The way to meet customer demands comes with having the skills and tools to understand and address them. Milestone’s new Learning & Performance Program is developed with just this in mind: to build greater expertise in designing, installing, and configuring solutions that satisfy customer needs.

Milestone Partners and customers can access a growing library of free eLearning courses that are hosted on a new Milestone Learning Portal. Milestone has also launched a redesigned Training and Certification Program as an integral part of the 2016 Channel Partner Program (CPP), which differentiates these installers and integrators through proven skills with the open platform video management software solutions.

What does a Milestone certification mean? It is a brand promise from our company to our customers about the level of our partner community’s expertise. We intend to empower on-the-job performance to reduce the time for installations and improve the quality of project outcomes, to minimize risks and add more value for Milestone implementations.
– Greg Willmarth, Manager, Learning & Performance, Milestone Systems

The new instructor-led training classes use real-world scenarios to give hands-on practice in designing, installing, and configuring complex video surveillance systems based on Milestone software. The new certification assessments are available online, do not require attendance in a class, and are designed to better verify the knowledge and skill required to perform on the job.

“This is an exciting time as we bring to market this wide variety of learning tools to help drive high performance in the field. We also aim to raise the bar for certifications to indicate a proven level of expertise with our products rather than merely attendance in a training class,” said Greg Willmarth.

The new Milestone Learning Portal, provided by vendor partner BlueVolt, gives expanded, secure online capabilities, including:

• A single sign-on user experience from My Milestone
• Easy access to and completion tracking of eLearning courses
• The ability to register and pay for instructor-led classes and certification assessments online
• Availability in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Over the past year, Milestone began releasing new eLearning courses in multiple languages provided for free as part of Milestone CARE. These include courses for technicians on installing and configuring XProtect Professional software and Milestone Husky NVRs, as well as courses for end user operators on using the XProtect Smart Client.

Additionally, eight different eLearning modules were made available teaching how to use the new features in Milestone’s XProtect 2016 release. All the eLearning modules, which use hands-on simulations to walk learners step-by-step through the basic tasks required to perform on the job, are available online and can be accessed from tablets when out in the field.

Starting in March, the first new instructor-led class, Milestone Technical Configuration: Level 1 became available in English in the US. This 3-day class is 90% hands on practice using job aids to complete moderately complex installations based on real-world case study scenarios. It prepares learners to pass the new Milestone Certified Integration Technician (MCIT) assessment. When localizations are completed in April, this class and certification assessment will be offered globally. A Level 2 class and a Milestone Certified Integration Engineer (MCIE) certification will also be available starting in May.

For the first time, Milestone is also teaching a class and conducting a certification assessment on best practices in system design. The new 2-day Milestone Solution Design class uses a case study approach to teach best practice in designing surveillance systems that meet customer needs. This class and the new Milestone Certified Design Engineer (MCIE) certification assessment will be available starting in April.

Even correctly installing the best software in the industry won’t result in satisfied customers if the system wasn’t designed to meet their needs from the start. We recognized this knowledge and skill gap and realized we needed to expand our focus past our own software. – Greg Willmarth.

To ensure that the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond channel partners do in fact possess the expertise needed, Milestone’s 2016 Channel Partner Program requires both the design and technical certifications. The good news for partners who already possess the required level of skill with Milestone products is that training has been separated from certification. This means that skilled partners can take the certification assessment without having to attend a training class.

To learn more about these programs and access the free eLearning, visit the Learning & Performance web page at https://www.milestonesys.com/our-services/learning-and-performance/.

by Courtney Dillon Pedersen, Communications Manager, Milestone Systems

With robberies, burglaries and vandalism becoming more frequent, several schools in New Zealand expressed increased concern for the safety of their students and faculty. In response, a group of leading security industry companies banded together to donate their time, expertise and surveillance cameras to Koru School, a primary school in Auckland’s Mangere. A New Zealand first, the program has big plans to help out deserving schools in low socio-economic areas with their security needs each year.

To make it all happen, Axis Communications joined forces with its New Zealand distributor Channel Ten, integrator Focus Digital Security Solutions, video management software (VMS) provider Milestone Systems, and DivioTec, who threw in the switches. They reached out to the New Zealand Police who were only too happy to put forward a list of the most deserving schools.

Ten of the cameras came from Swinburne University in Melbourne, and six were Axis ex-demonstration stock with updated firmware. Swinburne University upgrades its CCTV cameras every five years, and requires its used cameras to find a new lease of life in schools. According to Axis Communications’ Sargon Yousif, the cameras used are discontinued models, but even after their university service they still have another 10 years of life left: “When Axis take them back [from the university] we recondition them.”

Schools are very vulnerable to burglary, theft and willful damage, and Koru school in particular was a very frequent victim of crime prior to being fully-fenced a couple of years ago. The placement of the cameras and associated signage will serve to further deter crime occurring after hours. Ex-students are often involved in school burglaries. Their knowledge is used to target the high-valued items that schools cannot afford to lose. – Inspector Jason Hewett, Area Commander Counties Manukau West.

