ASBESTOS 2026 has started! Alpha Tracker is a proud exhibitor and supporter of FAMANZ's 5th asbestos conference

Judy & Robin have arrived at Sydney's stunning Darling Harbour for FAMANZ's 5th asbestos conference called "ASBESTOS 2026" (see what they did, there!).

Robin (jetlagged!) and Judy with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the distance

Our Australian business, Alpha Tracker Pty, based in Adelaide, is one of the exhibitors - and we're proud to say that we've been a sponsor and/or exhibitor at every one of the five FAMANZ asbestos events.  We're here to talk to our amazing Australian & New Zealand asbestos consultancy clients, and also to meet other partners and potential partners including PAS and MPAR.

Alpha Tracker is in good company

The event is really well attended, again, with more than 350 delegates.  They represent the whole asbestos industry as well as organisations managing asbestos in buildings and asbestos software companies, like Alpha Tracker.

The welcome drinks always attracts a crowd!

Our stand is busy, as usual with clients and prospective clients coming to say hello.  To encourage new people to visit, we're running a competition this year to win a bottle of South Australian "champagne" from the mighty Penfolds.  There is a lovely connection here for Judy & Robin - they visited Penfolds back in 2018 to help them with some on-site data capture technology, see https://blog.start-software.com/2018/05/software-meeting-at-penfolds-magill.html.

Instant prints - Polaroid-style - from a digital camera (the TimTam is for scale!)

Visitors to our Alpha Tracker stand are offered the chance to have their photo taken and an instant print produced... with all photos going into a hat to win the bottle at the end of the conference.

The photo printer has been busy!

Judy has been busy all day, right from the start at 08:00, and tomorrow and Wednesday are likely to be even busier with more delegates arriving.

Judy talking to an interested asbestos surveying company owner

Come and find us - we're easy to spot!

Lunch breaks give us a chance for some fresh air and to take in the stunning view over the harbour.  What a venue and what a city!

Judy with Brett from Agon Environmental

Come and find us again tomorrow - if you can squeeze through the crowds.

Robin has managed to avoid being in the photos (so far)

Not a drone photo! Robin was up a staircase

Congratulations to the event organisers at FAMANZ for putting on such an amazing conference and for encouraging so many interesting (and interested) people to attend.  We're going to have a really productive and stimulating three days.

Our Alpha Tracker Roadmap is now available. Check out what we have planned for 2026

A Closer Look at What’s Coming Next

At Alpha Tracker we always listen closely to our users. That insight helps us plan updates that make the software more capable, easier to use and better suited to real world project workflows.

Our 2026 Alpha Tracker Roadmap sets out the major releases we have planned this year. These updates reflect customer feedback, industry demand and our ongoing commitment to practical improvements.

It's going to be a busy 2026 for the Alpha Tracker team!

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Release 42 (Q1): Customer-Driven Enhancements

We kick off the year with Release 42, which brings together a number of features we have been testing with customers:

• Improvements to Water Hygiene data collection and reporting, including enhanced Client Portal workflows

• Better automation of milestones and automated report email distribution

• Improved QR code support for field teams

• Enhanced admin automation, such as auto-populating of report recipients

• Completion of the Australian asbestos risk assessment methodology

• Ongoing security improvements across the product

This release lays a strong foundation for the rest of the year by focusing on core user needs and meaningful workflow improvements.

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April: Release 42.1 — Technical and Cosmetic Refresh

Next up is Release 42.1, focused on general performance and usability:

• Updated software framework for better overall performance

• Faster import tools, making data loading quicker

• A fresh look and cleaner user interface, optimized for tablets and desktop

• Usage tracking to guide future performance improvements

• Integration with Assure360

• API updates to support integrations with external systems

These enhancements make Alpha Tracker easier and faster to use day-to-day.

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May: Release 42.2 — AI Enhancements

Building on the AI work we started in 2025, Release 42.2 brings multiple AI-powered features:

• Jotter auto-summaries to help reduce time spent writing narrative text

• An AI photo analyser to assist with image tagging and interpretation

• Better list summaries throughout the product

• An updated and integrated AI QC checker

• Tracker Agent, our AI-powered replacement for Tracker Filer

These tools are designed to save time and support quality control across busy workflows.

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June: Release 42.3 — Finance

Customers have been clear that finance workflows matter. Release 42.3 focuses on:

• Improved Xero integration for smoother accounting workflows

• Faster, easier invoicing

• A new application for payment process

• A special feature to support designated charities

This release makes financial processes in Alpha Tracker quicker and more flexible.

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Custom Regional Updates: Release 42.4 (Australia & New Zealand)

We are batching up changes requested specifically by our Australian and New Zealand asbestos consultancy clients and delivering these in Release 42.4.

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Later Releases in 2026

After that we have a series of updates focused on specific areas of the product:

Release 42.5: Sales, Customer Service and Client Portal

This update will improve how your customers interact with Alpha Tracker through the Client Portal and optimise internal sales and service processes.

Release 42.6: Calendar & Maps

Expect new and improved calendar views, tighter integration with What3Words, enhanced mapping capability and a new Calendar Sync module.

Release 42.7: Fire Risk Module

We are rebuilding the Fire Risk assessment module from the ground up and plan to release this later in the year.

