What's coming up next?

Why is Chintaro changing?

After more than 2 decades as the Community Housing sector’s software of choice for property management, the time has come for Chintaro to enter a new era. 

Chintaro as you know it is evolving into a truly web-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, called Chintaro Web.

Developing Chintaro Web has enabled us to develop functionality that wasn’t possible in Chintaro Classic, align with the sector’s Digital Transformation recommendations and be innovative in our design thinking by basing our decisions about functionality and design around the user’s experience.

What will I be able to do in the first release of Chintaro Web?

For the first release of Chintaro Web, we have focused on developing the essential property and tenancy management functionality, and have adopted an iterative and incremental approach to aligning Chintaro Web with your current Chintaro platform, which we call Chintaro Classic. 

We understand that transitioning to Chintaro Web will rely on what functionality you will be able to perform, so we’ve attached our first release plan and highlighted some exciting key features below:

• Existing Chintaro Classic functionality: 

  • All Manage Screens and all Detail screens will be included in first release

  • Development team aim to bring in all Chintaro Classic functionality into Chintaro Web in 2025

• New functionality to streamline existing processes:

  • Workflows will replace 'add' functions, and are designed to automate and streamline the way you perform common functions in Chintaro. Workflows guide you through completing a series of tasks to complete a business process, such as raising a work order or creating a tenancy.

  • Editing in place on Manage screens: Chintaro Web will give users the ability to update certain fields on a Manage screen in bulk. This will streamline bulk data entry, as users won’t need to open multiple Detail screens to input information.

  • Bulk Communication and Actions now on Manage screens: Manage screens are the backbone of CHW, and will now include SMS, Email and Letter functionality to streamline the need for going in and out of separate screens to communicate with Clients.

• Other new functionality:

  • Custom views of Detail screens: Ability to build your preferred view of detail screens, including customised views of the Client, Property, Tenancy, Maintenance and all other detail screens:
    

  • Planned Maintenance: We are retiring Chintaro Classic’s Forecast Maintenance and implementing a powerful new planned maintenance tool. 

What do I do if some of the functions I use in Chintaro Classic aren’t in Chintaro Web?

From July, users who choose to implement Chintaro Web will adopt a hybrid approach to Chintaro, using Chintaro Web as their main platform and Chintaro Classic to perform functions not yet in the web version. Enabling the use of 2 systems, side-by-side means that you will have comfort knowing that you can still perform all of your usual tasks and processes, but also take advantage of the new features in Chintaro Web.

Every action that you perform in Chintaro Web will be reflected in Chintaro Classic, and vice versa. Our development team plans to release a new version of Chintaro Web every 2 weeks to align the functionality of Chintaro Web and Chintaro Classic within the second half of this year.

Alternatively, you can choose to use Chintaro Classic exclusively until you are ready to transition to Chintaro Web with the functionality they require later in the year. Noting that the goal is for Chintaro Classic to be completely retired by December 2025 so our recommendation is to be proactive in planning how and when you will transition across to Chintaro Web in your organisation.

What do I need to know before I decide to transition to Chintaro Web?

We want you to have a successful transition to Chintaro Web, and we plan to communicate with you via open and transparent updates. Inevitably with change, there will be some impact on  you and your team which we’ve highlighted below:

• Some functions will not be in the first release of Chintaro Web

  Some functions will not be included in the first release of Chintaro Web, but will be included in future releases. Important functions to note that will not be in Chintaro Web when it is first released into production, are:

  • General Ledger Exports (Tenancy Transaction, Maintenance and Property)

  • Rent Reviews (Tenancy, Market Rent, Rent Review by Room Type)

  • Statutory Reporting

  • Most standard Reports and Exports (you will still be able to access and create custom reports via Saved Views on Mange screens)

You will still be able to perform all of these functions in Chintaro Classic, should you choose to transition to Chintaro Web before they are released. 

• Logging into Chintaro Web

To log into Chintaro Web, you will open the Chintaro website (http://www.chintaro.com.au) and enter your credentials. Chintaro Web does not use Parallels Client.

• Chintaro website will require whitelisting

Users will need to engage their IT team/provider to whitelist the Chintaro website (http://www.chintaro.com.au) to ensure they can log in.

