This list of top electrical design software tools will help you to create real-time applications with attractive and efficient GUI!

Electric diagrams are a pictorial representation of electronic circuits, similar to the ones we have in our electronics laboratories. Electrical Design Software represents these circuits on the computer in form of wireframes that can be re-graphed and re-phrased before creating the actual circuit. Electrical circuit design software is of great use to professionals such as electricians, electrical or electronics engineers, builders, technicians, programmers who can create an electric panel and free schematic drawings.

What are electrical circuit diagrams created for?

These are created to make professionals in electrical fields understand the intricacies of various connections in the electrical network, before creating an actual one. Breadboard, stripboard and printed circuit board are used for creating electrical circuit diagrams.

What can be the various types of electrical circuit diagrams?

• One-line Diagram or Single Line Diagram
• Block Diagram
• Pictorial Diagram
• Schematics Circuit Diagram
• Wiring Diagram
• Ladder Diagram or Line Diagram
• Riser Diagram
• Logic Diagram
• Electrical Floor Plan
• IC Layout Diagram

What are the challenges of electrical design?

Electrical designs are being used in the construction of industrial facilities for electric power generation commonly known as electricity generating stations. These are also called powerhouse, power station, and electrical generation plants. Although these digital electrical designs cannot help the engineers in diagnosing transmission faults, distribution system switching faults, lightning strikes, simultaneous operation of equipment, device interruption, data errors, memory loss, shutdowns but it can indicate wiring and grounding, dedicated circuits, spike suppressor, isolation transformers, voltage regulators or uninterruptible power supply.

What are the functions of electrical design software?

There can be many ways to create electrical panel drawings or electrical circuits but one of the easiest and most convenient options is by making use of electrical circuit design software. So let’s have a look at some of the best free and open-source circuit drawing software in 2020:

QElectroTech

QElectrotech is a free and open-source electrical design application to create all sorts of electronic circuits, electronic block diagrams, and control and automation circuits. This electronic diagram creating software can be used to sketch mechanical objects to illustrate processes and instrumentation drawings.

Main Features of QElectrotech

• It features an element editor and a diagram editor to create schematic symbols.
• It has a set of the library containing symbols with the IEC 60617 standardized symbols.
• Elements and drawings get saved in XML format. Also, the diagram can be exported into dxf, pdf, jpg, png, BMP, SVG formats.
• This software is configurable, is compatible across platforms and has multi-lingual support.

FreePCB

FreePCB is an open-source and free printed circuit board editor that includes much software within its range, working similarly like ZenitPCB, TinyCAD, Osmond PCB, BSch3V, ExpressPCB, Kicad, gEDA, Fritzing, DesignSpark PCB, EasyEDA. This editor is for Microsoft Windows and works under General Public License.

Main Features of FreePCB

• It is a free CAD application used for designing the hardware to be manufactured.
• It is fast and easy to use.
• It can be used to route multi-layered keyboards
• It can support copper pours and DRC checking
• It comes with an integrated Digi-key parts catalogue with a bill of material manager

TinyCAD

It is schematic capture software to draw electronic drawings and circuit diagrams. It has a user-friendly interface and libraries to support and create symbols/symbol references, parts list etc. It supports PCB, netlist formats, SPICE simulation netlists etc. It can export netlists for the PCB layout program. The finished circuit design can be copied and pasted into MS Word or can be printed across single or multiple pages.

Main Features of TinyCAD

• It comes with electronic components like symbols, wires, junctions, labels, power, no-connects.
• It brings some editing tools with it that allows you to drag and drop elements, make use of control to select more than one item, use block tools to flip and rotate areas of the schedule.
• The finished diagram can be exported and shared across multiple formats.
• It features some electrical tools to check wiring errors, creating a bill of materials, creating symbols automatically, and a reference painter tool.
• It makes use of multi-page schematics.
• Bitmaps can be inserted in the diagrams.
• The created electrical drawing can be printed.

XCircuit

It is free electrical panel design software for Unix, Windows and X11 to create publication-quality schematic circuit diagrams and related figures. It can write Postscript output and hierarchical SPICE netlists.

