The stores are part of New Zealand owned Farmers Trading Company, (or Farmers as it is widely known) and the AC2000 SE system will be installed by CEM Approved Reseller, Vitag Security Solutions Ltd.

Established in 1909, Farmers Trading Company has nearly 4000 staff and over 65 stores across New Zealand. To secure and protect fashion department stores, Farmers required a quality IP security management system that could be installed at remote sites and with maximum efficiency to minimise the requirement for cabling and power supplies. Farmers also required the system to be linked with a company owned office block in Wellington, where 23 office floors would be fitted with lift and door control.

“The CEM AC2000 SE was selected to meet Farmers requirements as it has been successfully installed at sites throughout the world where security really matters”, said Andrew Fulton, Business Development Director for CEM Systems. “As a new CEM Approved Reseller, Vitag has been fully trained and accredited to install CEM products throughout New Zealand. We are delighted to be part of this prestigious and innovative security project.”

Farmers Trading Company required a flexible solution that could support multiple reader types based on the level of security required at each controlled door. To meet this requirement a selection of CEM S610e IP card readers and CEM Power over Ethernet Plus two-door controllers were installed.

The CEM eDCM 330 two-door controller utilises CEM Power over Ethernet Plus technology to power readers and heavy duty maglocks on two doors, using a single Ethernet network cable. This created sizable cost savings on the Farmers project as it eliminated the need to fit mains power supplies above each door. The CEM PoE+ solution is marketed as being unique to the industry as it can reliably deliver up to 2 Amps to power an entire door set, including access control readers, heavy duty maglocks and associated items, all over one CAT 5/6 Ethernet cable.

CEM S610e IP card readers are also installed on critical doors throughout Farmers department stores. S610e readers feature LCD screens to provide staff with instant feedback on the system such as ‘wrong time zone’, ‘card expiring’ e.t.c. With the added benefit of a keypad staff can also enter PIN codes for additional security. The S610e reader offers the highest level of reliability as it features an internal database for offline card validation. This means that should communication be temporarily lost with the host AC2000 server, staff can still validate cards using the card records stored in the reader’s internal memory.

The CEM AC2000 SE system offers Farmers Trading Company a powerful and fully integrated security management system with a host of security applications that enhance site operations such as the CEM AC2000 AED (Alarm Event Display) application for central monitoring of the system. AC2000 AED provides a dynamic graphical representation of transactions and events from the various department stores and when actually they occur in real-time. The application can be used to acknowledge alarms, generate detailed reports and trace card holder movements through the system as well as be used as a single user-friendly front end for the integration of video systems.

A major factor in Farmers decision to install AC2000 SE was that their existing American Dynamics CCTV system could be easily integrated into CEM AC2000 AED (alarm event display) workstations”, said Ric Van Weede, Director, Vitag Security Solutions. “As an integrated real-time solution, Farmers will have a central view of what’s going on during alarm activation with associated CCTV video linked to access control alarms.”

To provide extra security for tenants in the office block in Wellington, CEM S9032 Lift Control solution was chosen. Access to most office floors is by card only using the CEM AC2000 system. Following the initial installation of the AC2000 SE system at selected department stores, future plans are in place to roll the AC2000 SE system throughout the Farmers 65 retail outlets in New Zealand.