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.

In this update, we’ll share a few quick reminders, then dive into the latest features in the AFAM AlarmTech App, along with enhanced IoT detector floorplan views in the Property Portfolio Portal for both service agents and property managers.

We’ve had a surge of enquiries lately from customers looking for alternative monitoring options after, once again, receiving price increase notices from competitors.

If you or your customers are in the same position, we’d be happy to provide a no-obligation comparison quote. We’re confident you’ll be pleasantly surprised, not just by the cost, but by the level of service and how simple it is to switch.

Feel free to call us on 03 341 0464 or email [email protected].

Easier Access to Floor Plans on Mobile
Where IoT detector data and floor plans are available, service agents and property managers can view live detector information directly on building floor plans.

We’ve now made this even easier to access on mobile, just a couple of clicks from the Summary page, which can be reached by:

• Clicking the “View in Solomon” link in the AFAM AlarmTech App, or
• Using the link at the bottom of any state change SMS or email

Detector Level History on Floor Plans
You can now view history at an individual detector level directly from the floor plans.

We’ve recently released an updated version of the AlarmTech App for Android, with the Apple version coming shortly. 

Alongside general improvements and bug fixes, there are two key upgrades to alerting and notifications:

Customisable Alerts
Previously, only Fire (and Fire + Defect) events triggered alerts. Now, users can choose which message types generate alerts, ideal for roles like sprinkler technicians who may want to prioritise defect notifications.

Rules-Based Alerting
We’ve introduced a rules engine that allows specific messages to be elevated to alerts based on defined criteria.

For example, you might want:

• Alerts for all defects at a specific site or customer, but
• Notifications only for others

We’ve improved the “Subscribe to All Messages” feature to make it more mobile-friendly.

As a reminder, this allows you to temporarily receive all messages for a property, even if you’re not usually a recipient for that property. This is especially useful when working on sites outside your usual area or conducting inspections.

To subscribe:

1. Navigate to the PFA
2. Select “Subscribe to All Messages”
3. Choose a duration between 1 and 8 hours

That’s it, you’ll receive all messages for that site during the selected period.

We’ve released a couple of new short videos covering competitor price increases and what sets us apart:

• Competitor Price Increases
• Quick Update from the Bay of Plenty

If there’s something you’d like us to cover, just let us know.

We looked at backup power options for the CTU, and what to look for when selecting a battery. If you missed it, you can catch up here Backup Power Sources.

This week we’re diving into key service agent features in Solomon—how to access them, what they do, and how they can make your workflow smoother and more efficient.

​When you click the Solomon link in state change emails, text messages, or within the AFAM AlarmTech App, you’ll land on a summary page for that PFA.

​To unlock full functionality and view detailed information, simply use the login button at the bottom of that page.

If you already use the AFAM AlarmTech App, your login works for Solomon too.

​​Don’t have access or forgotten your details? Contact our support team—we’ll get you set up quickly.

We strongly recommend all service agents use the AFAM AlarmTech App, as it gives you a consolidated view of all your PFAs—across both AFAM and competitor systems. If you’re unsure whether the app is right for you, check out AFAM AlarmTech App, and our support team can help you get started whenever you’re ready.

If you don’t have the app yet, you can still view Off-Normals for all AFAM-monitored sites directly in Solomon.

The PFA Details screen is your main hub for site-specific information.

​From the login page, you can search PFAs by number, address, building name, or type. To open the full details, use the action button on the right-hand side of the PFA listing.

From the PFA Details screen, you can export the PFA’s state history between selected dates as either a PDF or CSV. 

You can export:

• High-level state changes
• Enhanced / IoT detector-level information
• Or both

Want to check who was notified about a particular event? Open Agent Messages in the State History view to see everyone who received alerts, along with hold times and reminders applied by the messaging strategy.

If someone is missing or needs changing, just reach out to our support team and we’ll update it with you or for you.

As you would expect Solomon provides access to both high-level state changes and detailed detector-level information.

You can view:

• All detectors known on the site
• Detector status, location, and recent activity
• Messaging sent for each event
• How detector-level data maps to high-level state changes

You might be a ninja at decoding the cryptic messages that come out of the panels and know exactly which token represents the zone state and index but if you’re not, don’t worry, we’ve got you. 

For panels with structured outputs, Solomon automatically breaks down message strings into meaningful components so you don’t have to decipher them manually.

​As mentioned a few newsletters ago, floor plans with live IoT detector-level data are now available in the Service Agent sections of Solomon. You can view detector locations, current states, and state history directly on the plan in real time.

If you have floor plans (such as “as-built” drawings) with detector positions, it’s quick and simple to load them. Just contact our support team and we’ll guide you through it.

And yes, this functionality is free to use.

​Next week, we’ll open the hood on our monitoring system—how it works, why it’s ultra-reliable, and some features you may not know about.