HomeZada co-founder Beth explains why the platform is cloud-based instead of desktop software. She shares stories of lost data from stolen laptops and crashed computers, then shows how cloud storage solved real problems: finding a driver's license while traveling, and letting a mother share her home inventory with children across the country during a move to retirement.
Hello everyone! Beth is back. I'm the co-founder of HomeZada, and today I wanted to talk to you a little bit about why the cloud. A lot of people ask me, why can't we download this application and put HomeZada on our computer? And there's a really good reason why we designed HomeZada in the cloud, and it stems from years of working with the cloud. So I've been in technology a long time, and also some personal experiences. So So let me explain a few of those, and maybe you can resonate with them. Maybe they've happened to you. Maybe they haven't. Maybe they might. God help me. I hope they don't. So I designed a home inventory in an Excel spreadsheet many, many years ago, about 10 years ago, and I had an Excel spreadsheet of all the information. I also had a file cabinet full of receipts and other types of documents. I had a separate section of my information like owner's manuals in a set of boxes in another room. In my house, and then in a third room I had property documents as it related to my house. And then in a fourth area in my house, it happened to be in a box in the corner in the back of my attic, was all the pictures of the things in my house, which I felt really odd because I could never get to the box. And nor did I, because if your attic's anything like mine, there's a lot of stuff in it. Just saying. Um, so What we realized was if we had all this information in a central repository, and that is online, accessible in the cloud, then that's one area where the cloud is really valuable. It not only can eliminate all the different information spread out all through your house, or maybe it's in a safety deposit box or some other location, but it also puts it in a safe, secure place in one area. The second thing is I'm gonna talk a little bit about hardware. So when I was designing these Excel spreadsheets, I actually had them on computers. So let me tell you a little bit about what happened. So one computer was stolen from the trunk of a car at a conference that I was walking around and attending. That was fun. Um, not to mention that I used— lose my computer. I lost a few clothes because I was staying overnight in a different part of the country, and I now had to redo my inventory all over again. And I was a little frustrated by that because it was a pretty tedious process in the way you have to enter it into an Excel spreadsheet. Then what ended up happening was I had a computer crash at my house, and to restore it— yeah, you can still do that, but it takes some configuration and some craziness. So, um, I lost my data again and I had to rebuild it again. So as you can see, hardware is just a really good symptom of making sure that you have something accessible in a safe, secure environment in a third-party area. And that's what the cloud does for you. The other thing that I really loved about the hardware component is if I'm anywhere in my house, and many of you may be in the same position, I can use my cell phone for some data that I have floating around somewhere in my house. My tablets are generally in my kitchen because I like to look up recipes, but beyond that, I can access HomeZada data in there. And I also have my computer, my desktop, that actually has another way of viewing Humzada, and that's in an office that I have elsewhere in my house. So I have different places where I store hardware, and I wanted to be able to use all of that hardware to access the information. The third area where we found really big value for the cloud is when I coincidentally have to be in a different location than maybe my spouse, and decisions have to be made about our house. So one of the things that always used to happen is, um, maybe I was traveling and my husband was at home and we had some contractors come in and he needed to know where certain data was. So I had to kind of guide him where that data is. But oftentimes he may not have been home. He may have been at his office working. So how was he going to get that data or remember where it was? By getting the information from me while he's at the office. So it's kind of complicated. And then at the same time, maybe he was traveling and he needed information because someone was calling him, and I could access that data and provide it to him quickly if I had had HomeSpot at the time. Well, now I do. So being able to access data when you're on the road is really, really important. And it also came in handy— here's a side note. Yes. I keep a copy of my driver's license in my Humzada. Maybe I shouldn't tell you guys all that, but I did. And it came in handy because I lost my driver's license when I was in Virginia on a trip. And just by printing out a copy of it, I was able to at least maneuver through security a little faster because I did have a paper copy of a picture on my ID because I didn't have any other picture ID. And so with that collaboration of the, um, the picture piece of paper that I printed at the hotel of my driver's license, as well as some other ID forms in my, um, wallet, I was able to get through security. I still had to get checked, I still had to go through special precautions, but I was at least able to get back to California so I can get my new driver's license. Funny little story, but you'd be surprised how helpful HomeZada comes in handy. And the cloud-based component is even better because I was able to access this information anywhere, with any device, on any computer that has internet. I was super excited. So those are some areas where the cloud can really come in handy, and that's kinda why we did this, so that anyone can get the data wherever they are, meaning those that sign in with a secure login and passcode and get that information. The other thing that we found— I talked to a customer recently and I wanted to share this little story— is They actually used the cloud for a couple reasons. They did a— performed an inventory for one of their customers. They then gave access to all of the children in various parts of the country. And when they did that, the children could determine what of the information inside HomeZada was going to each get distributed to them when the house was getting sold because their mother was moving into a retirement community. And so what items were going to go to which children, what items were going to go to charity, so on and so forth. And the children didn't have to necessarily fly home to where the property was. They could see everything online and make those decisions accordingly via Skype calls and conference calls because they could access HomeZada. And then what was really cool about this story is when the mother moved into the retirement community, the home inventory professional took The, um, her tablet and showed the mother where all of her belongings were by using HomeZada, and her— the mother felt really safe and secure, and she realized that her belongings hadn't gone anywhere yet, and they were still in her possession, just in a different location. And the inventory professional explained this to me, and she said the mother felt so wonderful just by seeing all of her stuff and the familiarity of everything that it really Made her job feel really worthwhile. So that's just another sweet story of how HomeZada has really provided value by using the cloud. So if you have any comments, please tell us how you use and how you feel about the cloud and let us know why HomeZada has been valuable for you. And give us some unique tips on what experiences you've had using a HomeZada cloud experience. And if you haven't, I invite you to check it out today and let me know your thoughts. Have a great day, and it's been fun talking to you on Facebook.
