collaboration and allows importing, editing, exporting Visio files (VSD/VSDX). This tool is available offline and online.

Features of SmartDraw

• It can be used to add photos and images
• Smartdraw has auto-adjusting to add, delete or move shapes
• It has an automatic formatting feature
• Smartdraw is available in 100 languages
• It has diagrams based on charts
• It features collaboration tools
• Smartdraw can be used to create and edit diagrams online
• It makes use of design themes

Archi – ArchiMate Modelling

ArchiMate Modelling is a free and open-source modelling toolkit to create ArchiMate models, patterns and sketches that can be used by thousands of Enterprise Architects across the world. It provides a low-cost solution for those looking to model interior designs. It is a standard that supports the description, analysis, and visualization of architecture within and across business domains.

Features of ArchiMate Modelling

• It supports the ArchiMate® 3.1 language
• Dynamic Viewpoints, The Visualiser, Hints View
• It works across platforms – Windows, Mac or Linux
• It comes with Sketch View
• Canvas Modelling Toolkit
• It as well features modelling, visualization, simulation and diagramming

SketchUp

SketchUp free architect software that can be used to visualize and create schematic designs to construct documentation, 3D and 2D architectural designs, interiors, landscapes, furniture etc. This architectural drawing software is designed to act like a Pencil tool for drawing more complicated 3D drawings. It can be used to draw plans, elevations, sections, build details and title blocks. It is used to design animations, images, videos, create flyovers, walkthroughs and much more.

Features of SketchUp

• Sketchup is designed for web
• It comes with unlimited cloud storage
• It is supported by a large community
• It features a desktop client and is accompanied by 2D documentation
• It is suitable for model viewing
• It can be used to optimize your workflow and create 3D Warehouse
• Sketchup enables making users realize the augmented and virtual reality through designs
• It can be used to bend geometry with a single click
• It can be used to create photo realistic 3D architectural renderings and custom extensions
• This architectural design software can be used to generate cost estimated and cultists by exporting reports directly from the model

VectorWorks

Vectorworks is free architecture software, which is good for open-source 2D and 3D modelling, created by Vectorworks Inc. It is an on-premise application providing extensive 2D drafting, BIM and rendering capabilities for your architectural and landscape design requirements. The tools and features aligned to it make it easy to use and flexible. It is good for designing and development presentations and construction drawings. It is good for freelancers, start-ups, SME’s and Enterprises.

Features of VectorWorks

• VectorWorks can be used for Project Management
• It is good for managing tasks
• VectorWorks can be used for BIM Modelling
• It is good for Documentation Management
• VectorWorks can be used for Drafting
• It is good for Visualization / Presentation
• VectorWorks can be used for 2D Drawing
• It is good for 3D Modelling
• It comes with a smart options display
• quick search
• VectorWorks Graphics Module Cache
• Smart Markers
• Materials
• Grade Object Improvements
• Structural Grids
• Excel Import/Export
• 3D Modelling Enhancements
• Project Sharing Server
• Railings and Fences
• Detachable Tab Palletes
• Duplicate Array and Move by Points
• 2D Graphics and Presentations
• NBS Chorus
• Enscape for VectorWorks
• Live Data Visualization
• GIS Improvements
• History-Based Modelling
• VectorWorks Graphics Module Improvements
• IFC Referencing
• List Browser Direct Editing
• Great Section Views
• Data Tag Enhancements

RoomSketcher

RoomSketcher is a cloud-based program for iPad, Windows, and Mac users to draw floor plans and design their homes. This tool, which is available in English, Danish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish, is utilized by tech-savvy homeowners as well as manufacturers or retailers of fixtures, furniture, and accessories.

With built-in measurements and the ability to upload designs to serve as templates, the application can create clear, black-and-white 2D floor layouts.
For house design and remodeling projects, users can also choose 3D floor plans with branding, disclaimers, and texture changes.
Features

• Easy to use software to build house designs and create professional floor plans
• Instantly calculate the total area within the app, automatically and accurately
• Use an existing floor template or blueprint to draw your plan easily and quickly
• Easy one-click room & wall measurements, quick & accurate
• Draw walls and home designs that reflect real time image
• Access to a huge product library that includes furniture, plants, and other items
• Bookmark and save your favorite items, plans, colors, or furniture for future projects

Cedreo

Cedreo is a 3D software for designing homes that enable users to generate a full conceptual design presentation, including 2D and 3D floor plans and interior and exterior photorealistic 3D renderings, in only two hours with more than 7,000 customizable furnishings and materials.
Beautiful photorealistic 3D renderings may be produced by home builders to assist clients in visualizing projects before they are completed, improve communication, and increase sales. Users have the option of starting fresh with their designs or using and customizing earlier work.
Features

• Import an existing plan, dwg, or dxf file
• Model a land plot in 15-20 minutes
• Generate a scaled ground plan
• Draw intuitively and visualize instantly in 2D/3D
• Create cuts on your plan
• Preview different results simultaneously
• Download complete plants to scale
• Easily add dimensions and annotations

LibreCAD

LibreCAD is free and open-source 2D design software that enables users to produce accurate architectural designs, technical drawings, and other layouts. When LibreCAD was first launched in 2011, its goal was to offer a free and open-source substitute for CAD software. It is intended to function on a number of operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and different versions of Linux.
LibreCAD is an easy-to-use CAD program for a novice that provides a wide range of essential functions for 2D drafting, such as drawing geometry, layer management, annotation, customization, and excellent file compatibility.
Features

• It is available in more than 30 languages
• Built-in advanced dimensioning and snapping tools
• Basic 3D modeling & remodeling tools for simple figures and shapes
• Easy & quick import/export DXF and DWG file formats
• Manage complex drawings with groups, blocks, and layers
• Cross platform support & file sharing, available on Linux, Mac, and Windows

Selecting The Best Free And Open Source Architecture Software Solution

The choice of a tool to design the architecture/interiors of space should depend upon the value for money, ease of use, customer support, and features. Hope this list helps you in making the best selection. React out to us in case of queries or if you want us to add more to this list.

Top FAQs – Top Free Open Source Architectural Tools

What is an Open Source Architectural CAD Software?

An open source architectural CAD tool is a computer-enabled designing software that helps engineers, architects, and designers to visualize & build blueprints, models, remodeling, and 2D/3D architectures.

What are the benefits of Architectural CAD Software?

