Located in the city centre of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, Chaffers Marina is home to some of the country’s most exclusive multi-million-dollar vessels and receives visitors from around the world. With 185 berths across 5 piers, Chaffers Marina’s location amidst public areas presents unique security risks and facilities management challenges. In 2011, Chaffers Marina began working with Gallagher and today utilises some of the latest Bluetooth and mobile technology to deliver effortless site and facilities access for staff and marina users.
Risk management & accountability
With a location in the central business district of Wellington, Chaffers Marina sits amidst public areas including a city park. Historically, when the park hosted events and festivals, members of the public would unlawfully access the marina piers and climb aboard vessels. It was these incidents that initially prompted Chaffers Marina to review their current systems and find new site management and CCTV solutions.
To mitigate the risks posed by unauthorised site access, Chaffer’s Marina installed cameras across the site
To mitigate the risks posed by unauthorised site access, Chaffer’s Marina installed cameras across the site and introduced alarmed and monitored gates on each pier with Gallagher access control readers. In addition to preventing unauthorised access by the general public, the access control solution provides a reliable method for the Marina to manage and report on the activity of contractors on site. “It’s absolutely vital that we not only manage who gets on and off of the piers, but that we have also have a thorough audit trail supported by video footage.” says Ken Burt, Marina Manager at Chaffer’s Marina.
Bluetooth T15 readers
Chaffer’s Marina is utilising Gallagher’s Bluetooth T15 Readers across the site and is experiencing a significant increase in efficiency as a result. “Staff and contractors moving around the site with equipment or pushing trolleys, don’t have to stop to dig out a key or card to unlock the gate” says Ken. “Instead, the Bluetooth reader communicates with the mobile phone in our pocket and unlocks it automatically, it just makes life so much easier.” Likewise, marina users are able to move effortlessly around the site, accessing the piers, office, and the comprehensive amenities building, all via the Bluetooth connection on their mobile device.
Gallagher’s mobile technology is having a considerable impact on the administrative side of the business too. To date, visiting vessels taking temporary berths would need to be met by a member of the Chaffers Marina team, in order to hand over an access card to provide pier and facility access.
Mobile Connect App
Through Gallagher’s Mobile Connect App, Chaffer’s administrative staff can now issue an access credential directly to a visitor’s mobile device before they’ve even arrived at the marina. “We’re very excited about this technology” said Ken, “aside from how simple and impressive it is for our visitors, the impact on our administration - particularly having to retrieve or replace unreturned visitor’s cards - is huge.”
Gallagher’s Command Centre Mobile App makes life even easier for marina manager Ken, by enabling him to manage alarms, user access, and gate status, remotely via a mobile device. “I primarily use Command Centre Mobile on my iPad after hours” said Ken. “When someone calls me after hours about an access issue, I can now manage it from home on my tablet, that’s incredibly efficient for us and delivers a huge saving on call outs.”
Harsh environmental conditions
Gallagher’s T15 readers are the ideal choice for outdoor application
Chaffer’s Marina faces harsh environmental conditions that put any external hardware to the test. Gallagher’s T15 readers are the ideal choice for outdoor application and were designed specifically to meet the needs of all-weather environments. “We’d had problems with previous hardware becoming damaged by water, wind, and salt.” said Ken. “Gallagher’s T15 readers were developed in direct consultation with us and other sites that have difficult conditions. The team at Gallagher really do listen to what we say and incorporate it in their design, and because of that, I have every confidence in the products Gallagher makes.” says Ken.
Forward thinking
To further enhance operational efficiency across their site, Chaffers Marina is currently looking to leverage Gallagher’s mobile and Bluetooth technology to automate and simplify members’ access to power facilities. According to Ken “Gallagher’s technology presents some opportunities for us to be really innovative in how we deliver and record access to different facilities on our site, we’re exploring those ideas as we speak.”
