This week we're taking a closer look at our new Site Map Portal, recent enhancements to floor plan views, the latest AlarmTech App release, and a few other updates from around the business.

As mentioned in our previous update, we've released a new portal type called the Site Map Portal.

Designed for operational teams managing multi-building facilities such as hospitals, universities, shopping centres, and industrial sites, the Site Map Portal provides a real-time overview of fire alarm system status across an entire property.

When an alarm occurs, the affected building is immediately highlighted, with visual and audible alerts ensuring staff are notified straight away. This can be particularly valuable where additional emergency procedures need to be implemented, such as relocating occupants, shutting down equipment, or coordinating site-wide responses. In the background our fully automatic fire alarm monitoring system will already have informed FENZ and they’ll be mounting a response so the portal operates in addition to our standard monitoring services.

Like all AFAM portals, the Site Map Portal is entirely web-based, meaning there's nothing to install and it can be accessed from any modern device with a web browser.

The screenshots below show the portal in operation. When an alarm is received, the banner flashes and an audible warning sounds until the event is acknowledged. We'll create a video of it in action soon.

We've made several enhancements to our floor plan displays to make them easier to interpret and use.

Devices continue to be displayed using circular icons, while modules are now shown using square or rectangular icons, making it much easier to distinguish between the two at a glance.

​Colours indicate the current status of both devices and modules:

• Fire – Red
• Defect – Orange
• Isolate – Blue
• Test – Purple
• Normal – Green

We've also improved the way devices and modules are rendered, providing a clearer experience on mobile phones and tablets.

We've recently received a large number of floor plans from buildings around New Zealand and are currently processing them for inclusion in our platform.

Our goal is to provide as many building owners, facility managers, and service agents as possible with access to live detector-level information. Where we're monitoring the site, an analogue addressable panel is installed, and detector-level data is available, we'd love to add your floor plans and make them accessible through our portals.

As a reminder, there is no charge for this service. If you can provide suitable drawings, as-builts, or floor plans, we'll do the work required to load and configure them.

Having immediate access to live detector locations and status information can significantly improve decision-making during faults, maintenance activities, and emergency events.

The latest Apple version of the AFAM AlarmTech App has now been released and will automatically update on supported devices. If you'd like immediate access to the new features, simply update the app through the App Store.

This release brings feature parity with the Android version and includes:

• New controls for managing notification and alert types
• A powerful rules engine that can trigger alerts based on specific words or phrases
• Improved user interface and usability
• Performance improvements and bug fixes

The rules engine is particularly useful for prioritising notifications from key customer sites or identifying specific defect conditions that require immediate attention.

This release also introduces support for Critical Alerts, allowing important notifications to be delivered even when a device is muted or in Do Not Disturb mode. Depending on your device settings, you may need to enable this feature manually. If you need assistance, our support team will be happy to help.

​We've recently published a new video providing a high-level overview of the AlarmTech App and its key features.

Over the past two weeks our team has visited Dunedin, Gore, Hamilton, Invercargill, Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch.

Over the coming fortnight we'll be in Tauranga, Hamilton, Auckland, Christchurch, and potentially Wellington.

If you'd like to meet with us, arrange a demonstration, or discuss how AFAM can improve visibility of your fire alarm systems, we'd be pleased to hear from you.

​In our next newsletter, we’ll share more updates with you and a couple of new features.

This week we had planned to take a detailed look at the new Site Map Portal, but we’re going to save that for next time while we finish the supporting videos.

Instead, we’ll cover some developments across the other portals, upcoming app releases, and a few general updates.

We’ve created a brochure specifically for Service Agents BDMs and Account Managers to use with customers and key accounts. 

The brochure helps explain how AFAM’s additional free services, including the Property Portfolio Portal and floor plan functionality, provide added value and benefits to building owners and property managers. 

Before making it generally available, we’re looking for feedback. If you’re a BDM or Account Manager who thinks this may be useful and you’d like to review the brochure, let us know and we’ll send you a copy.

If you’ve recently had a demo of the Property Portfolio Portal, you may already have seen this feature we’re close to releasing.

The idea is to assign a score to each individual property based on factors such as recurring defects, aged defects, testing history, and other key indicators. These scores are then combined to create an overall portfolio score.

This allows you to compare your portfolio against anonymised portfolios of a similar type, while also identifying the individual sites and contributing factors that may benefit from remedial work to improve the overall score.

We’ll share more details and examples of this feature in action very soon.

The updated Apple version of the AFAM AlarmTech App will be released within the next couple of days.

There’s nothing special required to upgrade — the app will update automatically in the same way as your other apps.

This release brings the Apple version in line with Android and includes:

• New controls for selecting which message types generate notifications and alerts
• A new rules engine that allows alerts based on specific words or phrases
• Improved user interface and usability
• General performance improvements and bug fixes

The rules engine can be particularly useful for identifying specific defect types or prioritising notifications for key customer sites.

The AFAM AlarmTech App is now being used by just under 100 companies and branches.

We considered offering something special to the 100th group to sign up, but it’s difficult to discount something that’s already completely free.

Remember, the app allows you to view all properties you manage or maintain — not just those monitored by AFAM.

If you’d like to get set up, or would like a walkthrough of the functionality, get in touch and we can arrange a demo or assist with onboarding.

Just a reminder that we maintain a full inventory of monitoring equipment spares at our Auckland office.

If you’re in Auckland and urgently need equipment or parts, contact the office and we’ll arrange the fastest possible shipment.

​In our next newsletter, we’ll take a deeper dive into the Site Map Portal, with more detail, visuals, and a look at additional enhancements currently in development.