Some of the top benefits of using architectural CAD software include –

• Faster Renovations Designs
• Better Accuracy in Designs
• Enhanced Productivity
• Easy Design Previewing
• Manage complex drawings with groups, blocks, and layers
• Better Communications & Documentation

What are the top features of Architectural CAD Software?

Architectural CAD software aids architects in creating impressive designs using technology. Some of the top features of Architectural CAD tools include –

• BIM Modeling
• Design Templates
• Document Management
• Version Control
• 2D Drawing & Modeling
• 3D Drawing & Modeling
• Architectural Symbol Library
• Smart Designing Tools

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HOA software are the cloud-based solution that features tools to manage communication, maintenance, and structure-property management business. Learn what colligates!

Imagine you’re going for a land purchase. A team of associated experts come together, meeting each other for the first time, and coordinate their actions to make it happen for you. Your outcome is utterly dependent on how well they work together. You start to think that they are only human, and your collaboration will absolutely make or break a project together. In general, a lot more flexible configurations of a team and teamwork on the fly helps quickly get up on speed and get the necessary work done.

What is a Homeowners Association?

A homeowners association (HOA) is a planned community of people to assist people who wish to purchase the property. The members of HOA jurisdiction (people who buy land with the help of HOA) have to pay HOA fees. Alternatively, some HOA is restrictive of how people use their properties.

HOA consists of a community’s residents. These comprise single-families, multiple-unit-buildings or neighbourhoods. It has a board of directors or governors elected to oversee the HOA’s rules and regulations.

How does HOA help?

HOA assists people in buying a home within a community where there is HOA. It typically has rules in a document called a declaration of covenants, conditions, restrictions (CC&R’s). These set conditions for owners about the maintenance of their properties.

HOA may impose fines on non-compliant homeowners. Its’ conditions sometimes include structural restrictions – its CC&R document outlines the penalties for violating the guidelines set forth. Such penalties range from fees to forced compliance or litigation in some cases.

What’s the difference: Homeowner Association vs. Community Association vs. Property Association?

HOA’s operate by state laws. They focus on shared goals, brainstorms options, make decisions, and move forward. Some states also consider condominium-based HOAs – known as “condominium communities” as property interests of these organizations differ. The designation “community association” serves as a broader term for HOA’s, condominium communities, and co-op boards.

HOA differs from property owners association (POA) as HOA refers to a group of people who look after the well-being of their community and real estate values of the property in their community. POA might include anyone interested in volunteering for this work. They might not own a home in that community, whereas HOA includes people who own a home in that community;

Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeowner Associations

The Homeowners Association (HOA) provides regulations and guidelines for its members. Such standards imply rules like cleanliness of the property, condition of the property, and any due repairs.

Advantages:

• Also, HOA management provides additional services to its members in exchange for their HOA fees like landscaping, parking lots, and facilities like swimming pools, tennis courts, or party spaces. Often HOA fees also cover the cost of trash collection and snow removal.
• HOA’s self-govern, enforce community rules and protect property values, services, amenities, and facilities.

Disadvantages:

• They often have to set fees, set dues, mark assessments, impose restrictive regulations, operate inefficiently, and manage ineptly.
• The high cost of association fees can cause their prospective buyers to rethink.
• HOA rules can be restrictive for some ‘homeowners’ who may want to customize their properties.
• HOA’s can wield significant legal and financial power on the property owners in their zone.

How do HOA’s earn?

HOA’s collect monthly or annually HOA fees, typically $200 – $400/month. But, they can range from $100 – $10,000. These fees also contribute to the association’s reserve fund for ‘reservation projects’ or emergency use.

HOA also imposes special assessments for homeowners when the association lacks sufficient reserves to pay for unexpected repairs on common areas, such as sidewalks or parking lots.

HOA’s can impose fines on homeowners who break the rules or damage the common areas.

HOA’s can also place a lien on a property if a homeowner falls behind on their dues.

What legal powers does an HOA have?

Individual HOA’s have legal powers at different levels. They can enforce community policies like (1) smoking, (2) keeping pets, (3) rentals and can also decide budgets for building and charge monthly or one-time fees to their members. If a member refuses to pay these fees or to comply with the community policies, there’s a lot that an HOA can do. These penalties can include monetary fines, restrictions in community privileges and even litigation.

What is an HOA Software?

HOA software automates everything discussed above. These are cloud-based solutions to handle a large amount of scattered data judiciously and offer – (1) accounting, (2) property management, (3) amenity bookings, (4) calendars, (5) announcements, (6) resident portal, (7) parking, (8) communications, (9) resident data management, (10) work order and rule violations management, (11) integration with accounting partners, (12) knowledge base, (13) document library, (14) customizable forms, (15) help view status certificates receive community (16) updates, (17) online payment processing, (18) website management, (19) work order management, (20) member communities, (21) event management, (22) calendar management, (23) committee management, and (24) member directory, (25) track maintenance requests, and (26) community websites in a single platform. These offer the friendliest, user-friendly tool packed with features to ease decision-making for homeowners association (HOA) and satisfy customers who wish to purchase the property.

Why is a Digital HOA Solution necessary?

Many residential colonies have an associated Homeowner’s Association (HOA) structure to help maintain a clean and cohesive atmosphere in the neighbourhood. HOA can spare the homeowner from some responsibilities. They can as well come off with obligations for homeowners. An HOA solution helps manage such tasks efficiently.

Features of HOA Software:

• Collaboration Tools
• Access Controls/Permissions
• Document Management
• Meeting and Social Event notices
• File Sharing
• Third-Party Integrations
• API
• Document Storage
• Contact Management
• Reporting & Statistics
• Billing & Invoicing
• Portfolio Management
• Data Import/Export
• Email Marketing
• Activity Dashboard
• Mobile Access
• Accounting
• Reporting/Analytics
• Tenant Tracking
• Maintenance Management
• Online forms and applications
• Creation of payment portals
• Communicating to residents via their preferred method (Text, Facebook, Email, etc.)
• Custom websites
• Ease of access to information

Technology Trends HOA Should Follow in 2021

Scale up your amenities. Have a clubhouse, pool, gym, or extensive common areas, party halls and always be on the lookout for how you can better them off;

Top Outstanding HOA Homeowner Association Software Options

Bitrix24

Based on PHP, JavaScript, HTML, Bitrix24 is a free collaboration platform that offers free inventory management in CRM. It comes with instant WhatsApp for messenger-based sales, and scrum for streamlined project collaboration. It enables using self-hosted version to run on the server, giving complete control over data, source code access, and additional tools, such as helpdesk, and e-learning with integration, and customization options.

