October 2024 was another 1,000 ticket month - 1,167 to be precise. Zac, Jamie & Lucas were joined by Melika this month, helping customers using our apps to get the most from their software. 6 months of Support Desk performance Performance dropped slightly but was still good. 94% of high-priority tickets were answered on time compared to 91% of all tickets.
Posts
Time flies! We're celebrating 5 years of being a Living Wage employer
It's 5 years since Start Software became a Living Wage Employer. We're as proud of that fact today as we were back in 2019.
 |
| Find out more at www.livingwage.org.uk |
The real Living Wage is based on the real cost of living and is voluntarily paid by more than 15,000 UK employers. It's calculated independently each year and these are the latest rates:
If your company hasn't explored the benefits of joining the movement and becoming a Living Wage Employer, we urge you to take a look. Visit www.livingwage.org.uk for more info.
New feature in the Water Hygiene Client Portal - temperature and flushing records
Your clients can now record temperature and flushing records live in the Alpha Tracker Client Portal for Water Hygiene.
.gif) |
| Another new Alpha Tracker feature |
There are more Water Hygiene (Legionella) updates on the way - keep an eye on the Alpha Tracker blog for more details. Or let us know what changes you'd like to see - we love to hear from our wonderful Alpha Tracker family!
Asbestos in UK schools - read about the future impact on lives from the latest JUAC report
The Daily Mail has published a story on the front page about the forthcoming "tsunami of deaths" from asbestos-related disease.
The Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC) has published a report - "What Is The Real Risk From Asbestos In Schools?" - following an investigation by unions representing heads, teachers and support staff. The report has concluded that hundreds of thousands of staff, exposed to asbestos in their schools, are predicated to die from mesothelioma.
 |
| The Daily Mail front page today |
Journalists Steve Boggan and Chris Pollard have continued their previous work at The Times and elsewhere to initiate a new campaign through the Daily Mail. The aim of the campaign is to strip asbestos from all public buildings - starting with schools and hospitals.
Here at Start Software, we produced our own report in 2023 called "Damage: The Poor Condition of Asbestos in our Schools, Hospitals & Houses" - which used data from more than 3 million asbestos samples from asbestos software Alpha Tracker. Our report was launched at the Houses of Parliament with asbestos campaigners and Sir Stephen Timms, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee.
 |
| Read our Damage asbestos report here |
We're updating our report in time for the December 2024 European Asbestos Forum in Brussels. Liz Darlison from Mesothelioma UK will be delivering a presentation about asbestos in UK schools and our updated report will be available for all EAF participants.
Finally, the Daily Mail's campaign is also proposing a national online database of every non-domestic building that contains asbestos - something that we have supported for many years.
 |
| Visit OpenAsbestos.org to find out more |
Our OpenAsbestos asbestos data sharing protocol was built with this in mind and our long-term support for UKNAR - the UK National Asbestos Register - demonstrates our commitment here at Alpha Tracker.
New Alpha Tracker Mobile hits the app stores. New "Support" option and "Water" buttons simplified
There's a new version of Alpha Tracker Mobile in the app stores.
The update adds a new "Support" menu (useful if you need to call us for help):
 |
| Look out for the new "Support" menu |
The other change is that the button previously labelled as "Water OFFLINE" is now just "Water". This is the button to click if you are working on water jobs on-site.
.gif) |
| Press "Water" to enter water hygiene data |
If you have any questions, do get in touch with Alpha Tracker Support (https://alpha-tracker.co.uk/support).
Big C V2 is taking shape! Watch how Andrew Bedwell's second record-breaking boat build is taking shape
Adventurer Andrew Bedwell's second attempt at the world record for the shortest boat to cross the Atlantic is taking shape!
Andrew is calling this "Big C V2" - an all-aluminium re-design of the original Big C boat, learning from the experience Andrew had after his first launch in May 2023.
 |
| Andrew is involved in every step of the design and build |
It's great to see the Start Software logo on the boat again! We so enjoyed meeting and helping Andrew during attempt #1 (see https://blog.start-software.com/search?q=Big+C), so nothing was going to stop us from being involved this time, too!
Watch videographer Paul Larkin's video here showing the boat build through to the Southampton Boat Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWvfCQY-ZBc
Andrew has a crowdfunding campaign running to help fund the new build. With only 6 months or so until the second attempt in May 2025, Andrew needs all the help he can muster to complete the build and sea trials. Please do contribute if you can: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bigcatlanticchallenge
Productive meetings with Alpha Software in Boston
We're just back from a productive day with our partners, Alpha Software, in Boston.
The UK technical team from Start Software travelled to the USA to meet the Alpha Software developers. The main topic was the roadmap for Alpha Anywhere and Alpha TransForm, two of the most important platforms used by the Start team, and critical for our Alpha Tracker, ecoScribe and Alpha Legal platforms.
 |
| The Start and Alpha technical teams in discussion |
It was great to catch up in person with our key software partners (Start Software is the UK professional partner for Alpha Software), renewing business and personal relationships.