Archive for the ‘Product Updates’ Category

Single Sign-on, Masking Names & Advance Realtime Notification

Jan 5th, 10 / 0 Comments

Dear Adda Users,

We wish you a very happy and prosperous 2010.

Here are the new features that are available in your Adda now.

Single Sign-on

If you are a multiple home owner, you may be familiar with this: If you are registered and approved in multiple Addas, you can login once ( single sign-on) and  easily switch between the multiple Addas to which you belong. You used the Adda List drop down box below the Logout Button. However when you login, you will be logged in automatically to the first Adda you had registered in.

Not anymore.

Now you have a setting in My Profile page to select the “default Adda” you want to be logged in first. Later you can switch between the Addas from the DropDown.

Masking Names

You already have the ability to mask your phone numbers and email address. Starting today, you can mask your name also. Once you opt for this setting, your name will not show up on search, nor on the resident’s directory. However if you make any forum posts, notice etc – your name will be displayed.

Please note that the administrators of your Adda will have access to all the masked details ( name, email, phone ).

Advance Realtime Notification Settings

Earlier there was only one “Realtime Notification” checkbox in My Profile page that controlled the alerts for new forum posts, polls, notices or new file uploads.

Now we have separated the Realtime Notification option of Forum from the rest. This means that now you can choose to be instantly notified when a new poll or a notice is created but not get instant notifications when forum discussion happens. Please go to the My Profile page to update your notification settings.

Enjoy!
ApartmentAdda Team

Product Updates

Adda Forums and Notice Board upgraded

Dec 9th, 09 / 0 Comments

Dear Users,

We have upgraded the Adda Forums and Notice Board . Here are the list of changes :

1. Introducing Forum Topic Number

Every forum topic that was created, or you will be creating henceforth will get a unique topic number. The emails you will receive will all carry this unique number. When you reply to the forum emails, Adda mail server will use this unique topic number to match your post to the right topic.

This has other advantages – just by seeing the topic number you will know how new or old a topic is.

Note : During this transition, when you reply to an old email it will get assigned a new topic number – so a few threads might split – inform us and we will join them. This will not happen if you reply directly on the Forum after logging into ApartmentAdda.

2. Introducing reply-to sender option

For users  who are used to google-groups, we are introducing a feature where the reply-to will have the sender’s email address instead of your group’s email address. This will enable one-to-one conversation where required. You can send a request to ApartmentAdda support to enable this feature for your Adda.

3.  Breadcrumbs and Message Numbers

We have introduced breadcrumbs for easy navigation of the forum topics and posts. Also each post now carries the ordering number – like how you receive in the email.

4. Participation poll in Notice Board

For an event, like New Year party, when you create a notice you can enable a Participation Poll right on the Event notice. A resident can now RSVP saying how many are attending from their flat – so you can have a quick count of attendees for effective planning.

5. Comments in Notice Board

Now you can add your comments to a Notice. This will send an email notification to the Notice owner. You can also opt to “Watch this notice”, so any comments posted on the notice will send you an email alert as well.

Cheers!
ApartmentAdda Team



Product Updates

ApartmentAdda Reloaded!

Nov 10th, 09 / 4 Comments

Fun. Functional.

The theme of our revamped portal. The simple and beautiful ApartmentAdda now has a new look which is still beautiful, with a small pinch of sophistication and a generous dash of bonhomie!

What we will miss:

ApartmentAdda 2008-2009

ApartmentAdda 2008-2009

“Communication and Management Portal”

This has been the one-line description of Apartment Adda from the day it was launched. It will be rephrased and upgraded to “web-based software for communication, management and accounting”. This is to ensure we give equal importance to the important activity of the Management Committee – adding value to the community with limited funds.

The headline of ‘Communication and Management Portal’ will take the valiant warrior’s place on our wall of fame.

“Fresh sunshine sliding down the slanted rooftops”

The buildings in the old banner are actually located behind the Petronas towers in Malaysia.. :)

What we welcome:

Website 2.0

ApartmentAdda 2009 -


The lively ADDA. Well, after all that’s what we are about! The ADDA reflecting the life that buzzes in every corner of an Apartment Complex. The events, the activities and the diversity that makes the place unique!