Main Features of XCircuit

• It features all common elements of an electrical drawing software free download free version
• It allows inserting an info label, drag and drop elements, import external images, manipulate parameters, edits libraries, zoom in and zooms out for design intricately.

CircuitMaker

CircuitMaker is a free and open-source EDA tool to create electronic circuit designs and invent circuits.

Main Features of CircuitMaker

• It is easy to install and use.
• It can be used to create, use and share 3D printed robots.
• Powerful ecad for open source hardware
• Unlimited & free
• Massive, rich component library
• Share & collaborate
• Native 3d™
• One-click manufacturing
• Push-n-shove routing
• Multi-sheet schematic editor
• Topological auto-router
• DRC/DFM validated outputs
• Import designs from other tools

KiCad

KiCad is a free and open-source software suite to create electronic automation (EDA). It makes it easy to design schematics for electronic circuits and convert them into PCB designs.

Main Features of KiCad

• It features Schematic Capture, PCB Layout and 3D Viewer

SimulIDE

It is a real-time electronic circuit simulator useful for students, new electrical engineers who wish to create simple electronic circuits.

Main Features of SimulIDE

• It is a real-time electronic circuit simulator.
• It is fast and easy to use.
• It is not preferable to perform critical analysis or to develop accurate models, but it is ideal for experimentation.
• It is good for designing simple circuits – not just putting resistors, capacitors, inductors together but often constructing meaningfully integrated circuits with simulators.
• AVR, Arduino, PIC microcontrollers that are accessible like other components.
• It also comes with GPSIM and SIMAVR that allow making use of PIC and AVR microcontrollers.
• Firmware can be loaded multiple times
• The data can be transferred in between registers on the screen

Fusion 360

Fusion 360 is a 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE tool that link the entire product development process in one integrated, concept-to-production toolset by combining industrial and mechanical design, simulation, collaboration, and machining.

Features of Fusion 360

• Mesh Modeling
• Parametric modeling
• CAD and CAM integration
• Surface Modeling
• Printed Circuit Board (PCB) layout, manufacturing, and planning
• Extremely realistic renders
• Topology and shape optimization
• Cooling of electronics

ArcSite

ArcSite is a CAD drawing and sales estimating software for technicians, inspectors, and estimators. Its precise and expert drawings increase operational efficiency, lower process and manual drawing errors, enhance sales workflow, and foster better teamwork both in the office and on the job.

It creates sales proposals from site drawings, which leads to completed transactions. It makes data collection, audits, and inspections easier, and it lets users record goods and data points in their drawings.

Features of ArcSite

• Collaborative drawing & data collection
• PDF tracing & room measurement
• Digital pen modeling & dimensioning
• Automated estimates & document attachment
• Custom quantity & currency settings

Ansys SpaceClaim

Ansys is a 3D design and engineering simulation tool that businesses in a variety of industries, such as consumer products, automotive, aerospace, construction, energy, healthcare, and the military, can use. It supports workflow automation, predictive analysis, simulation visualization, application modification, and product testing procedures for enterprises.

Features of Ansys SpaceClaim

• Simulation-ready model prep
• Comprehensive fluid analysis
• Rapid structural & modal analysis
• Thermal-fluid analysis tools
• Efficient topology optimization
• Streamlined design modeling

Towards The End: Selecting The Best Free And Open Source electronic Design Software

We hope this free schematic drawing software list will help you in making the best selection. We can add more schematic design tools to this list, to fit the specific needs of the businesses. Let us know if you would like to discuss any such requirements and want us to modify/add something to it.

Top FAQs – Electrical Design Software

What is electrical design software?

Electrical design software are CAD tools that enable electrical engineers build wiring diagrams and integrated system designs for making electrical equipments. The tools can be used to document, forecast, and model electrical diagrams, layouts, and systems, including both 2D & 3D models.

What are the benefits of electrical design software?