CCTV can play an important role not only in deterring would-be thieves but also in identifying perpetrators after the event, particularly given the local gang and ex-student element. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of schools have surveillance cameras. Funding is a big barrier, particularly for schools in low decile areas.

According to Koru School principle Stanley Whata, the newly installed cameras have already made their mark. He noted that several staff work after hours and the new cameras have provided them with a greater sense of security and safety.

Installation of the cameras took crews a number of weeks during the school holidays to complete. According to Graham Zuill, Director of Focus Digital Security Solutions, members of his team were even prepared to undertake the work in their spare time to ensure the work was completed in a timely manner.

“From a school perspective it is very humbling that there are people out there thinking of us,” said Principal Whata.

From a policing perspective, it aligns well with our philosophy of prevention first. Our ultimate mission is to make New Zealand the safest country in the world. We can only do this by working together. – Inspector Hewett

Sergeant Kelly Brown, Counties Manukau West school community services supervisor, agreed. He reiterates the continued close involvement of police with schools throughout the area, through initiatives such as the ‘Cops in Schools’ program.

According to Clint Morris of Channel Ten Security Imports, the CCTV donation to Koru School is to become an ongoing program, with his band of industry colleagues looking to fix up two schools with surveillance cameras per year going forward. It looks like many more schools in the most need will benefit from the group’s generosity.

This is one of those stories that NZ Security takes particular delight in reporting. The equipping of the Koru School with CCTV surveillance means there is now one less low-decile school providing an easy target for thieves.

For the full version, visit New Zealand Security Magazine.

Tomorrow’s influencers are already hard at work today, changing the world around us for the better. One of these is Jeppie Sumpter, 37, Director of Communication Technologies at Western Kentucky University, who has been named to the “20 under 40” End User Class of 2015 by Security Systems News. Each year the magazine receives hundreds of nominations for this prestigious award. Candidates are chosen for their technology savvy, leadership capabilities, contributions to the security industry and prospects for future success.

Jeppie Sumpter, WKU

When I saw Jeppie at the Milestone Integration Platform Symposium in Las Vegas this year, he told me: “I’m always finding new ways to use the Milestone software.”

Even though we’ve come so far and accomplished amazing things since my team and I first looked at the VMS marketplace for a solution to our IT-based security needs, sometimes I feel like we are just beginning. That’s a good thing though; we are always asking… what else can we do? It’s an exciting time because there are so many things we have on our list to tie multiple systems, solutions, and groups together leveraging Milestone as the glue.
– Jeppie Sumpter, Director of Communication Technologies, Western Kentucky University

Find out more about these in the Western Kentucky University video and Milestone Customer Story – Western Kentucky University.

Jeppie has stayed abreast of the technology’s upgrades with ongoing new features and modules. He has also given his time to share his expertise with Milestone’s product management team, helping to ensure that our software developments are responsive to the evolving needs in higher education.

“The Class of 2015 is characterized by exceptional drive and enthusiasm for the future of the physical security industry,” said Martha Entwistle, editor of Security Systems News. “The Class of 2015 joins an elite group of security professionals who have been honored by Security Systems News over the past eight years.”

Security Systems News presents the awards to 20 physical security integrators and 20 physical security end users, all age 40 and under, at TechSec Solutions, the industry’s premier conference dedicated to new and emerging technologies, held in February. Award winners participate in educational sessions at the conference and are honored at a special reception.

“These winners are the future leaders of the industry. With their tech know-how and dedication, the industry is in good hands,” Entwistle said.

Tim Ferrian, Pro-Tec

Click here to see all of the “20 under 40” Class of 2015 winners.

By Courtney Dillon Pedersen, Communications Manager, Milestone Systems

I recently contacted Jeff Burgess, founder and president of BCDVideo to see what’s going on in the world of video data storage.

Why are purpose-built IP video servers and storage critical to a successful security solution?

Video solutions are different from typical database applications in the constant stream of video data written to the disks. Normal business data is not a constant demand nor the same volume. The ability to run 24/7 with zero downtime allowance is critical when the video is needed for immediately accessible suspect location as well as for longer-term evidentiary needs.

Today’s IP video server needs to be so much more sophisticated with video analytics, facial recognition and other uses of the captured video coming into play.

There is also a trend to longer retention time for businesses and organizations to have access to the data. IP video has become the mission control for the surveillance system and regardless of what’s happening on the edge at the camera level, if the system is not recording it, it is all for naught.

What is the biggest mistake integrators make when looking for security systems?

There is a risk of failure when the integrator appears not to look at the complete symmetry of the project infrastructure and to scope it fully. Is it robust, scalable, compatible, and most importantly, reliable? As it is, the integrator has to deal with so much fragmentation within the offering, utilizing numerous brands within his solution, so it is important that the individual pieces are purpose-built to work with each other. BCDVideo offers a calculator that if used can guarantee an optimal outcome.