The lovely apartment-scape. An original handiwork of the designers of our media vendor.

The upgraded usability. All new Icons and an easy-to-access Icon Tray. The frequent users can easily reach the application they are looking for, without having to go through the entire Dashboard.

Our sincere thanks to the talented people of the media companies who have worked passionately to help ApartmentAdda evolve. Kudos to the team for the countless hours of discussion towards the final blueprint! Our love and gratitude to the end-users whose suggestions we have included in the new design!

What do you think about the new portal?

Milestones, Product Updates

Asset Tracker for Apartment Asset Management

Sep 14th, 09 / 0 Comments

ApartmentAdda is excited to announce the launch of the Asset Tracker! A simple and robust application, it equips the Apartment Association to ensure long life of Apartment Assets, and minimize repair costs by timely preventive maintenance.

Asset Tracker makes it very easy to record and maintain Association Assets such as – Electrical Devices (Transformer, Generator, Submersible Pump), Gym Equipments, Housekeeping Equipments, and any other Capital Asset.

Track Asset Details for preventive maintenance

Track Asset Details for preventive maintenance

All information can be accessed on one page, separated by tabs. Seller’s contact information and AMC provider’s contact information can be stored with Asset, email/sms alerts can be set up for preventive maintenance schedule, service history can be maintained and scanned documents such as warranty/user manual etc. can be stored in the Asset Record!

You can set the service alert emails/sms to go to the Facility Manager, as well as to selected Management Committee members. The alert content automatically includes the service provider’s contact numbers, so you can call them up and confirm the service appointment right after receiving the alert!

No more unpleasant surprises of the Submersible Pump breaking down due to missed servicing dates, or misplaced warranties and purchase invoices!

Asset Tracker is part of the Premium PRO package of ApartmentAdda.

Product Updates

Participate-by-email!

Sep 2nd, 09 / 4 Comments

In almost all Addas (Adda = the private portal of an apartment complex), the Forum and the Admin Forum are the most frequently used applications.

In the beginning, every post made to the Forum sent an email to all users (except those who have opted out), informing them that they could log into ApartmentAdda to participate in the conversation.  Some of our users, especially the blackberry wielding ones, wished to reply to the post right away, by email – a la yahoogroup.

ApartmentAdda was happy to satisfy their urge to participate, at the same time not hamper the ‘Forum’ experience – by releasing the feature “Participate-by-email” .  This feature lets you swap emails – just like yahoogroup, and your emails get posted in the Forums as well!  So, if your laptop is out of juice, stopping you from logging on to ApartmentAdda, but you want to inform everyone that the builder is sitting right next to you on a 3 hour flight (woohoo!)- you could thumb an email from your handheld to ‘forum AT apartmentadda DOT com‘!! This posted a message in your Adda’s Forum, as well as notified neighbours by email.

Since the release of “Participate-by-email”, many valuable suggestions have poured in, and our team has been pounding away at their keyboard to implement the selected ones.

Today, we are very happy to announce the release of a bunch of enhancements to the “Participate-by-email” feature.

Here are the top two:

Personalized email ids

Previously to participate in the forum using email, the user was sending email to ‘forumATapartmentaddaDOTcom‘. ApartmentAdda internally mapped this email to the user’s specific Adda and posted it. While this was elegant, it limited the user of multiple Addas.
Now each Adda has its unique email id. For example, the email id of Sharlow Apartments is sharlow-forum AT apartmentadda DOT com. For the adminforum it is sharlow-adminforum AT apartmentadda DOT com. We have contacted the Moderator of each Adda to ensure they like their email id.

To the user of multiple Addas: Now you can participate in all your Addas with one user-id (your email-id). Just ensure you are writing to the email-id of the right Adda!

Facelift to the email appearance

Now  you can see the forum trail in email – just enough to give you the context, at the same time not overloading your inbox!
Also, Forum posts come color coded Blue’n'white in emails. Admin-Forum posts come in Grey’n'white. No more ‘oops’ moments with writing to the Forum with a message intended for the Admin-Forum.
Here are the screenshots.