Electrical design software help electrical engineers greatly reduce the risk of errors in a design and facilitate them collaborate easily. There are several other benefits of using an electrical design tool in the organization, such as –

• Improved Accuracy
• Promotes Collaboration
• Provides Visualization Tools
• Complies with Standards
• Saves Time & Cost
• Better productivity
• Real Time Cross Reference
• Reusable Prefab Circuits

What are the top features in electrical design software?

It is important to consider the top features before considering an electrical design software for your project. Some of the most common features in a electrical design tool include –

• Layout Design Capabilities
• Schematic & Controls Design
• Design & Simulation
• Electrical Analysis
• Cable Layout Drawing
• Symbol Libraries
• Automatic Report Generation
• Voltage Drop Calculation

The post A List of Best Electrical Design Software appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

We are discussing the network mapping software; why they are different from mind mapping software and the intersection in between!

Mapping a network or network mapping is the process to sketch the network virtually through software, to get an idea of the placement and arrangement of the original network components. Such software works similarly to other tools used to draw flowcharts.

Figure 1: Network Diagram 1

Figure 2: Network Diagram 2

Network mapping software is also known as concept mapping software. These help us visualize the arrangement of network devices, mobile elements, virtual domains, device inter-dependencies that are required at the time of network monitoring and troubleshooting. Network mapping/mapper/architecture tools can be manual or automated. These make use of SNMP/ARP protocols to create network maps.

Why is a network mapper tool in demand?

Network Management Systems work in proportion to the data traffic/digital transformation needs/SDN technologies and this market is expected to experience major growth in coming years.

Why is network mapping important?

Mapping is a network before actual construction works in the same way as drawing architecture before constructing a building. It helps diagnose various compatibility issues and trace if the functionality and integration of the interconnected devices are proper. It is important to estimate the number of devices to be mapped, the types of equipment to be used, the extent of automation required, the remote administration, the cost of tools, the ease of use, the supporting platform, the installation, possible monitoring, and alteration.

Mind Mapping vs. Network Mapping

Concept Map/Network Maps connects multiple ideas and concepts/nodes. This is called a tree structure. Mind Map comes with a radial structure instead. Mind maps focus on a single problem/ one concept while concept map connects multiple concepts or ideas.

Here is a list of the Best Network Mapping Software (No Particular Order):

SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper

This tool is best for small-medium-large businesses. It comes with a 14 days free trial and is currently available for $1495. It helps in plotting the network, auto-detect the changes in network topology, automatically discovers devices and connections. This tool can be used to create multiple maps with a single scan. It automates device discovery and mapping. These feature multi-level network discovery. It also allows rescheduling updated map exports to Orion Network Atlas.

Features of SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper

• It discovers new connections automatically and adds them to the network diagram entities.
• It also performs multi-level network discoveries.
• It supports various delivery methods that include Hyper-V, SNMP v1 to v3, ICMP, VMware and more.
• Reporting is easy with switch ports, subnets and VLANs
• Icons can be flexibly moved, grouped, or resized.
• It can export network maps to PDF, Microsoft Visio, PNG formats
• It saves time and increases productivity
• It can also help out with regulatory compliance requirements of many standards such as PCI, FIPS 140-2, and more.
• It allows exporting network maps to various other formats like PDF, PNG, MS Office Visio etc.

NMIS

NMIS is a comprehensive network management system that helps you streamline fault, performance, and configuration management. With its scalable and user-friendly platform, you can gain insights with performance graphs and receive threshold alerts. NMIS also offers highly customizable notification policies and diverse methods to ensure that your network engineers stay informed.

Trusted by over one hundred thousand organizations worldwide, NMIS is the leading open-source network management system. It empowers partners, including top telcos and MSPs, to safeguard customers from cyber-attacks and drive cybersecurity services revenue growth.