Why do ‘White Box’ solutions often fail the user?

The term ‘white box solution’ is an oxymoron: there’s really nothing ‘solution’ about it. It’s a box. Built on the cheap. Any savings, if any, are negated over the course of time. Customers can assuredly expect failed power supplies or RAID controller incompatibilities, especially as security firmware packs are downloaded or even months after initial deployment, following a network service pack or hardware update. These ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ units are a hodge-podge of parts generally based on component price point over symmetric compatibility. Generally, there is no consistency in the components in the box. Often the builder of the white box server swaps component parts for cost savings in data availability, and this creates instability within the machine.

There are other factors to consider such as chassis certifications, warranty, and system liability. And not to overemphasize the importance of video recording, but consider the potential life and death implications of the data. The system simply needs to be ON. It needs to be recording or ready-to-record via motion 24/7. Is anyone really going to trust that to a white box these days considering all of the implications?

BCDVideo capitalizes on the known reliability of HP components and optimizes servers for the video environment, unlike white box servers.

What are the features that make Milestone’s solutions so essential to the security market?

The overall ease of use with Milestone software for the end user is a key feature and the open architecture of the software can communicate with third-party devices and other systems such as intrusion detectors, analytics, biometrics and access control. The software is designed to be scalable.

Why is having a unified solution important to the video market?

By unifying video, access control, and intrusion a very powerful solution is created where the end user can utilize one efficient interface and have full awareness of what is happening within their environment without having to jump around from system to system.

Integrated solutions demand more processing power, and BCDVideo addresses these needs.

What does BCDVideo do to work with Milestone’s software to offer the best solution?

BCDVideo builds best-practice Milestone video server solutions, systems that are designed for use in XProtect environments ranging from 50-5,000 cameras, optimized and guaranteed to meet these needs if the BCDVideo specifications are followed.

Many of the large solutions require three RAID sets for the utmost performance. We have worked closely with Milestone’s engineers – both in the United States as well as Copenhagen – to develop a stable, scalable, robust infrastructure to drive the Milestone XProtect platform in operation. BCDVideo systems have passed the Milestone Solution Certification.

We are most proud of our 2012 Milestone Technology Partner of the Year award, especially considering that BCDVideo does not sell Milestone software in our channel, so it is not a sales award but a recognition of our expertise in building servers specifically for their solutions, as a cornerstone of our partnership success. Each and every one of our Milestone servers are purpose-built for that particular project to allow for maximum performance and to surpass the end customer’s expectation.

by Courtney Dillon Pedersen, PR & Communications Manager, Milestone Systems

Milestone Systems, the open platform company in IP video management software (VMS), has retained the global position of number one VMS vendor by company revenue in market research from business intelligence provider IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). This is the ninth time for Milestone Systems to achieve top ranking.

Milestone has continued to grow at a steady rate. Our ongoing strength as the global number one VMS provider is testament to the deep, broad Milestone community of partners and customers. Our expertise is multiplied through our partner interactions creating more innovation and value for the industry. We are at the beginning of realizing the opportunities from our software’s endless capabilities to integrate and we are very excited about that. – Lars Thinggaard, President & CEO, Milestone Systems

Milestone not only maintained the number one global position, but also the number one spot in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and number three ranking in the Americas with a move up from number four to number two in Asia/Pacific (APAC).

Milestone Systems sells its offerings through more than 9,000 channel partners who work with 500 distributors in over 150 countries. The software supports more than 5,000 devices from over 130 camera manufacturers and works with the ONVIF specifications that enable hundreds more devices to operate with Milestone VMS.

The IHS research, part of its Video Surveillance Intelligence Service*, found that demand continues to grow and the world market for video surveillance equipment in 2016 will be worth USD 15.8bn, a growth rate of 6.4% over 2015. Price erosion in video surveillance hardware continues to impact the overall industry growth rates, but customer demand is still increasing in volume.

Overall market growth and trends

Demand for video surveillance equipment continues to grow quickly. Price competition can make it a tough market for hardware vendors but the average price of video management software has not fallen as quickly as the price of cameras and recorders.  It is hard for vendors and integrators to differentiate themselves: competing on features rather than price is the big challenge. A lot of the talk in the industry this year is about software and its importance in system offerings as a differentiator. – Jon Cropley, Principal Analyst for video surveillance at IHS Technology

Overall, the video surveillance market continues to grow in volume and revenue. More cameras are being installed than ever, but installer margins face pressure. Progress continues to be made in trends like mobile solutions, cloud technology, analytics and biometrics.

IHS reports that merger and acquisition activity has increased recently but there are still hundreds of suppliers so more consolidation is likely to come. The VMS market has already seen more consolidation than other areas. Software is a good differentiator when hardware is going down in price, adding value to hardware so acquisitions of software companies increase.

