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.

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.

​In this update, we’ll cover recent improvements to our services, share a few market updates, and highlight some changes resulting from the latest Apple and Android phone updates.

Over the summer, we made a number of enhancements and introduced several new features across our products and services. We’ll explore these in more detail over the coming newsletters, but here’s a quick preview of just a few of them:

• New AFAM AlarmTech App – Faster message delivery and new controls that let you customise which alerts and notifications you receive
• Floorplan & Detector Enhancements – Service agents can now access individual detector history, along with improved IoT message decoding for Ampac, Bensan, and Pertronic panels. We’ll cover this in more detail next time
• Property Portfolio Portal Updates – Improvements to mapping, test and state history displays, and floorplan views
• Subscribe Function – Now simpler to use on mobile, making it easier to subscribe to all site messages during surveys or inspections
• PFA State History & Test Exports – Streamlined export functionality for a more intuitive experience

​We understand that one of our competitors has recently advised customers of another price increase, the second in the past 18 months. In some cases, this latest increase is up to 10%.

If you or your customers have received a price increase notice, we’d be happy to provide a comparative quote. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, not just by the price, but by the level of service you could be receiving.

As a reminder, transferring a customer from one of our two competitors to us is a simple, painless process and something that we do multiple times a week, often daily. 

When we transfer a customer AFAM:

• Supplies all required monitoring equipment, at no cost to the customer
• Organises, and pays for the installation of the monitoring equipment, at no cost to the customer
• Coordinates directly with FENZ and the incumbent monitoring provider, at no cost to the customer
• Organises the incumbents monitoring hardware to be returned to them, at no cost to the customer

If you or your customers are considering a switch, get in touch and we’ll take care of the rest.

We’ve just released the first in a new series of short form videos. The first video covers fire alarm monitoring and how it fits in and was filmed in a Wellington café during a recent customer visit. 

Watch it here: What does AFAM do? or by clicking on the image below.

We’ve received reports that some customers and technicians are not receiving AFAM SMS alerts following recent Android and Apple updates.

These updates can cause messages containing links to be filtered or blocked:

• Android devices – Messages may be marked as spam and moved to the Spam & Blocked folder. In some cases, the sending number may also be blocked.
• Apple devices – Messages from unknown numbers may be filtered into the Unknown Senders list, meaning no notification is triggered.

The fix is simple: save our SMS node numbers in your phone contacts. This ensures messages are delivered normally.

You can add the numbers manually, or contact our support team and we’ll send you a contact card for easy setup.

​In our next newsletter blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the new detector history features for service agents, walk through updates to the AFAM AlarmTech App, and share more general news and updates.