Features of NMIS

• Streamlined fault, performance, and configuration management: NMIS provides a single platform for managing all aspects of your network, from identifying and resolving faults to optimizing performance and ensuring compliance.
• Scalable and user-friendly platform: NMIS is designed to be scalable to meet the needs of any organization, and its user-friendly interface makes it easy to use even for non-technical users.
• Highly customizable notification policies: NMIS allows you to create highly customized notification policies so that you are only notified about the events that matter to you.
• Diverse notification methods: NMIS supports a variety of notification methods, including email, SMS, and push notifications, so you can be sure to receive alerts no matter where you are.
• Trusted by over one hundred thousand organizations worldwide: NMIS is the leading open-source network management system, and it is trusted by over one hundred thousand organizations worldwide.

Paessler PRTG Network Monitor

This is a free network mapping software that fares well for small to big businesses. It comes with a free version, offers a 30 days free trial and has six pricing plans to go with – PRTG 1000 (Starts from 2850), PRTG 5000 (Starts from 10500), PRTG 500 (Starts from 1600), PRTG 2500 (Starts from 5950), PRTG XL1 (Starts from 14500), and PRTG XL5 (Starts from 60000). It comes with all required functionalities therefore it does not require plugins. It also helps to keep track of the entire local network.

Features of Paessler PRTG Network Monitor

• This network mapping software helps track bandwidth usage by the devices and applications.
• It also monitors specific data sets from the database.
• It keeps a track of server availability, capacity, reliability and accessibility.
• It helps monitor and manage cloud computing services from a central location.

NetProbe

NetProbe is a network monitor with a graphical interface to trace network maps. It can be used to monitor devices attached to a network in real-time.

Features of NetProbe

• It monitors connected devices in real-time.
• Has a rich graphical interface that is available through a web browser as a dedicated application.
• Along with the entities, it can include graphs, trackers, and alarms into the graphical layout.
• It works with a wizard to detect and map network layouts
• Performance monitor, SNMP and scripts can be used to acquire data for diagrams
• Actions can be adjusted according to when the alarm rings and goes off.
• The alert icon can be placed on the desktop that will inform you about the status of the items that are being monitored.
• The pricing is divided according to four versions: the standard version that is free and has eight hosts, the pro version that supports 20 hosts and costs $40, the deluxe version that supports 45 hosts and costs $80, the enterprise version that supports 400 hosts and costs $295.

Datadog Network Performance Monitoring

This tool is very important for small to large businesses. It starts at $5 /month and offers various solutions like security monitoring, network monitoring, managing logs etc. It comes with a free trial, makes use of a unique tag-based approach, tracks the performance of on-premise and cloud-based networks, enables breaking network traffic between containers, hosts, services or any other tag. It provides visibility into network traffic, traces, infrastructure, logs, and all-in-one-place by combining flow-based NPM and metric-based Network Device Monitoring.

Features of Datadog Network Performance Monitoring

• It gives an insight into human-readable tags
• Maps network traffic, identifies traffic bottlenecks and any downstream effects
• It maps the flow of traffic between containers, hosts, availability zones, and more abstract concepts like services, teams or any other tagged category.
• It is easy to navigate and use.
• It allows viewing metrics like volume and retransmits without writing queries.

InterMapper

Intermappers is a tool to draw networking systems. It allows customizations, colour coding, animations, and shows the status in real-time, is easy to install, easy to deploy and use. Their sales team can be approached for custom pricing.

Features of InterMapper

• Bandwidth Monitoring
• Dashboard
• IP Address Monitoring
• Internet Usage Monitoring
• SLA Monitoring
• Server Monitoring
• Uptime Monitoring

Microsoft Visio

It is an open-source network mapping software that comes with a detailed diagram template to create a visual representation of how various devices are interconnected within a network. It comes with preloaded templates, supports many file formats and diagrams are easy to share.

Features of Microsoft Visio

• Its diagrams are in alliance with industry standards (UML, BPM, Notation 2.0, and IEEE) etc.
• The diagrams are secure with data protection policies in place.
• Visio diagrams can be shared via office 365 or Sharepoint.
• It comes with two pricing plans – $5/month with 2GB of OneDrive storage; the second plan is suitable for businesses to meet the needs to remain data connected in real-time and meet all compliance requirements of different standards with a tag of $15/month with an annual commitment.