As more integrators enter the IP video market, often with limited IT experience, we see a growing need to better ensure that they have the skills required to successfully perform in the field. After all, a Milestone certification is in essence a promise we are making to our customers that the certified individual from our partner community has a level of proven expertise. It was time to up our game and better deliver on that promise.

eLearning Jump-starts Expertise

In order to jump-start channel expertise with our products, especially our Business-ready solutions, we began developing eLearning. The goal of these short, self-paced modules is to give learners a basic level of knowledge and skill in installing, configuring, or using our products. Designed to support job performance, each module focuses on the key tasks and steps that need to be completed.

As opposed to passive training videos, these interactive eLearning modules make it easy to navigate to the exact job task desired and get hands-on practice completing the steps through interactive simulations. Available for free and with 24/7 accessibility, these modules are a great way to get started installing, configuring, and using the Milestone Husky network video recorders, XProtect Professional software, and XProtect Smart Client.

Instructor-led Classes Practice Installation Steps

Our key objective in redesigning the instructor-led classes was to make them much better at preparing learners to perform on the job. As a first step and in order to clearly understand what knowledge and skill are truly needed, we performed a detailed job competency analysis. We identified exactly which competencies are required to successfully design, install, and configure surveillance solutions from moderate to high complexity.

We then looked at who performed these different tasks in the field and quickly realized that the people responsible for designing the solution were often different from the ones who installed and configured it on site. It became apparent that we needed separate classes for design and technical installation to serve the various needs of these different audiences.

Finally, we wanted to make the classes even more hands on. We created learning experiences that are more learning-while-doing practice workshops than traditional presentation-of-information classes. In the technical workshops, learners practice going through the tasks and steps required to perform an actual install based on realistic customer scenarios and specifications. In order to help bridge the learning from the classroom to the field, learners follow detailed job aids that walk them through each step of the installation. After the workshop, learners can use the job aids in the field during live installations.

Certifications to Qualify Expertise I 

Training is where knowledge and skills are developed. Certifications are proof that an individual has the required levels of knowledge and skill. So we eliminated the certification requirement of attending training, stopped administering the certification assessment as part of our workshops, and moved our certification assessments online. At the same time, we greatly improved the quality of the assessments. We expanded the number of questions, added simulation and scenario question types, and implemented question randomization and the use of question pools. As a result, our new certification assessments are not easy to pass!

Our Learning & Performance team will continue to release new eLearning modules, refine and improve our certification assessments, and look for ways to better support the on-the-job performance of the Open Platform Community.

To learn more about all the Milestone eLearning, instructor-led workshops, and certification assessments, see our Learning & Performance Catalog.

Adapted from the full article by Greg Willmarth, Director of Learning & Performance, Milestone Systems

The typical owner of a small or medium business tends to have more limited knowledge and experience of video surveillance. In response, we have taken some steps to simplify installation and use of our video management solutions (VMS).

One of the main steps toward simplification is providing an “all-in-one” appliance with the software pre-installed and configured, as we do with our Milestone Husky line of NVRs. Another area of simplification is Automation. We have defined essential default behaviors, provided wizards and automated configuration that cover 80% or more of everyday video management scenarios.

SMBs tend to have limited expertise and experience in configuring video systems whereas Milestone has more than 15 years of experience with hundreds of thousands of customers and scenarios. We are therefore ideally positioned to use our expertise to set defaults and automate behavior that in most cases is exactly what is needed. We offer best practices out-of-the-box which helps to reduce the specialized knowledge and training requirements for the people using the video.

Another way to simplify the user experience is by providing users access from anywhere with easy and intuitive client interfaces. The freedom to access their system at home, at the job or on the go makes it easy to stay on top of things and have peace of mind that if something needs attention, action can be taken from anywhere at any time.

Yet another way to simplify is to provide access to targeted information – the information you need when you need it. Milestone has created self-paced, online eLearning modules that are very task and role specific so people can easily learn what they need when they need it. The materials are also available remotely in five languages on tablets for checking tasks when on the job.

Combining these performance-designed learning tools with in-product wizards and automation greatly reduces the learning curve and improves usability by those who may only access their system less often, or who have high turnover in their staff.

At the same time as we’ve created these simplifications, we still provide access to all functionality in “advanced” modes for those 20% who encounter the situations of wanting to be able to tailor any specific part of the video system for custom needs in your business. Most people may want to tailor only one aspect of the system, so the automated behavior is valuable to everyone, sometimes just as a first step of set-up but most often as the only setup required.

by Janne Jakobsen, VP Professional Products, Milestone Systems

IP network cameras were first installed in 2004 at SUNY Buffalo (UB). Today, Milestone XProtect Corporate video management software connects nearly 800 devices across the UB campus and the system continues to grow as needs expand. The surveillance hardware is a best-in-class mix of various Axis network security cameras, both stationary and pan/tilt/zoom network models. 

