We're here to help you with Invitations to Tender. APIs, other asbestos software, and more

Are you tendering for asbestos surveying or management work?  Have you seen references to Alpha Tracker, APIs, or other asbestos software systems in the Invitations to Tender?  

Here's a brief guide to help you - our "Alpha Tracker in tenders FAQ".

Alpha Tracker is a requirement

There are some large tenders circulating at the moment where asbestos software Alpha Tracker is mentioned as a requirement (because the client already has their own copy of the Alpha Tracker system).

If you are an Alpha Tracker user already, this is obviously fine and you can simply go through the process as normal.  If you don't already have your own copy of asbestos software Alpha Tracker at your consultancy, you can either get in touch and ask for a quote for your own licence, or you can have a discussion with us about whether your existing software can generate files in a format that Alpha Tracker could import.

There is a requirement to interface with another API

First, what is an API?  An API is a means for one software system to talk (exchange data and documents) with another.

The organisation looking for an asbestos consultancy might already have a system in place (for example, one of the housing management platforms) and they may have specified that their new asbestos consultancy of choice needs to be able to interface with that API.  Is that possible with Alpha Tracker?  Absolutely!

Alpha Tracker is the most open asbestos software system on the market with 10 ways to import and export data, including the use of APIs.  See https://alpha-tracker.co.uk/integrations for an overview.  We are also very happy to quote for new API integrations.  Typically, we estimate that an API-based integration with a system we haven't interacted with before can take 3-4 days of our time for us to develop and test.

Each API is different so it is always best to get a firm quote from us (for the Alpha Tracker API integration) before you incorporate it into your quote.

Another asbestos system is specified

What happens if the tender specifically mentions another asbestos software system?  Can an Alpha Tracker consultancy still apply to win the business?  The short answer is "it depends".  Here are some options:

• if the other software system is from a company interested in connecting and working with the asbestos software industry (for example, Flow Mobile), then data exchange is normally possible via OpenAsbestos or other methods.  However, some other asbestos software companies are not open to work with the rest of the industry (no names required, I'm sure you know who we mean!), so... 
  
  
• ...if the other system is a closed system, then it is more difficult.  An option is to use your potential client's own licence or to negotiate a licence direct with the software supplier.

Hope that helps, we're here to help you to win business.

We took the portrait of Mavis & Ray Nye to the Houses of Parliament to mark the anniversary of her passing. It was a memorable day

Yesterday marked exactly 12 months since we lost our beloved Mavis Nye to mesothelioma.  Mavis was a legend in the world of asbestos, surviving an incredible 14 years after she was diagnosed in 2009.  Her fundraising, campaigning, and support for other sufferers of asbestos-related disease were an inspiration to all.

To mark the date, our Alpha Tracker director Robin organised an event at the Houses of Parliament, hosted by Julia Buckley MP and with most of the asbestos industry represented.  Robin is a Trustee of the Mavis Nye Foundation, the charity founded by Mavis & Ray to inspire and support other sufferers of mesothelioma and to raise funds for research.

It was a lovely occasion.  Moving, inspiring, and important, raising the levels of awareness with MPs and demanding action.  The whole event was linked back to the wonderful oil painting of Mavis & Ray which was the brainchild of European Asbestos Forum President Yvonne Waterman and commissioned by UKNAR founder Andrew Paten.  The portrait only arrived a few days before the event thanks to the efforts of Harry Vonk from the Asbestos Museum (where it has been on display for the last 12 months).

Mavis wanted her portrait to be in the Houses of Parliament so that MPs would ask who she was, understand her story, and then take action to stop people from being exposed to asbestos fibres in the future.  In particular, she was determined to see changes in policy and legislation so that asbestos was removed entirely from schools and hospitals.  She was also a great supporter of the notion of a UK National Asbestos Register.

Here are some of the photos from the day and a video of the event itself in a room just off Westminster Hall.

Ray couldn't join the event in person as he is not well enough to travel, but it was videoed to enable him to watch it back at home.

Mavis & Ray were walked through the Palace of Westminster

Craig reading some very moving words sent in by Ray

Julia Buckley MP sharing her thoughts about the next steps

Representatives of the UK asbestos industry and charities

Mavis & Ray in Westminster Hall

We had chance to explore the Palace

Our final photo on the terrace

You can watch the speeches from the event here https://youtu.be/tPcDgQ7x_9g or by clicking the video below.

