START SOFTWARE #NEWNORMAL

The COVID crisis arrived suddenly and with very little warning. Working practices changed overnight with face-to-face business being replaced by remote working, Zoom meetings and electronic signing of documents.

At Start Software we have been doing our best to help businesses work in the “new normal” virtual world. Here are a few of the areas we have been focusing on.

ALPHA LEGAL

Alpha Legal is a new product for the legal services industry, helping will writers, accountants, solicitors, financial advisors and more secure their client communications.

Alpha Legal uses innovative technology including electronic signatures, two-factor document sharing and the latest security protocols to protect and enhance communication between legal service businesses and their clients.

Driven by the COVID crisis and the need to support remote working, the Alpha Legal system was created in a few months. Key to the development was the need to secure the client relationship when face-to-face business became difficult, if not impossible. The solution was to provide clients with the opportunity to verify their identities securely and complete the onboarding process via their smartphones.

All the following are available on the platform:

• ID verification
• document sharing
• electronic signatures
• remote meetings.

And all this is backed with industry-leading security and support.

As we adapt to the “new normal”, with its remote working, Zoom meetings and electronic signing & sharing of documents, Alpha Legal provides our clients with the tools to meet their client expectations for a fast, seamless onboarding experience.

ALPHA TRANSFORM

The pandemic has dramatically increased consumer and business adoption of digital. We have been witnessing an historic deployment of remote working and digital access to services across every area of society. Many businesses are embracing this digital transformation by updating their technology, moving to the cloud and “digitally upskilling” their organisations.

At Start Software, one of the tools we are using to convert businesses to digital is Alpha Transform. It is an excellent platform that allows us to build offline-capable, mobile data capture apps in hours rather than weeks, which means we can develop at speed, without high costs – helping clients to accelerate their digital transformation and adapt to the “new normal”.

DESKTOP DATABASE TO WEB CONVERSION

Before working from home became the “new normal”, many businesses used Microsoft Access or Alpha Five databases on their office network. These server-based file sharing systems work well when you are in the office and physically close to your server but can be difficult to use when you are working remotely.

Remote control products or remote access to the server are possible but may not be very practical or secure. These solutions can also be slow and very frustrating.

As it looks like the “new normal” is here to stay, we have been working with a number of clients to upgrade their old databases to work in a web browser. We take the old database and convert it to run as a secure, fast and easy-to-use browser-based system. This means that clients can do all their work from inside their browser, with no other software to install and run. It’s a risk-free, cost-effective solution that helps businesses embracing the need to work remotely and securely.