Urbanise.com/Strata

Urbanise Strata platform is a cloud-based system to manage apartment buildings, large housing communities, and large commercial towers. It features intelligent automation, streamlined processes, and a scalable model.

AppFolio Property Manager

It lets you manage your entire residential portfolio on one intuitive platform. It streamlines processes and smart automation, enabling you to focus on communities, and deliver an outstanding resident experience.

Buildium

It is a property management solution that lets real estate professionals manage property portfolios, including leasing, operations, and accounting.

Wild Apricot

Trusted by over 32K organizations, wildapricot enables you to manage your contacts, process payments, send out emails, register event attendees, create a website, and do many similar tasks. It features a friendly interface assisting in small associations, non-profits, state and local chapter organizations, managing memberships, websites, events, and more all-in-one places.

Yardi Voyager

It is a web-based, fully integrated end-to-end platform that helps manage operations, execute leasing, run analytics, and offer innovative tenant, resident, and investor services. It supports multiple browsers, and mobile devices, and provides instant access to data.

Rentec Direct

It is a property management software that offers tools for landlords to easily manage properties and tenants. It is a complete management solution for professional property managers. It features tenant screening with instant credit, eviction, and criminal reports on your tenants. It supports multiple platforms and is suitable for businesses of all sizes.

PayHOA

It is an umbrella solution to manage HOA 100% online. It offers 30 days free trial, no credit card is required and can be cancelled anytime. It comes with pricing plans to suit the small, medium, large, and enterprise organizations.

Condo Control

It offers tools to property managers to be more productive, responsive, and efficient. It equips self-managed associations in record keeping and improving operations for concierge staff, and residents.

LandlordTracks

It is a property management software that features Automated Rent Collection, Partial Payment Tracking, Global Search, Tenant Screening, Lease Management, Automated Reminders, Online Maintenance Requests, Online Rental Reservations, Rental Listing Syndication, Lease Generation, Move-in Move-out Wizards, Debt Collection, Legal Management, Tenant Portals, Owner Portals, Vendor Portals, and Document Management.

Yardi Breeze

This property management software helps manage all properties from one device, streamlines workflows, view daily, weekly and monthly activity calendar, centralize communications with residents, participants, and landlords. It also let’s manage and report on corporate and property finances, and operations. It controls data, and feature access for all users at the property and menu levels.

Front Steps

Front Steps is a comprehensive home-owners association software solution that closely connects entire community inside one single platform. It is a highly integrated platform that enables better cashflow, auto locking, validation files, approval workflows and override. It lets buyers search through a full database of current listings on the website and leverages a host of CRM tools. Offers next level experience, and develops customer relationships.

DoorLoop

It is a rental property management software that helps in leasing your property, managing work orders, automating accounting, and growing portfolio from anywhere with ease. It works well for residential, commercial, student housing, community associations, and affordable housing.

Conclusion

HOA solutions provide tools such as – (1) CRM, (2) document management, (3) tasking, (4) time management, (5) project management, (6) user profiling on social media, (7) making decisions about maintenance and upgrades that essentially help homeowners associations to manage their people. Follow us for an update on more such relevant topics.

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The post Enliven HOA Software for Your Homeowners’ Association appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

A gist on POS systems – what is it, what does it feature? What is the need? How it evolved? What are the popular ones? what are their benefits? How does it changing the restaurant industry!

With scarce or intermittent seating, restaurants are still recovering from a tough 2020. With the lifting of restrictions, there are signs of recovery with social distancing norms in order. Technology has been rippling the restaurant and food processing industry to wade the traditional way of taking orders in writing customers’ – on a piece of paper and then communicating the order to the kitchen. But it often resulted in missing the special instructions by the customers and the probability of mixing the orders. Now, Restaurant Point of Sale Software has completely digitalized taking orders directly from a tablet or mobile.

What is POS software for restaurants?

A restaurant point of sale terminal is a desktop application that tracks sales, cash flows, and food inventory. It helps business owners in managing their business by simplifying the underlying processes. The use of ‘point-of-sale’ terminals does not affect various restaurant attendants or staff members. It removes the complications from the process of handling a large number of orders or a tapering inventory. Some such free POS software can track repeated visits by the customers to multiple branches.

Features in Restaurant POS Software

• Split a check
• Modify items
• Create customized menus
• Offers loyalty points, gift cards, punch cards, loyalty stamps
• Tracks customer engagement
• Customizable menu
• Customer management
• Staff performance tracking
• Reports
• Inventory management
• Sales reports and tracking
• Employee clocking
• Tablet compatibility
• Receipt printing
• Menu building
• Accounting integration
• Easy to use
• Credit card processing

What does a POS Solution should have?

You require a cloud-based solution. Cloud-based POS systems upgrade to keep up with technological advancements.

A POS terminal tracks sales and financial data. The input of the cloud platform assists in ‘key’ reports and sales performance.

It allows the guests to order and pay at the table. Thus, it lowers labour costs, guest-server interactions and streamlines the whole operation.

It seamlessly integrates online ordering and delivery platforms – to enable sales with zero commission and own guest relationship.

How Point of Sale terminals evolves over five eras?

• IBM first introduced Point-of-Sale Systems in the ’70s. These were desirable with the need of automating the process. Businesses didn’t want to rely on separate systems to handle sales, inventory, and other functions.
• Point of sale systems became common when ‘systems’ started integrating loyalty programs, time clock tracking, vendor ordering, happy hour discounting, customer profiles, integration with kitchen display systems, and more.
• Migrating to the cloud changed the world of POS forever. There was a time when the ‘point-of-sale software’ had to be installed locally on the machine that would run it. Now it can be accessed on-demand through internet-enabled devices.
• Handheld POS systems assist restaurateurs in exploring and scaling their restaurant experience, improve guest touch-points, increase ‘revenue’ and employee satisfaction.
• The future of POS systems holds integration of credit and debit card processing, gift card, loyalty, table management, and mobile-friendliness.

List of Popular Restaurant POS Systems

POS Application Using by Restaurant Chain

Sushi Teria: Enhance and streamline customer experience and business operations relating to sales – cash flow – food inventory – order management – table reservations – bookkeeping – food costing – marketing via outreach campaigns for food and beverage businesses – cafes – food trucks – bars through classic Restaurant POS Systems.

More examples include Floreant, TastyIgniter, UniCenta, SambaPOS, Point of Success, eHopper, Square, Linga rOS, and eZee Optimus.

