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Reliable software, expert support: Meet Elliott Hall

22nd Apr 2022
Brought to you by
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BTCSoftware develops feature-rich and cost-effective products.

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We’re all about creating reliable software and backing it up with expert support. Our latest release is out now, so we’ve asked Elliott Hall to give you some insight into how we make sure we provide our customers with the quality and expertise they need.

With interests outside of working hours including a passion for his motorbike and gaming, university education in Game Design, a natural flair for communication and a mind for systems, Elliott is the perfect member of our team to share his insights into how BTCSoftware delivers reliable software and expert support to our customers.

A photo of Elliott Hall on his motorbike on a country road with the text Meet Elliot Hall Software Developer and the BTCSoftware logo

Meet Elliott Hall

Elliott joined the BTCSoftware team as a member of the support desk in 2019, bringing his customer service skills from his experience building servers and supporting the users with their hardware. That means he had little concerns about transitioning to software support, but the big surprise was the difference in BTCSoftware’s culture.

He shares,  “My favourite part of BTCSoftware would have to be the culture, we all get along and everyone gets stuck in. To top it off we all help each other across the departments which have made working here a vastly different experience than what I am used to.”

“Outside of work I am an avid gamer although I stick to playing them more than making them now. Other than that I’m also a biker, I picked up my full licence last year and haven’t looked back. In my free time, you will either find me glued to my monitor trying to beat a boss level or, when it isn’t raining, finding windy B roads to enjoy on two wheels.”

Expert Support

Elliott shares that he was initially expecting a support role like any other; “Support positions have a reputation for being pressured and busy, so I was surprised when I joined the BTCSoftware team. There’s a lot of care taken to look after our customers. We are coached to take our time with every caller so that we can understand exactly what the current issue is and identify underlying needs. There’s a balancing act between resolving an issue quickly and resolving an issue thoroughly and the BTCSoftware approach is to constantly look for the best path forward.”

We’re proud to hear praise from our customers about our expert support and it's all backed up by some impressive stats. In January and February, the busiest time of year, the support team handled 1,312 tickets and achieved a 93% “Happy” feedback rating.  

Graphic showing BTCSoftware's January and Februrary support statistics. 1,312 tickets handled, 93% happy rating, 7 hours average resolution time. At the bottom, the text reads "Reliable Software, Expert Support"

Reliable software

BTCSoftware prides itself on ensuring our software is reliable. Our stringent process means that any updates are checked several times for quality and reliability before being made available to our customers. And beyond routine updates in-line with legislative changes, we’re also proud to listen to our customers and what they share with us. In Elliott’s words:

“When I first started at BTCSoftware joining the development team was always an option for progression due to my programming background and whilst I was working in support I coded a few things in my spare time as well as helping with database issues and other back-end tasks. Eventually, Rob handed me a programming test and the next thing I knew I was moving to the development team.

I think the way I progressed here was both advantageous for me and the customers as I have experienced the software as a user which makes it easier for me to design features that are both easy to use and useful for the user.”

Quality is key

Our development process is made up of five stages which ensure that all features released are safe, accurate and reliable. From design in stage one, through to build and three rounds of testing and checks, we’re proud that our software is a tool our customers can use daily without fear of costly errors.

Elliott adds, “At the final stage of our build we invite members of the wider company to test the release. Getting non-developers involved at this point means that not only does everyone know how the features work, but they often use them in ways that we didn’t expect because they’re not as closely involved in the design and build process.”

Alongside broad testing, we also run and submit all of the HMRC test cases to make sure our calculations and tax reports comply exactly with HMRC specifications (for Self-Assessment alone, that's over 300 test cases!) By taking every test case to submission to the HMRC test Gateway, we are able to understand exactly where further tweaks are needed before our customers can access the release.

We implement all of the Exclusions in our software when HMRC publish them and the software prompts the customers to run a special “check all of your tax returns against the new exclusions” report whenever new exclusions are released

Elliott puts it like this. “When we work hard for months on updates and new features, we naturally have a pride in our work and would hate to release something to our customers that doesn’t help them or could even actively harm their practice. So we run every test available to us ahead of the release – it gives everyone peace of mind!”

Need reliable software and expert support?

Get in touch for an initial chat on 0345 241 5030 or request your trial and demo here.