As new programs and departments have come on board, like the School of Engineering and the Educational Opportunity Center, the university continues to develop its best practices for video security. Slowly, they have coalesced around a centralized platform that’s managed by Central Computing (CIT) and used by UB campus police, who have access to camera views across the campus but share the management responsibilities with CIT.

Central Computing does a great job of managing the system and providing high quality process and procedure for access to the system, making sure everything is secure, backed up and properly maintained. We’re trying to move the whole university toward an efficient, full centralization of all cameras and surveillance recording systems. – Michael Blumenson, President, Digital Surveillance Solutions, integrator for UB

In choosing Milestone VMS, the campus has gained flexibility and scalability, efficient centralized administration, and wider geographic distribution. Additionally, cost efficiencies have been realized by using standard IT resources—both the equipment and network infrastructure—as well as the IT Department’s expertise and maintenance routines for keeping the system up and running.

Opportunities for expansion continue, as UB is growing in the downtown corridor. In the next year, the medical school is constructing a beautiful new building that will include 200-300 cameras, all connected via the Milestone software platform. With additional buildings under construction, new integration projects abound, such as perimeter monitoring, parking lots and other areas needing security.

See the full customer study in the cover story of SD&I magazine‘s August issue.

Staying at the Hilton Copenhagen Airport recently, I grabbed a bite in the cafe on my last night. The waiter got to chatting and asked what company I work for. When I said Milestone Systems, his face lit up!

In a long career with international hotels, he had been working at the Hilton for 9 years but he remembered very well when Milestone occupied most of the rooms in this location for the January 2016 Kickoff conference. Almost all employees attended – more than 550 people came from around the world. Over 20 countries and countless cultures were represented.

The waiter told me with clear sincerity and enthusiasm what a great company Milestone was to work with:

All the Milestone people I’ve had contact with anytime or worked with on the event planning were SO nice to do business with. And invoices were paid on time – even in the café where salespeople had been talking on the phone at all hours to their accounts far away, their bills were paid every evening. Believe me, that is unusual in this business! – Hilton Airport Hotel Manager

I’ve heard this before from Milestone partners, suppliers, agencies and service providers: that we are reliable and responsible to do business with. And that we are such nice people, as well – a pleasure to work with. This makes me feel proud to work at Milestone.

That global Kickoff event was the first time that ALL colleagues and management were gathered together since Canon acquired Milestone in the summer of 2014. It was good timing for our company’s leaders to communicate how the new ownership was working (independent status continues) and sharing strategic plans as we continue to evolve in the video management solution market.

It was a very informative week – almost a giddy time – with the excitement of meeting new peers and reuniting with old cohorts, brainstorming. What a really valuable experience to bring everyone together on a global scale to feel the real community that we are, working in pan-regional and cross-departmental teams, each of us contributing our expertise.

The waves generated that week have continued to move out to all the shores of our locations, and on to those of our partners and customers throughout the year.

Anyone looking to join or work with an active company with great colleagues?  Jump in and swim our way!

By Courtney Dillon Pedersen, Corporate Communications Manager, Milestone Systems

Why do we go to trade shows? Should we continue to do so? Beyond the big costs of the booth space, services, construction, signage, swag, collateral and ads, there are all the travel costs for the staff attending. Of course the companies who pay to exhibit want a return on the investment, but is counting the number of sales leads the only true evaluation of that? I think not.

Case in point: I was at the ASIS conference held in Orlando, Florida, this month, and many people in the exhibit hall were remarking on the low turnout – as they have for several years now. The first day did seem to have light foot traffic in the aisles, and numerous assumptions were made: folks were attending the keynote speeches first, they weren’t flying in til later on, they don’t like the heat and humidity of Florida, etc. Things did pick up nicely on the second day, and pockets of crowd concentrations would pool around those exhibitors with cool new launches, theater presentations, product contests and afternoon beverages.

Milestone’s booth was well populated as usual, both for our training program info, software or NVR demos and not least for the innovative offerings of our Milestone Solution Partners with their own display pods. The Milestone business model that enables community partnering lends itself to a multiplying effect.

The tone of the week seemed productive to me, thanks to the less-than-hectic pace that otherwise comes when you have to jostle shoulder-to-shoulder for three days, raise your voice to be heard over the thrum of thousands talking, weave through the groups to find someone.  The steady flow of partners and customers in the Milestone booth felt right. Our open platform community of hardware, solution and integrator partners and teams of potential customers all came to speak with us – and with each other.

Many of the people in our community have great depth of experience, and their expertise is sought out. Meetings go on in the upstairs rooms, at the cafe tables, around the demos. Challenges are earnestly described; their solutions presented or discussed for coming releases. Mutual strategies are clarified and plans are laid on how to achieve them. Successes are acknowledged and awarded. (Milestone won three awards! For XProtect 2016, Husky M500A and the city of Hartford‘s Real-Time Crime and Intelligence Data Centers implemented by Vulcan Security.)

