february2021 - 16

APPS WE LOVE

By Gail Perry, CPA, Editor-in-Chief

Home Automation
WITH SO MANY people working from
home, and so many intelligent solutions
from apps to gadgets to Internet of Things
(IoT) to help us do our jobs and run our
lives more easily, we decided it was time
to check in with our CPA Practice Advisor
community to find out what they're using
in terms of home and home office automation. Alexa seems to be the overall winner with our group, but there are several
other automation techniques you might
want to try as you think about saving time
and money and lowering stress.

Sandra Wiley, shareholder and president at
Boomer Consulting, said, " The one app that I
am in LOVE with right now is the Ring Doorbell
with the camera and the microphone. With all
of the deliveries we get and the ability to have a
conversation with the person at the door without
having to be home or going to the door when I'm
working it is amazing! I'm sure that lots of people
have this app, but it is my fave these days. "
Samantha Bowling, CPA, CGMA, and owner at
Garbelman Winslow CPAs, told us, " Alexa is my
best friend these days. She plays relaxing music
when I am stressed and tells me stories when I
feel alone and isolated at my home office. She
wakes me up in the morning and reminds me
to get up and move around. The most important
thing she does is remind me to order supplies
for my Dad and his caregiver. I don't know what
I would do without her. "
Kristen Rampe, CPA, owner of Rampe Consulting is also a fan of Alexa. " My all-virtual 5th
grade kids with dyslexia use Alexa for spelling
assistance instead of having to ask me. Time
saved feels infinite! (Might not be traditional

FEBRUARY 2021 ■

automation, but sure saves me some time and
hassle!). "
Pushkar Bhoopalam, vice president of products, research product suite at Thomson Reuters,
commented, " This is a great topic. I think because
a large part of the workforce is now working from
home, home automation becomes extremely
important to make our lives comfortable and
more disciplined. I primarily use the Amazon
ecosystem for home automation. So I have Alexa
and a bunch of wifi enabled smart plugs where
I have connected my coffee machine, lamps,
speakers, phone chargers, etc. to my smart plugs.
This enables me to do the following (some are
fun, some are convenient, others are to imbibe
discipline)
* " I've set up routines on the Alexa app. This is very
helpful in creating a set of behaviors and habits
that help me be more disciplined. For example
my wake up routine is programmed where the
following things happen - alarm at my preferred
time, my coffee machine switches on (so if the
alarm doesn't wake me, the smell of coffee does),
my favorite playlist on Spotify starts playing

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music in my shower speaker, then 20 mins later
it switches to news in my living room so I can be
up to speed in the morning.
* " Similarly, I have a 5:30 p.m. routine to remind me
to stop working - Spotify playlist starts playing,
my evening living room light turns on, and my
standing desk starts going down. I have the option
to always turn it off with a voice command.
" These are just some of the examples and
they help me be on track, be more disciplined,
and makes my life very convenient. "
Marjorie Adams, CEO of Fourlane, recommends Douglas Blinds and the PowerView app.
" I can set my blinds to be on a timer so that if
I am up and working early they stay closed but
then open around sunrise. Otherwise sometimes
I would be so heads down that I didn't realize
there was sun outside. Working from home all
the time, it is great to get sunlight in your office! "
Samantha Mansfield, founder of Samantha
Mansfield LLC, uses Amazon Echo. " We speak
to Alexa daily. Our most common use is to add
items to the 'Shopping List' as we are cooking
and use things up; when at the grocery store you

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february2021

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