Kim has been delivering Alpha Tracker training sessions and clinics this week. Can we help you, too?

Kim has been on the road this week, delivering advanced Alpha Tracker training to established users, and running a troubleshooting clinic for a new client.

I couldn't find a picture of Kim "in action", so this headshot will have to do!

One of the asbestos consultancy clients had asked to deliver a "gap analysis", to highlight areas of their business where Alpha Tracker could help to reduce admin and increase productivity.  One of Alpha Tracker's strengths is its flexibility, but that's also a challenge as our clients have choices about how much to implement and how to integrate it into their operations.

Kim, Catherine & Judy are all able to help you get the most out of your Alpha Tracker asbestos software.  For example:

• are you still running a separate CRM system (or spreadsheets) alongside Alpha Tracker?
  
  
• do you produce your quotations through Alpha Tracker or are you using another system?
  
  
• are site staff picking up their jobs from their phone calendars, or are you still emailing rotas?
  
  
• do you think you could make your scheduling team more productive through the use of FLS?
  
  
• are you using our latest features aimed at making surveyors more productive?
  
  
• are your asbestos templates perfect - or are you having to make manual amendments to documents?
  
  
• are invoices generated automatically from Alpha Tracker or are you still raising invoices manually in your accounts software?
  
  
• are your clients downloading their asbestos reports from your client portal, or are you still emailing PDFs (or printing and posting!).
  

Get in touch and have a chat.  We'd love to help you.

UK Access User Group relaunch at Oxford University - cracking event!

Robin attended the UK Access User Group relaunch event today at the Faculty of History at Oxford University.

More than 40 developers attended from around the UK with speakers from far and wide including Denmark and the USA.  The Microsoft Access software engineering team also attended by video link, providing the latest information about developments coming in 2025.

Robin at the Access User Group

The team at Start Software supports several MS Access-based systems across the UK and provides a service to convert desktop Access systems to browser-based software in the cloud, using Alpha Anywhere & Alpha Cloud.  Get in touch if you would like us to help you with your Access system.

Save 10% on your European Asbestos Forum booking in Brussels. We're sponsoring the EAF again this year

If you are considering attending the European Asbestos Forum (EAF) in Brussels in December, but still need to book your ticket, here's how to save 10% on your registration.

Start Software is an EAF sponsor again this year, enabling us to pass on a special deal to all Alpha Tracker software users.  Email your registration as normal but mention asbestos software Alpha Tracker in your booking request and ask for the 10% special offer discount.

Highlights from last year's EAF conference

We'll launch an update to our "Damage: The Poor Condition of Asbestos in our Schools, Hospitals and Houses" report at the EAF with the latest statistics about asbestos in schools, particularly.  We will be making this data available to Mesothelioma UK CEO Liz Darlison so that she has the latest information available for her talk on Day 2 (see https://www.europeanasbestosforum.org/programme-and-registration-2024/).

Watch out for our updated "Damage" report with the latest data about asbestos in UK schools

The European Asbestos Forum events are always such good value with high-quality presentations and - more importantly - opportunities to discuss asbestos with leading professionals from Europe and beyond.  In fact, it has become a global event with asbestos experts from every corner of the world attending.

Hope to see you there!

(read more about Alpha Tracker at EAF events here: https://blog.start-software.com/search?q=EAF)

It's our ISO9001 and ISO27001 recertification week where we focus on Quality and Information Security

It seems like Catherine has been preparing for months for our ISO9001:2015 and ISO27001:2013  recertifications.  This week, she's been working non-stop with ISO assessor Chris and our ISO consultant Kieran alongside our Telford team to provide evidence of our conformance to the standards.

Catherine, Chris and Kieran

Keeping our ISO certifications is a long and costly process, so why do we put ourselves through it?

ISO9001 has been the bedrock of our business since we started trading.  ISO9001 is a measure of an organisation's Quality Management System, essentially a guarantee that a company will work in an orderly, consistent and measured way.   Our software is used by hundreds of organisations every day and they rely on us to provide a consistent service.  Our Support Desk has never been busier, handling more than 1,000 tickets each month and we aim to deal with each one in a timely and professional manner.

ISO27001 ensures that we treat data and information within our custody with appropriate care and diligence.  It is an internationally recognised standard relating to Information Security specifically and there are not many companies of our size who have spent the time and money necessary to obtain the certification.

We won't know until the end of the week whether any non-conformances have been found, so please do wish us luck!