Having the time to share our knowledge face-to-face adds that meaningful and irreplaceable dimension to our interactions that bonds us together. It’s easier to get a sense of who we are, to trust each other in our business relationships. The sales leads are necessary for our business to continue, but they are not the only way to measure the value of attending.

by Courtney Dillon Pedersen, Corporate Communications Manager, Milestone Systems

The Milestone mission—to optimize end user processes by delivering open platform IP video surveillance software—remains as true today as it was in 1998 when the company was founded. XProtect video management software (VMS) was designed from inception to be a flexible, scalable foundation for ongoing innovation and growth.

The Milestone belief in an open platform extends beyond camera support, into areas like access control systems that have historically stood apart from video surveillance. Traditionally, the security industry has been very proprietary, with software, cameras and access control all coming from different manufacturers with separate specifications. This means that the infrastructure is tailored for a specific camera model, environment or application. When the customer wants to add capabilities, this proprietary environment greatly limits their options.

What if there was an open architecture for access control, with a single ‘pane of glass’ — a unified user interface — to manage all security systems efficiently?

Inputs like alarms and alerts would all appear on a single display and get routed to appropriate channels. In this environment, the access control system, cameras and video management system would all share data and communicate with each other as a connected, unified solution with easy visual overview and most importantly, verification and evidence of events.

Such intelligent solutions can combine all the metadata from the various components as a rich repository of ‘brain dumps’ from the multiple sensors. Voila! Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, here we come.

When we talk about an open platform VMS integrated with access control, we’re talking about an application program interface (API) and a software development kit (SDK) that make it happen. The fact that Milestone is on our eighth generation of each demonstrates our commitment to continually improved functionality and ongoing development across the board. We also do testing and certification of integrated partner solutions to ensure they inter-operate optimally and can be installed with proven guidelines. This builds partner expertise and confidence, and customer trust.

More and more Milestone customers were asking to display access control events on the VMS user interface because the video client provides the real-time visual representation of what is going on in and around the facilities. Milestone therefore created an access control module, XProtect Access, which enables working with multiple access control brands under the umbrella of a single interface in the video management software. Wow, that is cool.

The VMS interface can display access control events from multiple vendors synchronized with the associated video for an overview of many cameras at one time – rather than having to pull up camera views one by one to check against access control alarms. For looking at images in more detail, pop-up windows enlarge with just a click, to zoom in further.

Consider some critical questions:

• What’s the incentive to combine access control with video surveillance?
• What does video integrated into a VMS mean for operators?
• And finally, what is Milestone doing that’s different?

To address these, let’s first think about a security solution in broad terms. A video management system tracks and monitors events, in real time, and records video data for later investigation and resolution. Access control systems manage facility access in real time as well (i.e. card management and door or gate controls). Milestone merges these activities, so our customers can get video verification of access control events that are viewable from the most often used interface, XProtect Smart Client.

The way Milestone brings these capabilities together is unique. XProtect Access works with an unlimited number of different access control partners. When a person swipes a card, which sends a signal to the access control system, the access control system connects to the plugin, which communicates to the Milestone APIs through the SDK, which connects to XProtect Access, and synchronizes with the video to display on the Milestone XProtect Smart Client.

By doing this, XProtect Access provides the same look and feel for multiple third-party access control vendors, all displayed on a single screen. This greatly simplifies operator training and adoption, they only have to manage a single unified interface to take advantage of displaying access control events on the Smart Client. Furthermore, operators can search and process video for sequencing and storyboarding, evidence lock and export – the next stages of the workflow.

Milestone currently has 36 access control vendors who have created integrations with the XProtect VMS, and about half of those have already been developed through the XProtect Access interface that allows use of multiple third-party systems to operate in collaboration.

Fast-Growing Relationship Between Video and Access Control

Currently, some 80 percent of access control installations are implemented with a video system in some way, even if just running in parallel to double-check incidents. In addition, customers now want systems that go beyond the traditional scope of access control running independently.

Let’s take retail as an example. Often, basic access control is required to monitor customers entering and leaving a store (think of security tag scanners at entrances or access control for loading docks and utility doors), as well as to secure the perimeter. It’s a logical and effective step to integrate video into the system to provide incident verification with alerts of unusual activity and situational awareness for all these areas. Having video respond to an access control alarm is a very effective tool for real-time response, as well as for capturing and archiving events to share evidence with authorities and resolve outcomes.

At Milestone headquarters, XProtect Access is set up with Microsoft Active Directory users so when an employee swipes their badge, they are immediately identified in the XProtect Smart Client. A photo image appears onscreen as the door opens. The person’s security clearance level appears onscreen, as well as a time code and confirmation that the video is live and currently recording. This visual verification adds a critical extra layer of security. We can now be absolutely sure who is entering and leaving the premises at all times. If the person is not identified as having access, the door can be opened or locked down manually with the VMS, too.