• User Management

We listened to your requests for self-service user management and we are bringing that to you in Chintaro Web. To kick off the transition your Chintaro Champion will be sent an invitation to join Chintaro Web as a user. Your Chintaro Champion will then be able to invite users (based on the number of licenses you hold) within your organisation to create an account and get started with Chintaro web.

• Email, SMS, Letter creation and Document Storage

You will be able to SMS, Email, create and save letters and documents in Chintaro Web. Further information about these functions will be discussed with your Chintaro Champion as part of your transition plan. 

How will I access Chintaro Web?

To access Chintaro Web, you will open any web browser and navigate to www.chintaro.com.au. You will log into Chintaro Web using your email address and password provided by your organisation. 

Chintaro Web can be accessed on any device with an internet connection:

• Computer/laptop

• Phone

• Tablet (both Android and iPad)

What impact will this have on our team? 

We understand that transitioning to Chintaro Web will have an influence on your team’s productivity, and we’re here to help you with managing the change. 

Your organisation’s Chintaro Champion will be supported by a Chintaro Transition Manager who will assist with the implementation of Chintaro Web. We will work with you to understand your organisation’s preferred timeline and endeavour to implement Chintaro Web at a time that works for you between July and the end of the year.

Users will be supported by learning materials such as webinars, videos and documentation about the changes they can expect to see in Chintaro Web.

What is the timeline for the release of Chintaro Web?

Chintaro Web will be put through a rigorous testing process at different stages of development to ensure that we provide you with the best possible system. 

The full testing plan is provided below:

1. Alpha - May (Chintaro Team)

   1. Internal testing of every feature to identify bugs and validate Chintaro is functioning as a user expects. 

2. Pen Testing - May/June (External Contractor)

   1. External testing mimicking a simulated attack to find and exploit potential vulnerabilities.

3. Pre-release (open Beta) - July (Collaborative user testing within a test database using test data)

   1. When Alpha and Penetration Testing completed and issues ironed out, we will invite all users to be involved in the Beta Testing phase of Chintaro Web 

   2. Users will opt-in to participate in Beta Testing through Expressions of Interest form

      1. Users will consent to understanding that Chintaro Web will be in a Beta Testing version, and that that they may run into potential technical glitches, and that we will require and gather their feedback to make Chintaro Web ready for open/production release

      2. Users can select to opt out at any time, and have a fall back option to use Chintaro Classic if they choose to discontinue with the Beta Testing phase.

4. Open/Production Release - TBD (All Users) 

   1. Once open Beta testing feedback has been implemented, Chintaro Web will be ready for production release to all users. Organisations will work with a Chintaro Transition Manager to implement Chintaro Web, taking into account current functionality use, Chintaro Web functionality available and timeline suitability based on business requirements, commitments and compliance reporting schedules. 

How can I provide feedback to Chintaro about Chintaro Web?

How much will the move to Chintaro Web cost?

How will our users be trained to use Chintaro Web?

What do I do if I need help with Chintaro Web?

Chintaro Web will include functionality that imbeds support articles into the screen, so users will be able to find help quickly and easily from within the system.

For personalised help, our support team will be available as normal for any questions or feedback.

What can I expect from Chintaro Web in the future?

The features and apps you can expect from Chintaro in line with the Digital Transformation recommendations and user feedback, are: 

• Tenant Portal

  • An app for tenants to submit maintenance requests, lodge enquiries and complaints, support their tenancy sign up electronically and view the details of their existing tenancy.

• Trades Portal

  • An app for contractors to view all work orders issued by the Community Housing Organisation, log activity and close jobs, submit invoices, submit feedback requests and update their compliance details.

• Asset Management

  • Expanded Asset Management functionality to align with the Australian Social Housing Best Practice Asset Management Plan (BPAMP) recommendations.

• Data Integrity Check and Exception Reporting

  • Exception reporting to call users to action when fields are not complete or not compliant with statutory reporting requirements.

• Notifications: 

  • A system to provide users with alerts when they are required to perform an action or something has changed that they need to know about.

Our aim is to provide you with a schedule/roadmap of releases advising what features will be included and when after we release Chintaro Web, and look forward to hearing your thoughts about our future plans!

What do we do if our Chintaro Champion has changed?