Homegauge homehubzone

I see home hub zone has a homegauge beta. Are the current HG users going to ever see an update. I feel we might be pressed into HHZ software. It is curious that HG has no beta. I sent an email to the HHZ email to see the beta but did not get a reply. HG is there a plan for the old HG users.

Thank you. Sorry I do not do facebook.

Yes, their plan is to simply ignore us. No updates or news, and very little communication.

Dom.

Were not ignoring anyone Dom. We do have a HG news Alert where we will release news. Facebook as well.

To Answer your question, we are not promoting HHZ beta because its not ready for HomeGauge users. HHZ Home Hub Zone code is more modern than HomeGauge’s code. So that will be the backbone or the motor so to speak. The body will be HomeGauge. Currently the beta still works like HHZ but we have wire frames or future layouts already drawn and tested that will resemble HomeGauge’s interface yet modern. When some of those changes take effect we will invite HG users to test it or be a part of the beta. Once that occurs then incremental improvements will continue. Once a HG user’s template can migrate to the new version then we will have a broader announcement. The new version has features in it that will be different than both HG and HHZ and designed to eliminate clicks or steps.

Some features HHZ brings is any device will work which means mac lovers can enjoy their device too. Automatic syncing of the companion to the main version without having to “cloud up and cloud down.” Merging reports for multi inspectors on the same house will merge automatically and as each users inputs their data. Many more cool things too so stay tuned. This year we will rollout several updates to not only a new whole version of the report writer, but the buyers dashboard, the Schedule Now feature in our online appointment manager and more.

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I do read your HG news alerts.

I just asked the folks manning your booth a this past weekend’s FABI conference for an “update” about any updates. No updates available, to their knowledge. So, I am pretty much guessing when anything will happen.

My comments are based on an extended or protracted cycle of no significant release to your software in ages, beyond the occasional statement “it’s coming soon…”

Dom.

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Read my paragraph above and you will see there are updates coming out. We had an update to our main version last year and to the HG Companion Android last year. This year probably next month we will release another update to Android where forms will work in the Companion Android and customer signature on the form etc.

The staff at the FABI show was promoting the new update forms in the HG App!

besides Dom, it’s coming soon!

Looking forward to auto syncing reports with other inspectors and no more cloud. Very cool ideas

Having spent a significant amount of time developing the InterNACHI Narrative Library template for HomeGauge I had some concerns when I heard that something was happening. I was afraid I was going to have to spend months re-developing that template. I asked around quite a bit.

There were some very cool things that HHZ could do and HG is a good company. When you have a project under development you can’t always answer every question asked. I don’t know, but I’m guessing that HG will eventually come out with something new and good, and I trust them to make sure that their current users are taken care of.

Hey Kenton,
Any Template advise for a new inspector (In N.C.) you can recommend to a new user: suggestions, must do’s, and don’t do’s etc.?

Hi Daniel,

In HomeGauge, take advantage of the CYA section. You can have a lot of reference material handy while you are performing the inspection. In these sections you can install checklists, HVAC date codes, common deficiencies, links to helpful pages… anything you might find helpful.

In the InterNACHI Narrative Library HG template I’ve installed about 40,000 words of reference material, mostly covering subjects that inspectors might not be familiar with. For example, a lot of newer inspectors think that craze-cracking of asphalt shingles is a manufacturing defect. It’s not, it’s low-cost shingles performing as designed. I also provide a link that takes the user to photos of craze-cracking along with a detailed explanation of cause, so that you can explain it to clients and agents clearly. The same is true with batch problems, which a lot of newer inspectors are also not familiar with.

The other thing I can think of is to take advantage of the feature that automatically inserts a narrative into the body of the report when you choose a particular item in the Styles and Materials section. For example, in my template, if the roof-covering was asphalt shingles over wood shakes, when you choose that in Styles and Materials, a narrative is automatically inserted into the report that explains the problems connected with this type of installation.

As far as developing your template, that’s all that comes to mind offhand.

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I use HHZ. They have little to no Customer Service help available. Constant problems, never anyone to help with.
Last week, not uploading files, tonight its not creating PDFs, and guess what, the customer wants a PDF!

Does anyone know of a Reporting Software that is similar to HHZ? I would rather not start from scratch again, but this report writing needs to be a Zero Fail Mission…it has to work EVERYTIME.
Frustrating

That must be frustrating, Matt! :thinking:

I use HHZ as well. I am currently in the process of switching software due to out growing it’s capabilities & just not working properly. I get a white screen after every picture & have to exit, then re-enter the picture just to annotate it. I’m through!
I have chosen Spectora & Inspector Nexus.

The biggest issue you will have is your narratives. Since HHZ is not template based, you cannot transfer the narratives nor can they provide you a file. (I’ve asked) Unfortunately, you will have to copy & paste (1 by 1) your narratives from HHZ to the new software you choose. This is a real beating.
I have written & tweaked 2700+ narratives into HHZ & want to keep those as the narratives “supplied” in the other software options are not good enough to be in my reports. Too vauge or ambiguous.
After nibbling on it for a month, I am ¾ of the way through getting the narratives copied into a Spectora template. (TREC) Hopefully they can provide me a file that I can load into Inspector Nexus. That way I can try them out in a real world inspection scenario.

Hey Larry. Hope all is well
I like the software for the most part, always some things we would tweak if we could, but i guess that is the same with all platforms. My frustration comes with the lack of response when you contact Customer Service. Heck if your busy and can’t get to my problem right this minute, i can deal with…its the crickets that drive me crazy… I mean I can’t give my customers that quiet treatment…My goodness, ESPECIALLY now… ok, i’m done…Take care of yourself Friend

Thank Brandon, I know what you mean with Narratives…thats one of the frustrations, Its tough to pick up and leave…but who knows, this week I may have the time…LOL :roll_eyes:

I hear you loud and clear, Matt!..very frustrating…too bad the developers don’t. :upside_down_face:

I hope you and yours are good, otherwise! :smile:

Hey thanks for Ole wise owl advice. Times are tough starting a business in this mess…