Forum post in e-mail

Forum post in email

Admin-Forum post in e-mail

Admin-Forum post in email

There are many other small improvements in this feature, which we’d let our users discover as they use them!

Do let us know if you like what you see! And keep those suggestions coming in!

Love and Cheers!
ApartmentAdda Team

Product Updates

Frequently Asked FAQs! :)

May 17th, 09 / 0 Comments

We updated our FAQ recently with the questions that Association Committees evaluating ApartmentAdda often ask. Here are the top two.

1. Will our personal data be secure?

This, for very good reason, is the foremost question on responsible Association Committees’ mind. We have all been victim of spamming – via email, snail-mail and phone – obviously our data was misused by someone we trusted it with.

So here is our answer to your question.

FAQ-5 . Will our data be secure on ApartmentAdda?

Yes. We at ApartmentAdda understand that the information you provide is of a personal nature and we respect your privacy.

We have employed the most advanced technology in Internet Security. When you access your Adda, information is encrypted using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL), which is the Industry Standard. This is the reason why our Login Page loads separately, with the URL starting with ‘HTTPS:’ – where S stands for Secure.

The storage of your data is in a Top Tier Data Center with the Hosting Platform providing a Virtual Private Server to ApartmentAdda.

Finally, the Terms of Service of ApartmentAdda states without any ambiguity – We do not sell, rent or otherwise make available your email address, phone number, address, or any other personal information to any third-party for any reason whatsoever.

2. Over time we will build information assets on ApartmentAdda. Is there a clearly defined exit route?

An apartment community may want to build a dedicated website in future, or, they may just want to switch to any other service. This will require them to extract existing information assets from ApartmentAdda.

We respect this choice of our customers. Below FAQs together answer this question:

FAQ-7. Can we export the data created on our Apartment Adda?

Yes, all relevant data present in your specific Adda can be exported anytime. This includes the Residents’ List, Vendors’ List, Complaints, Issues, Income Line Items, Expense Line Items, Documents and Maintenance Contacts.

Following the Privacy Policy of ApartmentAdda, Residents’ email-id and mobile phone number are not part of the Residents’ List export. A complete export of Residents’ List can be enabled by ApartmentAdda on need basis, after receiving written official communication from you. All residents will also receive advance information by email about this complete Residents’ List export.

FAQ-8. Can we switch from Basic Adda to Premium Adda, and back again?

Yes, the typical route of switching is from Basic Adda (Free of Cost, limited features) to Premium Adda (Annual Subscription, all features). ApartmentAdda executes a Commercial Agreement with you and the access to Premium features open up.

If you need to switch back from Premium Adda to Basic Adda for any reason, we assist you with the same. You will have sufficient time to export the relevant data from the Premium features, before the access to premium features is discontinued. You can then continue on the Basic Adda.

Product Updates

Election of Apartment Owners’ Association goes online!

Mar 26th, 09 / 1 Comment

Last weekend the election for Office Bearers of the Apartment Owners’ Association was conducted by Oasis Breeze – ApartmentAdda’s founding customer. What made it special is that Oasis Breeze provided an online secret ballot along with the paper-ballot so that EVERY owner, irrespective of where he was during the voting, could exercise his/her right to vote!

The Secret Ballot was hosted on the Oasis Breeze Adda, which reflected the exact operations of the paper ballot. It maintained the confidentiality of a secret ballot, gave exclusive powers to the election officer to create and view the poll results, opened and closed automatically on the announced time, and made it possible for results to be manually verified on authorized request!

Of course, there were the obvious benefits of an online poll – extended poll duration (2.5 days) since no manning of a poll booth is required, no manual counting, automatic prevention of double voting from a flat, in-built verification if the voter is authorized to vote, and printed reports with due regard to confidentiality.

The best part – residents who were temporarily out of town did not miss the Association election!

The online secret ballot was conducted first, followed by the paper ballot. Since Oasis Breeze Adda contains the complete residents’ database online, a simple printout of the same provided the Attendance List needed for the Paper-Ballot – with the residents who had already voted online marked accordingly.