Benefits of Point of Sale Terminals

• The advancements in restaurant POS helps in generating more accurate reports.
• It enables upgrading menus and frequently upgrading without any printing costs, and in splitting the checks;
• POS could show more than just the taxes. It showed total credit card transactions, cash transactions, and overall restaurant sales.
• Cloud-based ‘Point of sale’ software is also known as ‘Software-as-a-Service’; It stores data on remote servers and makes information accessible online 24/7.
• Cloud technology ensures no data loss due to a technical, human-made, or natural calamity.
• It assists the restaurateurs in making better guest ‘experiences’ and builds efficient work environments.
• Tableside POS tablets enable customers to consult the menu on an ‘iPad’ and place an order, saving time on the server.
• Customers can leave their feedback/opinions at the end of their meal.
• POS software saves time by reducing server trips to the terminal (guests want to erase their credit card details.
• It integrates with the inventory in real-time. It helps restaurateurs track and manage their raw ‘material’ and stock in the kitchen instead of spending countless hours on manual calculations.
• POS also helps know the shelf life of the products and how long the current stock will last, allowing setting reminders to order when it gets depleted, know top selling items on the menu, and helps reduce wastage.
• It reduces the risk of pilferage by assigning permissions to access the inventory.
• A POS-enabled inventory management system helps if a restaurant operates from more than one location. It helps in centralized supervision.
• Integration of customer resource management (CRM) helps restaurateurs with customer data in email marketing and influences loyalty programs and online ordering. It does not require the restaurant owner to be physically present to ensure that his restaurant runs smoothly. They need to log on to the cloud software to keep an eye on their business. They can check – (1) employee check-ins, (2) payroll, (3) footfall, (4) sales, (5) status of food supplies with just a few clicks.

How the Modern POS is changing the restaurant industry

Restaurant POS has traversed along from only billing to complete restaurant management systems. It includes stock, inventory management, detailed reporting, customer relationship management and a new-age cloud restaurant system to provide complete automation of the restaurant operations. Changes in the technologies bring about innovations in the foodservice industry – Online ordering, online payment integration, increased customer engagement, and chain management. Modern ‘Point of sale terminals’ are helpful to the restaurant industry in two ways:

• As restaurants focus on stellar guest ‘experiences’ and a streamlined approach, POS systems enable the employees on the floor (rather than running back and forth with every order placement).
• Deployment of POS systems has resulted in low labour operations, which drives ‘performance’ and customer experience.

In Conclusion

Point of sale terminals has become a necessity for (1) large restaurant chains, (2) big businesses, (3) small, (4) mid-sized companies, (5) restaurants as well. These machines are cost-prohibitive for some businesses, which could not justify the expense of a machine that could cost thousands of dollars.

POS was a transactional tool for processing and tracking sales. However, the wealth of management technologies, reporting capabilities, and business intelligence that POS systems now offer is increasingly rendering these systems as critical resources;

Also, top custom software development companies create handheld or Kiosk based free POS software merges with cloud computing to add a layer of ease – it remembers debit/credit card details for convenience. It provides complete control over their restaurants from anywhere. It is helpful if your restaurant ticket times are running ‘slow’ if voids are too ‘high’ – if sales are too low – if the restaurant owner is away. We hope you find it insightful helps; follow us for more!

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The post Briefcase Study: Restaurant POS Software appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

Let’s weigh the best Gantt Chart Software; we’re picking the ones that are free and open-source!

Project management is a complex mix of activities – straight out of initiation, idea generation, planning, designing, coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance. Gantt charts are helpful in the project development process. It outlines all the tasks involved in a project and depicts them on a timescale. It gives us an instant overview of the project, its associated tasks, and the exact timeline.

Why are Gantt Charts important?

Gantt charts allow us to plan and schedule projects. They help assess the overall time that the project will require. It also estimates the time that every single module requires within the project.
Gantt charts help project managers in making important decisions. These do not limit the scope or timeline of any project. If it goes for weeks – months – years, it is possible to graph it on Gantt Charts. It goes like this – You may start a task only if the previous ones in the queue completes.
If the task completes in a few iterations, then a simple excel sheet or paper calculator can suffice. But in case there is a complex project with numerous ‘tasks’ – you’ll require Interactive Gantt Charts.

What is the purpose of Gantt Charts?

Gantt charts represent the project steps pictographically. It manages the project efficiency and can be simple or complex depending upon the nature of the project. Gantt charts make the project look easier with clearly defined boundaries and start and stop destinations. It does not overwhelm the user with loads of information. Gantt Charts enable the project teams to – Collaborate, Manage Tasks, Manage Resources, Plan, and Track projects.

How does it look?

Gantt Charts typically represent bar charts for scheduling the project and showing the dependencies between different tasks according to date/time.

What are the best benefits of Gantt Charts?

It improves – (1) team productivity, (2) resource planning, (3) helps manage complex information, (4) clarifies project requirements, (5) combines information from all tasks and shares it with all stakeholders, (6) tracking the project’s progress, (7) communicate within a team, (8) check dependencies amongst tasks, (9) avoid work-overload for employees, (10) Improved Time Management, (11) Manages remote teams, (12) provide accountability and transparency in the software development lifecycle.

Features of Gantt Chart Tool

• Setting task dependencies
• Set planned and time date/time
• Set milestones
• Critical path
• Project progress line
• Ability to align a custom project budget
• Track the project cost
• Assign tasks, issues, and risks to the project.

List of the best Open-Source Gantt Chart Software

GanttProject

It is a free desktop project scheduling app. It is easy to use, mature and reliable and free for any purpose.

Main Features of GanttProject

• Easy to start
• Clean user interface
• Data exchange
• It is free of charge
• Has an Open-source codeSet tasks and milestones
• Evaluate baselines
• Microsoft Project import/export
• Examine and allocate the resources
• Management of the task
• PERT chart generation
• Structure of work breakdown
• Draw dependency
• Export to CSV and produce PDF/JPG/PNG files
• Various options to work together with contemporaries

dotProject

dotProject is an open-source project management software to create Gantt Charts. It is easy to use and has an interactive interface.