Milestone XProtect Access allows a customizable search based on a single access event, a specific door or a cardholder. XProtect Access can also search for events exclusively associated with a single person, storyboard the panels to see exactly what transpired over time, and create an evidence lock to ensure the video does not get deleted or tampered with.

Our customers invest in video tied to access control for a reason — visual verification of people entering the facility. Real-time verification may be required, but the ability to find video of an event or entry quickly, as well as saving and exporting the video in a way that allows it to be admissible as evidence, is critical.

These are just some of the things that make Milestone XProtect Access a worthwhile investment.

By Reinier Tuinzing, Strategic Alliances Manager, Americas, Milestone Systems

Hundreds of young women poured into the cafeteria at Intel’s Jones Farm Conference Center (JFCC) in Hillsboro, Oregon, on a sunny Saturday in April. Approximately 95% of them were Computer Science majors in search of positions in Software Development. It was a great opportunity to get involved in the community and generate some genuine interest in our business, even though Milestone currently does not have any Software Developer positions available in the United States.

This was Intel’s fifth year hosting the Northwest Regional Women in Computing (NWrWiC) Celebration. Attendees traveled from colleges and universities all over the West Coast. This year’s theme was Cybersecurity, so we fit right in, coming from Milestone’s leadership position in the development of IP video management software.

The doors opened at 8am for breakfast, followed by a keynote speech from Intel’s VP of Security Group Enterprise Solutions & Marketing, Candace Worley. Next, an undergraduate student from Washington State University presented her in-depth research project. Her topic? “Using Machine Learning to Identify Malicious Data Injections in the Smart Grid.” Impressive!

I arrived on site early with Ian Bowey, Milestone Sales Lead Qualifier, to set up our table in the cafeteria and mingle with other companies that were participating. By 11am, attendees headed to our room for the interaction of the career fair.

Ian and I spoke with many bright young women (and a few men) about their field of expertise, aspirations after graduating, and of course, what Milestone is all about. It was rewarding to see the level of genuine interest that we were able to generate in such a small amount of time. At one point, I stopped to listen to Ian speaking with a few individuals, and could see the sheer excitement on the young people’s faces in front of him. I was proud.

Before we knew it, the career fair was over and everyone filtered into the other half of the cafeteria for lunch while Ian and I packed our things. Recapping some of the conversations we had, he joked that it felt like ‘speed dating’ – when we were done speaking with one group, we immediately rolled into speaking with the next.

As a younger company (founded in 1998), Milestone’s U.S. subsidiary had not participated in anything like this, so it was an excellent way for us to get out in the community. Personally, it was a great experience for Ian and myself to put things into perspective. Every day, I feel lucky to work for such a great company.

At Milestone, we are encouraged to grow in our jobs. We get recognized with various awards and promotions for our achievements. We also have monthly happy hours, celebrate birthdays, and go on wellness walks.

It’s always nice to break out of our normal routines, so to have the opportunity to engage with individuals who share the same excitement for the software industry was a truly enriching experience. I expect that this will not be the last time that Milestone will participate in an event like this!

By Nicole Goodman, Sales Support Specialist, Milestone Systems

In order to work successfully with network video management software (VMS), there are three primary areas of focus for integrators. These are role and expertise-based: project management, technical skill level requirements for implementing the software, and integrator-specific best practices and tools.  Below is a quick description of each.

Project Management
We are consistently seeing two factors that are contributing to the need for tighter project management:

1. Increasing complexity of projects which extends installation lifecycles and skews customer expectations (which need to be managed) and
2. Increasing margin pressures (i.e. lower profitability margins) which drive a requirement to be more efficient in deployments and customer expectation management. The issue is that project management is often viewed as an additional cost that negatively impacts margin where the opposite is actually true – especially for large or complex projects – because the scope is kept in check with the investment in better project management resources and skills.

Technical Skill Level
Like the project management side, due to price and margin pressures the investment in a higher-end, IT-savvy engineer is often overlooked in favor of sending an existing technician to technical training on the VMS. As the project complexity increases with more sophisticated storage or networking requirements – and as additional products are added to the mix that require integration – the skill set needed for both successful implementation and on-going end user support is much higher than can be taught in a class (as opposed to on-the-job training).

There is an IT experience element that is the best fit. Although these are costly positions to fill in an integrator’s company, it is well worth it because it will reduce the overall engineering time required to reach a successful outcome. If this is not addressed, the ensuing problematic installations have the potential to degrade the overall customer experience, and to reduce long-term business for the integrators.

Manufacturers are seeing heavy increases from the demands of complex support cases due to this situation, which puts further pressure on manufacturer resources. There are some ways to mitigate this, such as utilizing the manufacturer’s professional services offerings as a tool to ensure a successful deployment, or to provide on-the-job training – which is the most effective because you bring the expertise in-house as your own asset for future services to bolster your business.

Best Practices and Tools
Best practices for VMS deployments that are specific to both the product and to the integration partner seem to be missing in general throughout the security industry. Instead, it is the skills of the individual that are relied upon to know the best way to implement a system.

