Another global environmental consultancy chooses Alpha Tracker from Start Software

I'm so pleased to announce that we have received another Australian order for our environmental & asbestos software, Alpha Tracker.  This order is from global environmental consultancy SLR Consultancy.

SLR provide global environmental and advisory solutions for Oil & Gas, Built Environment, Mining & Minerals, Infrastructure, Industry and Power sector clients.

We are delighted that they have chosen Alpha Tracker and we are looking forward to building a long and productive relationship.

Meet the team - Adam Dangerfield

Senior developer Adam is our top Access & VB programmer and works on asbestos software Tracker as well as the accompanying modules for web-based Alpha Tracker, too.  He also works to support and develop a number of other systems for a wide range of clients in a number of industries.

Senior developer Adam Dangerfield

Outside work, Adam's first love is his wonderful family.

Another hazardous material consultancy chooses Alpha Tracker

New Zealand-based hazardous material consultancy Virotech has just chosen Alpha Tracker to improve their productivity and automate their admin.

More on this story to follow!

Meet the team - Jack Byrne

Jack joined Start Software back in 2014 as an apprentice support engineer and he has developed into a real "Jack" of all trades (see what I did there?!) leading our support desk operations as well as working as an Alpha Anywhere developer for mobile apps.

Jack will always go the extra mile whether he is helping an asbestos surveyor stuck with a problem sending in their data or trying to get a mobile app exactly to a client's specification.

Out of work, Jack enjoys socialising, going to the gym and eating.  He even has his own foodie website!

Leading consultancy EDP goes live with Alpha Tracker

Leading Health, Safety & Environmental Services consultancy EDP have completed their switch to Alpha Tracker to help their growing asbestos services division.

Having recently completed their acquisition of IOM Consulting's asbestos directorate, EDP were looking for the best-of-breed asbestos software to support their continued growth.  Many of the 34 staff transferring from IOM have experience of the previous-generation Tracker system from Start Software, and they are enjoying the benefits of web-based Alpha Tracker now.

Click to watch Alpha Tracker demo

A UK leader in providing UKAS Accredited asbestos solutions, EDP's asbestos services fully complement their property compliance division to enable clients to benefit from a full range of risk management and compliance solutions across individual buildings or complete property portfolio requirements.

EDP's large team of asbestos management specialists are located in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stafford and London which enables them to provide full geographical support for organisations with national property portfolios, as well as those with individual property concerns.

From surveys to assess the risks associated with asbestos, to remediation management, EDP provides the right approach to minimise as much disruption as possible.

EDP's asbestos surveys, air monitoring and 4 stage clearance services are UKAS Accredited and they work with organisations across a range of sectors including construction, utilities, retail, education, property management, healthcare and manufacturing as well as SMEs, public sector agencies and local authorities.

The Alpha Tracker team at Start Software is really looking forward to working with our new client EDP alongside our old friends joining from IOM.

More asbestos consultancies choose Alpha Tracker

We've had another flurry of orders through for our asbestos software, Alpha Tracker.

Nottinghamshire-based Asbestobel will be one of the next group to go live and we're working with them now to create Alpha Tracker-based automated templates for their asbestos reports.

If we can help your asbestos consultancy to become more efficient and productive, do get in touch.

Oracle Solutions asbestos consultancy switches to Alpha Tracker

We're really pleased that Oracle Solutions has joined the Alpha Tracker family!

Kim met the asbestos professionals at Oracle this week for their training session.  Oracle Solutions has the experience and accreditations to provide any asbestos service, for any situation, nationwide.

Here are some of Kim's photos from the training session:

Tracker Mobile can be used on tablets or smartphones

You can have any number of asbestos surveyors working at the same time

Plans can be drawn on paper on a tablet

Oracle's asbestos professionals are full of experience and knowledge

Upload data from site via WiFi or mobile data

Use Alpha Tracker in your lab, too

Alpha Tracker Release 25 is now available for download

We're really pleased to announce that the latest version of Alpha Tracker, our software for asbestos and environmental consultancies, is now available for download.

Release 25 is our Summer 2017 update and is designed to introduce our new Fire Risk module as well as addressing some performance problems which a recent update to Google Chrome has caused for some of our users.

There are 100+ new features, performance improvements and bug fixes since Release 24 (see http://robinbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/alpha-tracker-release-24-is-now.html).  You can find details of the all of the changes in Kim's release notes.

We're planning Release 26 now so do get in touch with your ideas and requests.

(PS apologies if I look a bit bleary-eyed... I was up half the night watching the election results!)

CDM Scotland go live with automated asbestos software Alpha Tracker

Kim had a great day with the team of asbestos professionals at CDM Scotland on Wednesday helping them to get to grips with their new asbestos software system, Alpha Tracker.

Established in 1995, CDM's team of asbestos surveyors are all P402 and P405 trained and employed directly by the company.  All surveys are carried out to UKAS standards and as defined in the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Documents HSG 264.

Welcome to the Alpha Tracker family and thanks CDM for being so welcoming to trainer Kim!  Here are some of her photos from the day:

Capture data and photos on site using Tracker Mobile on Android or iOS devices

CDM offer a full range of environmental services

Tracker Mobile can be used on tablets or smartphones

Some of CDM Scotland's professional asbestos qualifications

Spelling and grammar checking now available in Alpha Tracker

Asbestos software Alpha Tracker is now fully compatible with the Grammarly spelling and grammar checker.

Grammarly (https://www.grammarly.com) is available a free Alpha Tracker add-in to enable spell checking and grammar suggestions throughout the whole of the system.  Comments from asbestos surveyors, notes, room descriptions and all other text boxes will be checked for spelling and grammar errors as you type.

Contact Start Software support if you need help to get going with Grammarly or follow the instructions at https://app.grammarly.com/.

Disappointing support desk performance for May 2017

We've just reviewed our support desk stats for May 2017 and they are a bit disappointing.

Month	In time (%)	In time (H) (%)	In time (total)	In time (H) (total)	Total solved
2017-05	80.66	90.45	463	142	574
2017-04	92.89	97.40	470	150	506
2017-03	88.45	94.36	605	184	684
2017-02	88.70	95.33	424	102	478
2017-01	92.00	92.41	414	73	450
2016-12	86.14	90.00	373	99	433
			2749	750	3125

Overall, the team resolved 8 out 10 problems in the timescales set by our clients.  For urgent calls, we answered 9 out of 10 in time, which some software companies might consider to be good performance.  As you can see from previous months this is down from our usual level and has caused us to look hard at our processes, procedures and staffing levels.

We'll be monitoring our performance in June even more carefully and will post further updates on the blog when we have them.