Main Features of dotProject

• Easy issue tracking
• Simple and easy to use user interface
• Security management and user permissions
• Company/client management
• Upload/download/sharing of files
• Task dependency and dynamic tasks
• Project management and planning
• Gantt charts and contact lists
• It calculates planned durations and actual time spent
• Target budgets
• Nodal user permissions
• It has discussion dashboards
• Project delegation, milestones, and statuses
• File checkout and reporting
• Collaboratively multiple users can work

OpenProject

This Gantt Chart Software allows managing project timelines, scheduling tasks, visualizing required steps to complete the project. It displays the phases and milestones in the project and the relationships between them. It integrates with task management to update the start and end date and uses simple drag and drop of the element on the timeline. The timeline contains data that syncs with the Gantt chart.

Main Features of OpenProject

• Bug tracking
• Cost reporting
• Team Collaboration
• User groups and permissions
• Agile and Scrum view
• Task Management
• Road-mapping
• Offers task boards and backlogs
• Budgeting and Reporting

Agantty

It gets to your first project within 10 seconds. It is a ‘free’ project management tool without limitations. It is suitable if you’re working with a small or mid-size team and have trouble managing tasks. It helps you organize and plan unlimited projects, tasks and teams.

Main Features of Agantty

• Google Chrome plug-in
• User groups and rights management
• PDF export of tasks
• Set team and user permissions
• Limitless projects, ‘tasks’ and users
• Feedback button to flag bugs
• Free Gantt chart-centric solution
• Facilitate quick resolution

ProjectLibre

ProjectLibre accommodates all sorts of Gantt Charts, even if it goes beyond your webpage. It attempts to minimize unnecessary scrolling. It is easy to create tasks with or without start and end dates. It is easy to insert Gantt charts made with ProjectLibre and insert them into project documentation.

Main Features of ProjectLibre

• Gantt chart, WBS/RBS charts
• Value Costing
• Resource Histograms
• Visualize the critical path on a single dashboard
• Coordinates with Microsoft Project
• To understand the availability of resources
• Network Diagram

OrangeScrum

OrangeScrum is an open-source Gantt Chart Software with well-defined task timelines that prevents unwanted delays and keeps the team in sync. It is easy to manage task dependencies with drag-n-drop linkages; arrange tasks in a single view. IT Teams, Marketing teams, Remote teams, Creative Teams benefit the most from OrangeScrum.

Main Features of OrangeScrum

• Agile Project Management
• Task Management
• Kanban View
• Time Tracking
• Timesheet
• Resource Management
• Reports And Analytics
• Mobile App
• Project Template
• Custom Task Status
• User Role Management
• Workload Management
• Gantt Chart
• Slack Integration
• Google Calendar Integration
• Recurring tasks
• User role management
• Resource utilization
• Agile Project and Task Management
• Task, resource reports, and analytics
• Time tracking and Invoice
• Native mobile apps –iOS and Android
• To efficiently manage clients
• Project templates

TeamGantt

Companies like Amazon, Netflix, Nike, Intuit, Lush -use TeamGantt to manage their projects. It allows you to plan, manage and schedule your projects with free Gantt Chart creator. It also enables you to invite clients and teams to collaborate on your Gantt chart and project plan.

Main Features of TeamGantt

• Outstanding Gantt charts
• It features customizable views
• Noticeable to the availability and workload of the teammates
• Team Communication
• Collaboration options
• Resource Management and capacity planning
• The free option holds no time limitation
• Three user accounts
• Export to PDF
• Mail Reminders daily
• Team Members share projects
• Update of team progress
• Features tasks, filters, and dependencies
• Real timeline vs. planned
• Drag-and-drop functionality
• Easy-to-use frontend

Tom’s Planner

It is a free Gantt Chart software to create and share professional Gantt charts in minutes. It allows drag-n-drop and is very easy to learn.

Main Features of Tom’s Planner

• Free updates
• Create and share a professional Gantt chart
• Email support and flexible
• Drag & drop simplicity
• Right-click menus
• Easy filtering
• Task management and dependencies
• No installation requirements
• Custom colour coding
• Dynamic Project Planning
• Visualize your work
• Simple Gantt chart software
• Monitor your progress
• Multiple projects? No problem
• See Timeline View in action
• Set task duration
• Create dependencies
• Populate it instantly
• Make changes anywhere
• Get overdue indicators
• Have a historical record

Redbooth

It helps teams master the art of project management with its beautiful Gantt Charts. Thousands of organizations trust it. Sign up in seconds – no credit cards are required. It allows you to transform your project planning and access all of Redbooth’s features free for 14 days.

Main Features of Redbooth

• Dynamic project planning
• Timeline Overview report
• Monitor your progress
• Stay focused with dashboards
• Task management
• Detailed productivity reports
• Visualize project timelines
• HD video meetings
• Better task transparency

In Conclusion

We hope that this illustration brings some clarity and helps you compare features of Gantt Chart Software. Gantt Charts help schedule your tasks in the project and track the project’s progress. Gantt charts are an effective way to represent your tasks and their associated times visually. These are widely used across industries to define project elements and their inter-dependencies and timelines for holistic project management.

Please share your suggestions at info@itfirms.co

The post Best Gantt Chart Software (Free/Open-Source) appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

Sending reminders, negotiating follow-ups, scheduling meetings, creating new appointments – are pivotal to a successful organizational setup. Analyze how you can go about it!

‘Open-Source Appointment Reminder Software’ helps organizations achieve this but not how to make the meetings better? The easiest, fastest, and most productive way to improve the quality of meetings is to skip them and attend the ones you can make a difference;

Skip Meetings:

• The ones in which you are not interested, no responsibility, no input, and no decision-making power on the meeting agenda.
• It’s when the big boss has already decided and wants to let everybody know their decision.
• The ones that they schedule for 7:00 PM on a Friday.

Attend Meetings:

• The ones with clear agenda with probable outcomes and inviting only authorized people to make decisions;
• The ones with – (1) brief notes highlighting major decisions, (2) agreed on actions, (3) with timeline and persons’ responsibilities for follow-up.

So if you’re the host, ascertain how you could inject some productivity in the process, reduce time, and make it meaningful.

Why do you require appointment reminder software?

You require appointment reminder software if you face one or more of these:

• Frequent appointment re-scheduling
• Decrease in revenue owning to no meetings
• Less organization productivity
• Multiple meetings at the same time leading to a schedule clash

Appointment Reminder Software Features

Basic to advance:

• These are easy to use
• High on performance
• Highly customizable
• Serves custom use-cases and external system integrations
• Increases productivity of staff
• Decrease Front Office Distractions
• Create Loyal and Engaged employees
• Reduce the expense of scheduling meetings
• Application Integrations
• Appointment Confirmation
• Appointment and Payment Reminders
• Automated Scheduling
• Calendar Management
• Group Bookings
• Live Reports
• Mobile Compatibility

What more tasks can you accomplish via Appointment Reminder Software?