Release 42.8: Accessibility

Alpha Tracker already meets many accessibility standards. In this release we go further, especially for users with limited vision.

Release 42.9: Technical Refresh

Towards the end of the year we intend to retire some older modules “behind the scenes” and replace them with a new product core, setting the stage for Release 43 and future development.

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What This Means for You

This roadmap shows a clear progression through performance, usability, AI, finance, regional customisation and specialised updates. It reflects both our development priorities and the real needs of Alpha Tracker users.

We will continue to refine and adapt based on feedback as the year progresses, and you can expect each release to bring practical improvements to your workflows.

If you have specific ideas or requests for future releases, please get in touch. Your insight helps shape Alpha Tracker’s direction.

Support Desk Performance Update: February 2026

Time for another look under the bonnet of our Support Desk covering Alpha Tracker (UK and Australian/New Zealand support), Alpha Legal and ecoScribe.

We like publishing these updates for a simple reason. If you are trusting us to run systems that matter to your business, you deserve to know how we are performing. Not just the good months. All of it.

Here are the latest figures covering September 2025 through to February 2026.

The headline numbers

Over the last six months we have:

• Resolved 5,149 support tickets

• Delivered an overall 92 to 94 percent on-time resolution rate each month

• Achieved between 97 and 99 percent on-time performance for high-priority issues

That is not a small volume. It represents consistent, steady demand from clients using Alpha Tracker, especially, and the wider Start Software ecosystem every day.

We track Support Desk performance monthly - and weekly - and daily!

Monthly breakdown

A quick snapshot of the last six months:

• February 2026
  926 tickets resolved
  92.33 percent on time overall
  98.81 percent on time for high-priority

• January 2026
  904 tickets resolved
  93.58 percent on time overall
  98.86 percent high-priority

• December 2025
  685 tickets resolved
  91.09 percent on time overall
  99.30 percent high-priority

• November 2025
  808 tickets resolved
  92.08 percent on time overall
  99.37 percent high-priority

• October 2025
  947 tickets resolved
  92.40 percent on time overall
  97.16 percent high-priority

• September 2025
  879 tickets resolved
  94.20 percent on time overall
  98.38 percent high-priority

Across the period we resolved 4,772 standard priority tickets and 992 high-priority tickets within SLA.

What the numbers tell us

A few observations.

1. Volume remains high and steady

We are consistently resolving between 800 and 950 tickets per month, with December being the natural seasonal dip. That level of activity reflects a growing user base and more organisations embedding our software deeply into their workflows.

Busy is fine. Uncontrolled is not. The consistency shows the team is absorbing the load without performance dropping off a cliff.

2. High-priority issues are handled exceptionally quickly

When something is genuinely urgent, we treat it that way. High-priority SLA performance has stayed around 98 to 99 percent. That is where it needs to be.

If a system underpins field operations, compliance, billing, or reporting, delays are not just inconvenient. They cost money. Our focus is always to protect business continuity first.

3. Overall SLA performance is stable

Overall on-time performance has remained comfortably above 91 percent every month, peaking at over 94 percent.

Of course we would like that to be 100 percent. Real life occasionally intervenes. Complex issues take deeper investigation. Some require third-party involvement. Some involve careful data repair rather than a quick patch.

What matters is that the trend is stable and predictable, not volatile.

What sits behind these figures

Support performance is not just about answering tickets quickly. It depends on:

• Well-structured, documented software

• Clear release management

• Robust hosting infrastructure

• Experienced developers who can step into escalations

• And clients who provide good information when raising issues

We are fortunate on all counts.

As Alpha Tracker and our other platforms continue to evolve, we invest heavily in stability, monitoring, and preventative fixes. The best support ticket is the one that never needs to be raised.

A quiet thank you to the team

Support work is rarely glamorous. When things run smoothly, nobody notices. When something breaks, everyone notices.

Sustaining over five thousand resolutions in six months with consistently high SLA performance takes focus, discipline, and care. We are quietly proud of the team.

Zac keeping his eye on a ticket - and the Support Team

If you are a client

Please keep raising tickets through the proper channels. It helps us track, prioritise, and measure properly. Emails sent to individual developers may feel faster, but they make it harder to maintain this level of visibility and accountability.

And if you are considering working with us and want to understand how we operate, transparency like this is part of the culture.

We build software that supports operational businesses. That means our Support Desk has to perform, month in, month out.

If you would like to talk about how Alpha Tracker or our wider solutions could support your organisation, just get in touch.

We will keep publishing these updates. Quiet consistency beats loud promises every time.

Look for the latest Alpha Tracker Mobile which hits the app stores this week

Our latest Alpha Tracker Mobile update hits the app stores this week.  It is focused on fixing issues which have occasionally affected water hygiene users when syncing their data.

Make sure you update to the latest version of Alpha Tracker Mobile

The key change is that all users will now automatically be using the latest sync method - which will improve the speed and reliability of the sync process, especially when there is a slow or unreliable Internet connection.

Did you know that Alpha Tracker now produces 1000s of water hygiene reports each week?  Legionella is now one of the fastest growing sectors for Alpha Tracker.

You can check your app version in the "About" screen - the latest one is v3.1.91