EdrawMax

This software is one of the best free network mapping software that is suitable for all businesses, designers, and network engineers. The desktop version comes with a 15-day free trial + the annual license of $99 + the perpetual license of $179. The online version starts at $14.95/month. It is lightweight, powerful and is a useful resource to create basic network diagrams, Cisco network topology, and AWS network topology, LAN diagrams, physical network diagrams, LDAP, WAN diagrams, active directory and some more.

Features of EdrawMax

• It comes with 3D with smart buttons and handles.
• It is robust, easy to use, has an MS style interface
• It comes with free design templates for AWS, Basic network, Home network, Cisco, Rack etc.
• It is simply due to drag-and-drop and file compatibility

Dia

It is free to open source network diagram software that works in the same way as MS Visio.

Features of Dia

• It comes with networking equipment templates, custom XML formats that make it easy to draw network diagrams.
• It can run on Windows, OS X, Linux, and Unix.
• It is 100% free to use.

Spiceworks Network Mapping Software

Spiceworks network mapping software is completely free to use and is fit for small-medium-large businesses. It is extremely useful for creating network maps –diagnosing any network issues – and add/delete nodes as per requirement.

Features of Spiceworks Network Mapping Software

• It allows creating an interactive network, modifies it, creates a detailed graph of the bandwidth usage over time, and provides all the requisite information like IP address, serial number, bandwidth usage and more.

LucidChart

It is a web-based Network mapping software open source that allows creating network charts, process maps, flowcharts, organizational charts and shares them all.

Features of LucidChart

• It supports HTML5 browsers
• It does not require Flash software
• Connects live data to the diagrams
• Can integrate with MS Office, G Suite, Atlassian, and more
• It can edit any pre-existing templates
• Diagrams can be customized to suit the needs
• Sharing in real-time
• Data encryption and backup
• Has templates
• Comes with the free and pro version
• Costs $9.95/quarterly and $11.95/paid monthly

ManageEngine OpManager

This network topology mapper is good for small to big businesses. It comes at a starting price of $245/10 devices – $345/10 devices pack. It also offers a free trial.

Features of ManageEngine OpManager

• It offers real-time monitoring
• Physical and virtual monitoring
• Multi-level thresholds
• Customizable dashboards
• Latency, jitter, RTT
• Monitors CPU, Memory, Disk Utilization of Windows, Linux servers
• Analyzes performance bottlenecks
• Device-based pricing model

jNetMap Network Monitor

It is a free automatic network diagram software. It can ping all registered devices, has plugins, port scanner support, and supports Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

Features of jNetMap Network Monitor

• Graphical representation of your network
• Pings devices regularly
• Scans network to find new devices
• Port scanner
• Plugins

Device 42

This network mapping software is best for medium to large businesses. It has multiple add-ons and the starting price is $4500. It comes with visual cable management for recording and tracing cable connections, automatic discovery of network devices using SNMP (drag-and-drop), mover servers, and patch panel connections.

Features of Device 42

• It is good for performing Enterprise App mapping.
• Device and IP discovery
• ITAM features
• Easy export
• Adding custom fields
• Mobile friendly
• Auto-discovery, DCIM, ADM, Security, IPAM, ITAM, and Integrations and API

ConceptDraw Pro

It is one of the best free network mapping software that can be used for creating business drawings, diagramming solutions. It supports MAC and Windows OS. It is compatible with MS Visio and can be used for rapid flowcharting, creating presentations and communication diagrams. It offers a free trial and comes with some premium solutions and packages ranging from $49-$367.

Features of ConceptDraw Pro

• It helps to import and exporting various Visio files.
• It is additive to drawing tools and comes with Live Objects Technology and plans designer.

LanFlow

LanFlow Net Diagrammer package includes libraries of 2D and 3D icons to enable you to create your own network topology maps. It is a paid product but offers a 30 day free trial.