• It eliminates the need for the staff to – (1) schedule, (2) move or (3) cancel an appointment via calls or in-person.
• It lets the staff focus on important issues.
• Schedule appointments online.
• Automatically turns the waiting list into a new meeting.

What kind of software is this?

Free appointment reminder software is a customizable web application that allows customers to book appointments via the web. It provides the ability to synchronize the data with Google Calendar so that organizations can use it with other services. Open-source appointment scheduling software is downloadable and installable for commercial use. Appointments run smoothly with existing websites, as it gets installed in a single folder of the server and both sites can share the same database.

Why is it helpful?

• Better appointments
• Cost-effective
• Lowers overall cost
• Increases efficiency
• Handles customer-vendor relationships
• Communicates the brand image, loyalty and satisfaction directly to the customer

How much does it cost?

If it says free and open-source, you don’t have to pay anything. There are no monthly fees and no commissions on your appointments. Businesses often offer premium services and a free quote to their customers.

How can you install this on your server?

Appointment scheduling software is a web application that needs a web server (Apache or Nginx) with PHP and MySQL to execute it. Follow these steps for a successful installation:

1. Install Apache/Nginx, PHP and MySQL
2. Create a new database (or use an existing one).
3. Copy the’ appointment scheduler software’ source folder on your server.
4. Set your server information to the “config.php” file.
5. Open your web browser and navigate to the installation directory URL.
6. You’re all set.

Are there any premium services?

Best appointment reminder software offers premium services that enhance the scheduling experience of professional installation environments. Such services include – Upgrades, migration, support, customization, and white labelling.

List of the best Open-Source Appointment Reminder Software

Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is free and open-source appointment reminder software that allows automated scheduling, calendar management and contact database.

Main Features of Bitrix24

• Appointment Confirmation;
• Calendar Management;
• Appointment and Payment Reminders;
• Automated Scheduling;
• Contact Database;
• Mobile Compatibility;
• Group Bookings;

Setster

Setster is free and open-source appointment reminder software that enables automated scheduling, calendar management, contact database.

Main Features of Setster

• Calendar Management;
• Automated Scheduling;
• Payment and Appointment Reminders;
• Contact Details;
• Application Integration;

Bookafy

Bookafy allows employees to – (1) synchronize their schedules, (2) handle double bookings, and (3) schedules again in case of a clash. It stores data on the Azure server, and users require authentication to access sensitive data.

Main Features of Bookafy

• Appointment Reminders;
• Application Integrations;
• Calendar Management;
• Contact Database;
• Automated Scheduling;
• Payment Reminders;
• Group Bookings;
• Mobile Compatibility;

Appointfix

Appointfix is a free appointment scheduling software, but it is not open-source. It sets reminders, automates scheduling, manages calendars, contacts databases and generates live reports.

Main Features of Appointfix

• Integrated with Amazon Echo and Google Assistant;
• Free and Easy to use;
• Sends text reminders;
• Manages your appointments;
• Offers Online Booking;
• Schedules Appointments;

Sagenda

Sagenda is a free appointment reminder software, but it is not open-source. It automates scheduling, manages calendars, contacts databases.

Main Features of Sagenda

• It offers unlimited bookings;
• It increases the productivity of business free of cost;
• Each user can schedule the booking;
• Free booking calendar;

Setmore

Setmore is a free appointment scheduling software, but it is not open-source. It schedules automatically, contacts databases, and generates live reports.

Main Features of Setmore

• It takes seconds to schedule a meeting on any device;
• It allows booking appointments outside your browser
• Users can use it for free;
• It comes with a set pricing – a free plan and premium that starts at $9/user/month;
• Customize your online booking;
• Create your custom online booking;

10to8

10to8 is a free web tool to set appointment reminders, schedules meeting automatically, manage calendars, contacts databases, and generates live reports.

Main Features of 10to8

• It does not have any hidden costs or obligations;
• Easy to use;
• In-house support;
• Includes 2-way calendar synchronization;
• Takes customer bookings online;
• Reduces appointment;
• Free SMS Reminders;
• Easy Setup;

Apptoto

Apptoto is a free appointment reminder tool to schedule automatically, manage calendar, contacts database.

Main Features of Apptoto

• It has a free plan, and the premium starts at $99/month;
• It is automated appointment messaging;
• It sends an automated text, voice and email reminders;
• Reduces administrative tasks;
• Improves client communication;
• Offers free trial;
• Prices start at $29/feature/per month;

In Conclusion

Various businesses like – (1) Wellness Centres, (2) Medical clinics, (3) hospitals, (4) medical practitioners, (5) educational institutions, (6) entertainment, (7) talent acquisition agencies, (8) automobiles service, (9) retail – wedding planners, (10) real estate, (11) banking, (12) fitness and personal trainers, (13) rentals – make use of appointment scheduling software to improve productivity, save on time and resources. This list is illustrative and is scalable. We’ll come up with more similar info bits soon.

Please share your suggestions at info@itfirms.co

The post Best Open Source Appointment Reminder Software To Organize Your Biz-Meets appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

The global commerce industry is pushing their businesses to offer the best quality to meet strict compliance standards. Find out how QMS Software foster efficiently executed processes!

Quality management goes with the system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies. It ascertains that all products and software follow regulations and meet the quality standards that the end-user expects. It ensures manufacturers about the quality across all supply chain management that starts from designing to producing to distributing to servicing products and services.

What is the purpose of QMS?

Quality management software improves the management processes through the development and management of software quality.

• It targets customer satisfaction and improves operational efficiency.
• It provides a centralized dashboard for efficient reviewing of tasks.
• It elevates business processes and productivity.
• It reduces the instances of faulty products.
• It saves costs associated with less quality product reworks.
• It identifies faulty processes if any.
• Frequent quality checks improve quality and overall profitability.