We would let the Election Officer of Oasis Breeze, Mr.Shenoy have the last word on this:

“The Online secret ballot [on ApartmentAdda] was simple and easy to use/understand. It has useful reporting tools and saved a lot of manual effort. What’s more, it is Green… no ballot paper.” – Balakrishna Shenoy, Director at Deutsche Bank Operations International ( DBOI ) Global Services.

Product Updates, Testimonial

Why Apartment Adda? Why not Orkut or Facebook?

Dec 24th, 08 / 0 Comments

Apartment Adda was talked about in bangaloreInc! [ Update - May 10 : This news site has unfortunately shut down ] Praveen Karoshi did a great job of covering all our features and the business model.

Praveen also raised a question regarding the positioning of Apartment Adda. Here is the question along with our response (also posted as a comment against the same post on bangaloreinc).

Why would anyone use Apartment Adda and not any other general networking site (e.g., Orkut)?

If you do not like reading long posts, here is a one line answer:


It is the same reason why a chef would use a dedicated knife like a Wusthof Classic or a Sabatier to cut his meat and not a multifunction pen-knife.

If you want more, read on!

Apartment communities have unique communication requirements, very different from general networking.


From the viewpoint of the Resident: The Apartment resident lives in harmony with his neighbours and pays for common maintenance. Many residential issues directly impacting him are decided jointly. To facilitate this joint decision making and info-sharing, a secure, private network is required.


As a simple example, if Orkut is used for residential networking, you may think many times before discussing sensitive topics such as “Our security guard was found sleeping yesterday night”. :)

Since Apartment Adda gives the control of the network in the hands of the Association Committee of the Apartment complex, there is clear accountability of who is let in and who is not. The fields that Apartment Adda makes mandatory when a user tries to register, ensures that the Association committee can easily verify the residential status of the user.


All other features for the Apartment resident are simple, effective and fun to use.


From the viewpoint of the Association Committee/RWA: This is a cause very close to our heart.
Any Apartment resident who is also an active part of the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) is a social reformer in his own right! He volunteers to dedicate his personal time and money (in terms of hidden costs such as mobile airtime) to ensure a smooth day to day residential maintenance as well as take bigger decisions to make the neighborhood better.

He is held accountable for common funds worth crores but does not have any dedicated tools to make his life simpler. Most of his time gets lost in running after maintenance fee defaulters and AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) contacts.

Apartment Adda provides the Association with a maintenance fee tracker that can automatically calculate dues, track receivables as well as inform defaulters via the online noticeboard, email or sms. Other features such as the Issue Tracker, Admin Forum and Maintenance contacts gives them an online shared workspace so that residential issues can be resolved, without having to wait for the next committee meeting.

For more information on Apartment Adda, please do get in touch with us, we would love to hear from you.

Media, Product Updates

New features and Oasis Breeze goes live!

Dec 13th, 08 / 0 Comments

Apartment Adda is a month old now! It is hardly a milestone when we compare ourselves against business giants who have seen centuries go past while they strive incessantly to serve their customers.. But then, you cannot blame the first-time-parents of a newborn for cutting a cake for every month that their baby survives and grows.. :)

So, what did Apartment Adda do in the past month. We added new features (the Adda Profile, Batch upload of residents database, Apartment Complex Income and Expense trackers and an improvised Poll), we demonstrated Apartment Adda to interested Association committees and spoke to many apartment residents who are excited about using Apartment Adda.

Oasis Breeze, our founding Adda, went live a few weeks back. It also happens to be our home and a neighbourhood full of enthusiasm and life. Of a total of 165 flats, 163 residents are already online on the Oasis Breeze Adda. We, at Apartment Adda, wish Oasis Breeze all the best with building a great neighbourhood together!

That’s all from us as of now.. As always, do write in!

Milestones, Product Updates

Launching Apartment Adda

Nov 12th, 08 / 3 Comments

Hello World !!

We are happy to announce the launch of ApartmentAdda.com – an online communication and management portal built for apartment communities. You can find more about Apartment Adda – our services, features at our site – ApartmentAdda.com

Milestones, Product Updates