Features of LanFlow

• IT icon library
• Customizable icons
• Drag-and-drop editor
• Uses a simple, but effective interface that is easy to use even for non-technical users
• Supports 2D and 3D modeling, good for presentations
• Can build your own icons, making it highly customizable

Atera Network Discovery

It is a cloud-based support platform for managed service providers (MSP’s). This package includes remote monitoring and management (RMM) functions and professional service automation (PSA) systems.

Features of Atera Network Discovery

• It comes with a network discovery tool.
• The network discovery process runs during the client onboarding process to create a full system inventory.
• The constant inventory update for billing.
• SNMP procedure
• Charged by subscription

Auvik

Auvik is one of the best network mapping software, which is suitable for small to large-scale businesses. Well, Auvik provides a free trial, but it also offers two pricing plans. Those two price plans of Auvik are Essentials Performance. The cost of Auvik starts from $150/monthly. It is the platform built for mapping, automated network history, and inventory. It is a cloud-based network management solution that has traffic analysis tools that help to identify anomalies quickly.
This platform has multiple privacy and security features; like permission configuration, 2FA, audit logs, etc. Auvik has API functionalities for creating a seamless workflow. It analyzes network traffic and also provides insights through Auvik Traffic Insights. Also, the tool facilitates accessing other network devices remotely; which provides bigger network pictures.

Key Features of Auvik

• Auvik has the functionality of inventory, network discovery, and documentation; which enables it to provide real-time insights into the network picture.
• The Syslog helps in responding to the problems of network in the real-time.
• This tool has functionalities for automating the configuration backup and recovery.

UVExplorer

UVExplorer is also a great software that enables small to larger businesses to do network mapping seamlessly. For the initial 6 weeks, this software is free to use for configuration backup, network discovery, and asset discovery. Once the trial period is done, its cost starts at $1795.
The UVExplorer also called UVX has the ability to discover layer2 topology utilizing the SNMP v1-v3, SSH, TelNet, WMI, and other protocols. UVX can manage and backup the configuration scripts, notify you of changes in the network map and discover all the asset details. Additionally, the software will provide network management tools; such as MIB Walker, Layer 2 Trace, IP / MAC Finder, Port Scan, and Jack LookUp. With the help of UVExplorer, you can diagnose all the network issues very quickly.

Key Features of UV Explorer

• In just a single scan, the UVX can capture Layer 2 Topology, and also configure with router/firewall/switch.
• It schedules the discoveries and runs them appropriately.
• Receive notifications about network and configuration script changes.
• Learn about your network devices’ firmware and other assets.
• UVexplorer exports Network Maps directly into PRTG and LucidChart. As well as PDF, CSV, Visio, HTML, MHT, RTF, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, Text, and picture exports.

Cisco Network Assistant

management tools; such as MIB Walker, Layer 2 Trace, IP / MAC Finder, Port Scan, and Jack LookUp. With the help of UVExplorer, you can diagnose all the network issues very quickly.
Cisco is the world’s largest and most leading communication and networking technology provider. It is a free network mapping and management software for small and large enterprises; which can handle up to 80 devices. Do you know, that it is a very lightweight platform, that requires a basic system configuration (50MB Hard Drive, 1GHz processor, and 1GB RAM) to make it highly accessible for usage?
The reason why people choose the Cisco network mapping tool is its free-of-cost usage. Additionally, it does not only visualize the network but also allows the users to troubleshoot common network issues.

Key Features of Cisco Network Assistant

• It delivers automated network discovery, which means auto-discovery to the surface, and displays the network details in the specific topology map.
• It also supports diverse network components; such as routers, switches, access points, and wireless controllers on the Cisco Portfolio.
• It has a great Graphical User Interface (GUI) and streamlined task-based menu, which can be used by small and mid-sized businesses.

Hope this discussion on network mapping tools will help you in making better decisions for 2024. Please share your suggestions at info@itfirms.co

The post Best Open Source Network Mapping Software for 2024 appeared first on Top ITFirms - Result of In-depth Research & Analysis.

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.

Please share your suggestions at info@itfirms.co

The post Enliven HOA Software for Your Homeowners’ Association 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.