Features of Quality Management Software

• Audit management
• Change control
• Complaint management
• Management of supplier quality
• Management of risk
• Document control
• Supplier quality management
• Statistical process control
• Employee training management
• Corrective and preventive action
• Non-conformance management
• Qms extensions
• Out of specification management
• E-signatures
• Analytics and reporting
• Design reviews
• Email notifications
• Traceability matrix
• Role-based security
• User dashboard
• Document Control
• Equipment Management

Principles of Quality Management Software

• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Engagement of People
• Process Approach
• Evidence-based decision making
• Relation Management
• Improvement
• Process Approach

Benefits of Quality Management Systems

• Better process control
• Process Improvement
• Improved product or service quality
• Increased productivity
• Increased legal certainty
• Simplified traceability of processes
• Easier initiation: employees
• Secured Corporate know-how
• Support for strategy deployment
• Strengthened competitiveness
• Reduced costs
• Increased customer satisfaction

List of best quality management software (QMS)

Momentum

Momentum is free, open-source quality management system software. It does not track defects or manages complaints, manages risks, manages audit and reports performance. It is the best way to meet your Quality, Compliance and Safety needs.

Main Features of Momentum

• Easy to use
• No license fee
• Versatile
• Reporting and Analytics
• Integration
• Light and Agile
• Dependable
• Open-source
• Role-based security
• Multi-Level Authorization
• Quality Management
• EH&S
• Food Safety
• Compliance

FlinkISO

FlinkISO is free and open-source quality management software that tracks defects, manages complaints, risks, and audits.

Main Features of FlinkISO

• Document Management
• Audit Management
• CAPA Management (Product, services, process)
• Customer Complaints
• Supplier Management
• Risk/Incident Management

iAuditor

iAuditor is a free quality management software that tracks defects, manages risks, audits and reports performance.

Main Features of iAuditor

• Scalable and Flexible
• Boost Productivity
• Reduce Risks
• Seamless Integration
• Improve Visibility
• Increase Traceability
• Manage Suppliers and Customers
• Automate Workflows

FreeQMS

FreeQMS is free quality management system software that tracks defects, manages complaints, risks, audits and reports performance.

Main Features of FreeQMS

• Free Supplier Management Module
• Audits Module
• CAPA Module
• Nonconformance

EHS Insight

EHS Insight is a free quality management software that tracks defects, manages complaints, audits and reports performance.

Main Features of EHS Insight

• Less Expensive
• Quicker Setup
• Supports
• Audits and Inspections
• Work Observations
• Sustainability
• Incidents
• Training Management
• ISO Compliance
• Environmental
• Industrial Hygiene
• Hazards and Risks
• Quality Management
• Safety Software
• Go Mobile
• Use Best Practices
• Save Time

Gensuite

Gensuite is a free quality management software that tracks defects, audits and reports performance.

Main Features of Gensuite

• Ehs & sustainability
• Responsible sourcing
• Quality
• Product stewardship
• Security
• Regulated asset & equipment management

Intelex

Intelex is a free quality management software that tracks defects, manages complaints, risks, audits and performance.

Main Features of Intelex

• Reduce Risk
• Ensure Compliance
• Change Behavior
• Improve Performance
• Protect Reputation
• Drive Engagement
• Tailored for your unique business

QT9 QMS

QT9 QMS is free quality management software that tracks defects, manages complaints, risks, and audits.

Main Features of QT9 QMS

• Scalable and flexible
• Boost Productivity
• Reduce Risks
• Scalable and Flexible
• Seamless Integration
• Improve Visibility
• Increase Traceability
• Manage Suppliers and Customers
• Automate Workflows

What is the purpose of Quality Management?

Quality management software solutions elevate the product quality through automation and efficient streamlining of conformance with standards for quality control and quality assurance. Businesses coordinate their efforts towards aligning with quality standards, and QMS software helps save time and resources meanwhile;

Please share your suggestions at info@itfirms.co

The post Prevalent Free and Open Source Quality Management Software appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

Virtual Tour-making software brings transparency for viewers who are unable to visit a specific location in person. Here is a list of prevalent virtual tour-creating solutions in 2021!

Virtual tour software provides a representation of a specific area/location in a panoramic/360-degree view. Such tours are helpful at the time of property purchase. These capture an intuitive view of the arena and enable digital transactions. It works on image-stitching and Omnidirectional cameras, 360-degree tours, and 3D tour techniques.

Why should we use virtual tour software?

Virtual tour software like Google Tour Creator, My360, RoundMe, Matterport, GoThru, Veer Experience, Cupix, Metareal, Panoskin, Pano2VR, Kuula, 3DVista, KRPANO, Cloudpano, Marzipano, Orbix360, Concept 3D, Real Tour Vision, My360 Virtual Tour Software, Pano2VR, DiveIn Studio, Klapty, SeekBeak, Shapespark, 3DVista Virtual Tour Pro, Matterport 3D Showcase, eyespy360, etc. – enables users to visit a location without physically having to be there. It saves time and allows more people of interest to access it easily. Companies can design their virtual tours with an option to pick hotspots, to highlight an area or a location or a nearby object. Also, businesses can add artifacts virtually so that the users can understand more about them.

Features of Virtual Tour software 2021

• Hotspots: To allow viewers to identify, locate, learn and understand the finer details.
• File Recovery: To prevent a virtual tour from being lost, it becomes essential to store it in the cloud.
• Instant Publishing: To record and publish the tour online soon after creation.
• Drag and Drop: Easy drag and drop facility to enable users to identify what works better. Users get to pick things within their virtual home and place it somewhere where it looks better.
• Auto Responsive: The virtual tour resizes to screen size automatically.
• Enlarge and Email Button: There are options to enlarge the objects and email the queries to the creator instantly.
• Map Button: It helps locate or list a business.
• Viewer Traffic Statistics: It is easy to track virtual tours and analyze the source of online traffic.
• Google Street View Style: The 360 images create a walkthrough
• Different Views: Panoramic, 360 degrees, aerial and moving videos
• Professional Photography: It uses a high dynamic range (HDR) for precision.

Free and Open Source Virtual Tour Software

Lapentor

With an intuitive interface, competitive base, and multi-resolution features, this virtual tour-creating software is highly responsive and supports self-hosting on your domain.

Main Features of Lapentor

• It creates Krpano-based virtual tour that supports multi-resolution.
• It designs a virtual tour interface and adds functions without any coding.
• It can host virtual tours within the domain.

OpenSpace3D

This free virtual tour software is an open-source and free platform designed for creating virtual reality and augmented reality-based applications and games.

Main Features of OpenSpace3D

• To create augmented reality applications for computers, tablets and mobiles.
• To create virtual reality applications for HTC Vive, Oculus, Google Cardboard applications.
• It supports file imports from more than 40 supported file formats.
• To create applications by assembling functions without programming.
• It includes a complete 3D models library for your projects.
• To export all the assets with animations and shaders from your favourite modeller.
• It has native support of devices – leap motion, HTC Vive/Oculus, Google Cardboard, Myo, Tobii eyeX, 3dRudder.

