Release notes - August 2023

Our product development team is constantly innovating, to build a better Alto software experience.

Every time we've added a new feature, we've notified all our users within Alto itself utilising in product messaging. 

However, for a full list of the changes on a monthly basis such as new features, any improvements or product fixes to our software, please see the relevant articles in our 2023 Release Notes section of the Help Centre.

This article includes:

• New features
  • Last sale price and date added to the new add a property page
  • Property listing details shown in appointment details via Alto on mobile​
  • New method to add a property
  • Filter the Inventory API by instruction date
  • Filter the Inventory API by property status
  • New Get by IDs endpoint for the Inventory API
  • New endpoint for the filtering Listings API and auction attributes
• Improvements
  • Improved UI surrounding the readability of property attributes for the new add a property page
  • Extended the visible length of the bullets text box
  • Improved UI surrounding review/edit mode for the new add a property page
  • Address format update for the new add a property page
  • Valuation estimate data added to the new add a property page
  • Added Dwelling to Sales reports
  • Additional attributes added to the Listings API
  • Added K6 framework to the Inventory and Listings APIs
  • Viewer & appraiser information shown in appointment details via Alto on mobile
  • New appointment type filters for the Appointments API
  • Applied new API standards to the Listings API
  • Updated permissions to separate brochure customisation from email/letter template management
  • Changed SMS provider for Alto
  • Improved server-to-server partner activation journey
• Product fixes
  • Fixed an issue with editing floor space and year built
  • Fixes an issue where users were seeing an error page after looking up a property
  • Fixed issues with appointment reminders
  • Fixed an issue where fields were being cleared
  • Fixes for Alto reports (stability & performance)

New features

Last sale price and date added to the new add a property page

This new feature went live on 29th August.

Within our New method to add a property, we've added the Last sale price and date into the Reference data section.

This data will be shown where the last valuation type on the property is a sale (as opposed to other non sales type valuations).

For more information on this, including how to access it, click here

Property listing details shown in appointment details via Alto on mobile

This new feature went live on 15th August.

For Alto on mobile users who view their appointment details, you will now be shown new listing information via the Property tab, to help with the viewing. This includes:

• Listing price
• Images
• Property attributes (bedrooms, bathrooms, reception rooms)
• Tenure
• Floor area
• EPC rating

For more information on Alto on mobile, click here

New method to add a property

This new feature went live on 15th August.

We’ve launched a new feature which provides you with a smarter way of adding property into Alto.

In May, we launched the first piece of this work, allowing you to look-up property information and view the information we hold about it, i.e. Current valuation, Property type, Number of rooms, Floor space, EPC.

We've now built upon this with extra functionality so that:

• Property attributes can be edited should you want to make corrections, i.e. if work has been carried out to change a 3 bedroom property into a 4 bedroom property
• Properties can now be saved through this feature, auto filling the information into the property record to reduce the need to manually enter this
• Vendor/Landlord address matching prevents you from having to re-key the address information into the look-up

For more information on this, including how to access it, click here

Filter the Inventory API by instruction date

This new feature went live on 4th August.

As part of Moverly’s integration and their requirements, we've added the ability to filter the Inventory API by instruction date as this is the point at which it will begin to compile Property Packs.

Filter the Inventory API by property status

This new feature went live on 2nd August.

We’ve added filtering by property status to the Inventory API.

This functionality has been requested by multiple partners as both a key requirement as part of an integration and also a way of enhancing some of our existing integrations.

New Get by IDs endpoint for the Inventory API

This new feature went live on 2nd August.

We’ve added a new Get by ID endpoint to support both external and internal requirements to query the Inventory API with multiple property IDs - previously only 1 could be handled at a time.

This will be particularly relevant for when partners query the filter endpoint to get a list of matching properties, but then want to get a full view of these properties.

New endpoint for the filtering Listings API and auction attributes

This new feature went live on 1st August.

We’ve added the ability to filter the Listings API, plus some attributes related to auctions (if the property is to be auctioned and the auction date) to support an integration with Bamboo.

Improvements

Improved UI surrounding the readability of property attributes for the new add a property page

This improvement went live on 30th August.

Within our New method to add a property, we've made some tweaks to the spacing/padding of the property attributes in the right hand side Reference data section to make it easier for you to read and scan through information quickly. 

Extended the visible length of the bullets text box

This improvement went live on 25th August.

We’ve updated the text entry box for bullet points so that if you enter more than a few characters, it's much easier to review and edit the entry.

No change has been made to the number of characters permitted.

