Aotea Secures Farmlands With Gallagher SMB Across 80 Sites Nationally.
Aotea Secures Farmlands With Gallagher SMB – Farmlands, one of New Zealand’s largest rural retail co-operatives with more than 80 sites had multiple outdated, disconnected legacy security systems, and required a solution that could be managed centrally, could scale quickly and would standardise its approach to security.
Project lead, Jonathan Robinson, national property and development manager at Farmlands, said the previous security systems had reached the end of their useful lives.
“Time had passed by, and our current systems had become obsolete,” Robinson said. “Many sites were running standalone setups that couldn’t communicate with each other. This fragmentation made it difficult to monitor alarm status and manage access across the network.”
With this in mind, Farmlands selected Gallagher’s SMB platform, contracting Dunedin-based national security integrator Aotea Security as its installation and support partner.
According to Robinson, the rollout was completed across most sites quickly and the system brought every connected store onto a single, cloud-based security system with full management visibility and control from 1 application.
“The cloud platform has made day-to-day operations much more manageable,” Robinson said. “From a single interface, I can log in to any store, check its status, respond to alarms, and carry out administrative tasks. This includes verifying whether a site is armed or checking activity logs without needing to be on-site or rely on third parties.”
User management was another point of friction with the previous systems. Adding or removing users typically required a technician to physically attend the site—an issue compounded by the remote nature of some locations.
“To undertake such tasks, we had to get a technician out to the store, and with some stores in remote locations, it could cost $1500 in travel fees alone,” Robinson explained.
With the new system, Farmlands staff can manage user access in real time through a smartphone. Temporary staff, such as students or contractors, can be added and removed without delay.
“We can add users, delete users, and do whatever we need,” Robinson said. “It makes it so easy, and we’re not paying, so we recover costs.”
Switching to Gallagher SMB has also addressed access tracking issues. Previously, Farmlands relied on keys and shared pin codes, which made it difficult to know who was entering which store and when. Monitoring was inconsistent, and staff would often use each other’s codes due to the cost of setting up new credentials. Now, with the Gallagher SMB History Log feature, Farmlands has a clear view of who armed or disarmed alarms and when.
“We can see in a heartbeat who has used the system,” said Robinson. “It’s really simple in that regard.”
Ongoing maintenance is another area where the new setup delivers savings. Aotea Security can now access the system remotely to perform diagnostics and configuration updates. This reduces site visits and allows for quicker issue resolution.
“Having their technicians log in remotely saves us money, which at the end of the day is what every business wants—a system that is fit for purpose and will save money,” Robinson said.
For Farmlands, the deployment of Gallagher SMB has brought consistency, reduced operational costs, and improved security oversight.
“We’ve taken a system and rolled it out to the better part of 80 sites in a short period of time,” Robinson said. “With Aotea Security’s help, it’s been really successful.”
You can find out more from Gallagher Security here, discover Aotea here, or read more SEN news here.
Aotea Secures Farmlands With Gallagher SMB Features
- Centralised, cloud-based platform across 80 sites
- Remote access and management of alarms and site status
- On-demand user management via smartphone app
- Full access visibility through Gallagher SMB History Log
- Simplified temporary access for short-term staff
- Remote servicing and maintenance by Aotea Security
- Standardised system across all locations, replacing legacy hardware.
“Aotea Secures Farmlands With Gallagher SMB Across 80 Sites Nationally.”