Marzipano

Marzipano is a 360-degree media viewing tool for the modern web. It supports all major web and mobile browsers, crafts standard web technologies, and provides a powerful JavaScript API.

Main Features of Marzipano

• Embraces the web
• Major browser support
• Optimized performance

Makevt

It is a free web service for virtual tour creation. It helps create a sense of presence with the online virtual tours, especially bringing panoramas to life.

Main Features of Makevt

• Easy to start.
• Easy to grow.
• Custom design.
• Tour creation and hosting.

Vtility

This free virtual tour maker helps create virtual tools instantly and updates them anytime, anywhere. It enables anyone to create unlimited online virtual tours without professional knowledge.

Main Features of Vtility

• Easy to create
• Updated regularly
• Unlimited free access
• Built on HTML5
• Mobile and tablet friendly
• Available on any PC
• Cloud-based

Paneek

It allows uploading 360-degree images to create an online 360-degree virtual tour.

Main Features of Paneek

• It is compatible with several operating systems.
• It is available on the web.
• It brings in regular upgrades and improvements.

Panoroo

This free virtual tour creator helps create magical virtual tours in minutes. Give your buyers a compelling in-person experience with a free trial.

Main Features of Panoroo

• No more relying on photo albums
• No more paying extra
• No hassles
• No more sharing quick videos without a complete picture
• No more bumpy FaceTime walkthroughs on the phone
• Tours in 2 minutes flat
• Impressive experiences
• Engage with buyers personally

In Conclusion: Why is virtual tour essential?

Real estate agents, marketing professionals, tour operators implement virtual tours to create presentations, scoping their prospects. Free 360 virtual tour software helps realtors to give a detailed look at the inside of the home for sale, helping potential buyers save time by preventing unnecessary in-person visits. It enables the tourism industry by showcasing destinations to tourists with inviting immersion. It allows teachers: to make their students access virtual tours to visit museums, tour cities, visit educational locations without the need to spend time and money on a field trip.

Please share your suggestions at info@itfirms.co

The post Top Open-Source Virtual Tour Software Solutions in 2021 appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

This excerpt illustrates the need, features and more FAQ on the use and adaptability of speech recognition software solutions!

Speech recognition programs have branched out from computer science and computational linguistics developing methodologies to recognize verbal speech and translate it into text. As you speak the computer will recognize and type what you say. Therefore, you may use your voice to write your emails, documents, social media posts, and blog posts, giving you a chance to align your thoughts better. The main considerations of speech detecting software are Word error rate, Accuracy, Speed, ROC curves.

Why do we need voice recognition software?

This methodology can make your computer type what you want it and can correct grammatical mistakes, filter what you say and finally translate it into text.

How reliable is voice recognition?

Voice to text recognition software by Google came into being in 2017 with a 95% accuracy rate. That seemed impressive but it still assumes some significant gender and racial bias. It stills lags in recognizing a male or a female voice.

How do you recognize a speech?

The speech recognition software makes some effort to detect a voice and translate it into the text. It selects a waveform, splits it at utterances followed by silences, and tries recognizing what’s being said in each utterance. For doing that, it considers all possible combinations of words and tries matching them with the audio.

Can we make speech recognition software do more than just typing?

Voice detection and conversion software come pre-loaded with commands to help the user to open and close programs, make changes to settings, so that makes it eligible to do various things with your computer without even touching it.

Are speech to text conversion software device-dependent?

Speech recognition software does consume many computing resources. So you must use a powerful device with speed – probably Windows 10 and above with at least 2.6 GHz processing speed and at least 6 GB RAM.

Which prevalent speech recognition programs are the best?

This list is illustrative; we will be listing more subsequently:

• Siri
• Dragon Professional
• Dragon Anywhere
• Google Now
• Google Cloud Speech API
• Google Docs Voice Typing
• Amazon Lex

ITFirms suggests a list of best open source speech recognition software, as follows:

Simon

It is an open-source and free speech recognition software program to convert any supporting language or dialect to the text. It makes use of KDE libraries and can get coupled with CMU Sphinx and/or Julius with the HTK to run on Windows and Linux.

Kaldi

Kaldi is a speech recognition system to support linear transforms, MMI, boosted MMI and MCE discriminative training, deep neural networks, and feature-space discriminative training.

CMUSphinx

It makes use of mel-cepstrum MFCC features combined with noise tracking and spectral subtraction for noise reduction. Various types of MFCC differ by several parameters, but not really for accuracy.

Mozilla

These focus on DeepSearch, an automatic speech recognition engine aiming to make the speech recognition technology and trained models openly available to the developers. It utilizes a simple application programming interface for a deep-learning-based ASR engine.

Julius

It makes use of a huge vocabulary continuous speech recognition decoder software (LVCSR), based on word N-gram and context-dependent HMM to perform real-time decoding on various devices from microcomputers to cloud servers. It focuses on on-the-fly recognition for network input and microphone, CMM based input rejection, successive decoding, delimiting input by short pauses, N-best output, server mode and control API, confidence scoring, word graph output, forced alignment on word, control API and server mode.

Dictation Bridge

It is an add-on screen reader that serves as a gateway between the NVDA and JAWS screen readers and in between Windows Speech Recognition and Dragon Naturally Speaking. It has the potential to change how you work with computers using voice recognition.

Mycroft

It is a customizable solution, an open-source voice stack that is easily deployable. It can be easily implemented with any science project or global enterprise environment. It can convert speech into text, text to speech, intent parsing, modular design and interoperability, can do wake word spotting, keyword spotting through its precise wake word engine.

Are there any disadvantages to open source voice recognition software?

As with every program or an app, they are based on human computation, some algorithms, business logic, and Artificial Intelligence if that is applicable. The speech-to-text converter does come with some challenges:

• It might be a little less accurate
• This software can often misinterpret what is being said
• The development of this software might be time and cost consuming
• The accuracy and performance might not be perfect
• It becomes difficult sometimes to remove the background noise interference
• And many more physical side effects

Conclusive:

It is now easy to construct applications that require speech to text to speech capability. Such software finds immense usability in sending long emails, reading and editing long documents and minimize the typing part. You get an option to create such software for mobiles, web, or desktop. Looking to create speech recognition software solutions, discuss them with our team.

The post Top Free and Open-Source Speech Recognition Software appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.