For more information on Adding in bullet points on a property, click here

Improved UI surrounding review/edit mode for the new add a property page

This improvement went live on 25th August.

We’ve improved the UI for transitioning in and out of review/edit mode for the new add a property page.

Address format update for the new add a property page

This improvement went live on 21st August.

Previously, within our New method to add a property, the country was appearing before the postcode in the address.

We’ve changed this so the country does not display unless it is non-UK and where it does, it’ll be the last element of the address.

Valuation estimate data added to the new add a property page

This improvement went live on 21st August.

Within our New method to add a property, we've added the Sale valuation/Rental valuation estimate, plus an explanation of how this is calculated, to the Reference data section.

It will also remain unchanged if you make amendments to the data that you save to Alto (allowing you to always see the reference info even after you make changes).

Added Dwelling to Sales reports

This improvement went live on 15th August.

Dwelling has been added as part of the property address report column data for these sales reports:

• Sales Completed
• Sales Exchanged
• Sales Pipeline
• Sales Pipeline - Under Offer
• Withdrawn Sales

Additional attributes added to the Listings API

This improvement went live on 10th August.

We’ve added some additional attributes to the Listings API in advance of future functionality that enables users to view property details from a diary appointment via Alto on mobile.

Added K6 framework to the Inventory and Listings APIs

This improvement went live on 4th August.

Having benchmark performance tests in our service will ensure that introduced changes do not downgrade the performance.

Viewer & appraiser information shown in appointment details via Alto on mobile

This improvement went live on 2nd August.

For Alto on mobile users who view their appointment details for viewing or appraisal appointments, we now show the Viewer and Appraiser/Accompanied by details.

This becomes handy when viewing colleagues appointments to know who the attendee is for the appointment.
For more information on Alto on mobile, click here

New appointment type filters for the Appointments API

This improvement went live on 2nd August.

We’ve added the ability to filter the Appointments API by Appointment type, i.e. Viewing, Appraisal and General.

Applied new API standards to the Listings API

This improvement went live on 2nd August.

We’ve added the ability to filter the Listings API by created date, modified date and branch id as part of our reserved filter list.

Plus, we’ve also made some updates around naming non-standard fields so that the correct styling is used. This should bring consistency to how the API functions.

Updated permissions to separate brochure customisation from email/letter template management

This improvement went live on 1st August.

The CustomiseTemplate role permission has been updated to allow customisation of brochures without also requiring the DocumentTemplate permission needing to be enabled for a user.

This allows the DocumentTemplate permission which gives access to managing letter and email templates to be restricted to a smaller set of users. This will help to prevent inadvertent changes being made to the master templates.
For more information on Roles, Reports, Permissions & Access, click here

Changed SMS provider for Alto

This improvement went live on 1st August.

We recently changed SMS provider for Alto​.

Improved server-to-server partner activation journey

This improvement went live on 1st August.

We've made a small improvement to the agent activation journey based on feedback from our integration partners.

Partners have told us that they were receiving activation requests from agents that did not yet have an account with them, so essentially they were receiving leads as activation requests.

Now, agents are warned they need an account before activating, are asked to confirm they have an account, and directed to the leads journey if they don’t have an account.

Product fixes

Fixed an issue with editing floor space and year built

This product fix went live on 25th August.

Within the new add a property page, there was an issue where if you edited the pre populated figures for the floor space and year built, the changes were not saved upon reopening this section.

This has now been fixed.

Fixes an issue where users were seeing an error page after looking up a property

This product fix went live on 21st August.

There was an issue where users were seeing an error page after looking up a property via the new add a property page. This stemmed from group value look-ups.

This has now been fixed.

Fixed issues with appointment reminders

This product fix went live on 15th August.

There were 2 main issues where:

• SMS and Email (or both) reminders for Applicants/Vendors set for Viewings and Appraisals were not sent out as expected based on the Branch settings
• SMS and Email (or both) reminders for Applicants/Vendors set for Viewings and Appraisals were not sent out correctly if they'd been amended

These have both now been fixed.

Fixed an issue where fields were being cleared

This product fix went live on 11th August.

There was an issue where on certain screens and windows, users were experiencing a loss of state, most noticeably by entry fields being cleared unexpectedly.

This has now been fixed.

Fixes for Alto reports (stability & performance)

This product fix went live on 2nd August.

We have fixed a few issues with failing or non performant reports.

Reports that were failing due to errors include:

• Withdrawn Sales
• Applicants Registered
• Date Events

Reports that were failing due to timeout due to slow performance include:

• Client Bank Balances (we have improved the performance thus reducing the number of timeouts)