February 2015's Alpha Tracker release in final beta

We've been working on some major new features for Alpha Tracker's February release.

The two areas we're most excited about - and which should make the biggest difference to asbestos consultancies using our software - are performance improvements in all searches and the new plan hotspot editor.

Some of the project searches are now 7x faster - a massive speed improvement!

With any luck the release should be publicly available next week so keep an eye on the blog!

Start Software sponsor a Community Ambulance Response Car

Start Software are sponsoring a Community Response Ambulance Car in Shropshire by paying for the car's insurance each year.

Community Response Cars are driven by volunteer members of Ambulance Service staff known as Community First Responders (CFRs).  CFRs respond to 999 calls in their area providing emergency medical treatment until a paramedic or ambulance arrives on scene.

Start's Director Robin Bennett is a CFR himself (pictured on the right with CFR colleague Colin Marlow) and volunteers 15-20 hours each week.

Much Wenlock's Community Response Car with CFRs Colin & Robin

Need help with your UKAS inspection? Try our Alpha Tracker Validation document

Specifically designed for asbestos surveying companies who are transferring from a paper-based or other electronic surveying system to Alpha Tracker, our new Alpha Tracker Validation document helps you prepare for the change-over and develop confidence in the new software.

You can download copy of the document from here: http://www.start-software.com/support/information-sheets/

Its aims are to:

(a) validate surveyor competence once they have completed their training
(b) compare survey details recorded in your old system and Alpha Tracker
(c) validate report output across all survey types
(d) compare Lab output on Bulk Certificates, if appropriate.

We're more than happy to provide you with extra support during your UKAS visits.  Just give us as much notice as possible and we can help you to prepare for the visit and ensure that your systems' paperwork is in order.

To discuss the document in more detail, please contact the office and ask for our Quality Manager, Kim.

Tracker Upload Manager v1.0.203 SVN40 released

Tracker Upload Manager is a key component of Alpha Tracker, our software system for asbestos consultancies, asbestos surveyors and other environmental specialists.

Tracker Upload Manager processes data from field staff (data transmitted from Tracker Mobile, our Android and Apple app) once a surveyor has checked the data and confirmed that all is ready to send.

This latest release of Tracker Upload Manager, v1.0.203, enables surveyors to take photographs of site plans drawn or annotated on site and upload them along with the other site data.  The plans are automatically saved into the job's Drawings sub-folder ready for the admin staff to complete before report production.

The update is available for download now from http://www.start-software.com/tracker/modules/tracker-upload-manager/.  If you need help to apply the update, please contact the support desk.

Tracker Dashboard v1.0.250 SVN52 released

The latest update to Tracker Dashboard is now available for download from http://start-software.com/tracker/modules/tracker-dashboard/.

This is a minor update and has improved email processing with better email address verification.

Asbestos and other environmental consultancies running Tracker or Alpha Tracker use Tracker Dashboard to send automated emails to staff with action lists, company statistics and system alerts.

If you need help installing the update, please do contact the office as usual.

AlphaValidator v1.0.61 SVN21 released

An updated release of AlphaValidator has been made available for immediate download from our website here: http://www.start-software.com/tracker/modules/alphavalidator/

AlphaValidator is a flexible and comprehensive automated data validation tool which can be configured to run a variety of data checks before you produce your asbestos reports.  It forms part of the Alpha Tracker software for asbestos consultancies.

Example AlphaValidator report

The latest update, v1.0.61 SVN21, has a new check to highlight materials which have inconsistent asbestos identifications from the lab.  This highlights areas which may require more checking before the report is issued.

If you need help to download the update, please call the support desk on 0845 612 2402.

Alpha Tracker Document Maker v1.4.391 SVN71

We've just released the latest version of our document maker component for Alpha Tracker.

Alpha Tracker Document Maker generates Word and Excel documents from data held within Alpha Tracker - typically quotes, project documents, lab certificates and asbestos survey reports.

This latest version, available to download now from our website, has improved error handling if the server or Microsoft Word crash.

If you need help to apply the update, please do contact the office.

December 2014's update to Alpha Tracker has been released (SVN1051)

December 2014's monthly update to Alpha Tracker is now publicly available.  This is update SVN1051.  December actually had four public releases - so make sure you apply all of them up to SVN1051!

Sorry the video is a bit late.. we've been busy finalising the January release (now done) and we're well into coding the February update too.

Here is a YouTube video which runs through 10 of the most useful improvements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-dJfw5QwY.



The December updates have 89 new features, improvements and bug fixes to the software since the November update.

All new features are fully documented in both the release notes and updated User Guides.

In the video above you can see 10 of the most useful or important changes we have made.  For full details, see the release notes at the bottom of the Alpha Tracker product page.

The update is ready to download and install through the Setup|System|Software Updates button.  If you need help to run the update, please do contact the support desk.

Start Software Support Stats - January 2015

We improved our support desk stats slightly last month after a very difficult December.

We resolved nearly 92% of high priority calls on time in January and nearly 90% of all calls. That's not a bad effort considering we took 512 calls together!

Month	In time (%)	In time (H) (%)	In time (total)	In time (H) (total)	Total solved
2015-01	89.26	91.74	457	100	512
2014-12	86.78	89.11	361	90	416
2014-11	88.76	95.73	442	112	498
2014-10	83.24	91.19	467	176	561
2014-09	93.72	95.29	448	162	478
2014-08	90.57	94.30	413	149	456
			2588	789	2921