I advocate that our partners need to implement a standard core of best practices as it relates to the VMS they are implementing, aligned with their skill set. Implementing tools that will help with the success and speed of installation or the application of best practices will help to reduce delays and errors in deployments.

Often our partners are looking to the manufacturers to provide these tools, but it is actually better for the partner to develop them internally, as it will give them a distinct competitive advantage. To accomplish this, the partner should settle on a core set of offerings that they intend to get really good at. Instead of selling four different VMS products that they are mediocre at implementing, they should narrow down to one primary solution to focus and hone their expertise and specialty. This in turn has a positive impact on project and service contract profit margins.

(See also SDM magazine’s June issue with these and other industry leader quotes on the subject ‘Success is Simple for Integrators Using Today’s VMS’.)

by Mike Sherwood, Director of Technical Services at Milestone Systems Americas. In 2016 Mike was promoted from his previous role as Director, Professional Services. He continues his management and overview of the pre-sales Solutions Engineers and the Technical Services Engineers who provide professional services and partner certification training, and his role has added responsibility for the post-sales Technical Support and IT teams, as well as the Strategic Alliances team. Mike was initially a Milestone Partner at ISG Technology for 9 years in the Midwest, a VMware and Cisco-certified systems integrator company that expanded into IP video surveillance with the Milestone open platform.

A topic on the need for top IT skills was raised in a recent article by Milestone’s Mike Sherwood on ‘The 3 Most Important Things for VMS Integrators to Succeed‘, and this subject has now also popped up on SecurityInfoWatch.com from Ray Bernard, security industry pundit. Ray asks ‘Are Integrator IT Skills Overblown?’ and proposes that “Technology consumerization and cloud capabilities may be changing the decades-old perception that security systems integrators must be IT tech-savvy”.

Ray concurs with Mike on the value of investing in good IT skills when he writes: “The more that information technology advances and becomes incorporated into physical security systems, the more important it is that integrators (and manufacturers) gain a good understanding of the information technology elements involved. For many integrators, this has been a seemingly impossible task, because of the accelerating rate of IT advancement, and the complexities involved in some information technologies.”

However, one very important trend—thanks in large part to cloud computing—now offers an antidote to IT complexity: the consumerization of IT. The full significance of this trend has not yet been realized by security industry manufacturers or systems integrators. – Ray Bernard

Ray continues: Information technology continues to evolve and become more capable, while also becoming less trouble to own, maintain and use. This IT trend – ease of ownership and use – is underappreciated in the security industry, but has begun to catch on, partly because the scale and capabilities of consumer IT products have eliminated the need for security-industry-built devices.

Today, a good 50-inch 4K TV can be purchased for less than $500; thus nine 50-inch 4K monitors can make an impressive high-resolution 10 x 6-foot video wall for less than $6,000. Some VMS systems, like Milestone’s XProtect Expert and Corporate, fully support video wall capabilities and simplified management of video wall content… (but) 15 years ago, a security video wall of that size and resolution would have required special security-industry-made video display equipment, costing upwards of $250,000 including the software and servers.

Today’s technology provides a 90 percent or better cost reduction for greatly-improved display. Also of high importance is the fact that installing and commissioning such a video wall today requires only the consumer technology skills of an integrator’s technical personnel.

As the project complexity increases with more sophisticated storage or networking requirements – and as additional products are added to the mix that require integration – the skill set needed for both successful implementation and on-going end user support is much higher. – Mike Sherwood, Director of Technical Services, Milestone Systems.

For simpler projects, Mike does agree with Ray’s statement: “Due to technology advancement trends, including cloud computing, it is no longer true that all security systems integrators must become experts in all IT facets of computer, software, hardware and network deployment. There are some levels of enterprise security system deployment that continue to require advanced IT skills; however, more security system deployments do not require such a high level of IT expertise.”

Ray concludes: “Based on the continued acceleration of information technology trends, we should expect to see electronic physical security systems become more capable, less trouble to own and maintain, as well as less trouble for integrators to install and commission… Cloud-based convergence benefits do not eliminate the need for integrators to understand information technology, but they do change what aspects of IT that integrators need to focus on.”

Read the full article with more illustrations of these changes, benefits and demands on SecurityInfoWatch.com. 

Ray Bernard, PSP CHS-III, is the principal consultant for Ray Bernard Consulting Services (RBCS), a firm that provides security consulting services for public and private facilities. He is the author of the Elsevier book Security Technology Convergence Insights, available on Amazon. Mr. Bernard is a Subject Matter Expert Faculty of the Security Executive Council (SEC) and an active member of the ASIS International member councils for Physical Security and IT Security.

The physical security industry is not wired like the IT industry. Despite the influences of IT on security there remains a bias of belief that individual manufacturers should sell a jack-of-all-trades product portfolio. What is accepted and even expected in the IT industry – that a company should make a product family really well, which should also integrate really well with the rest of the products in the industry – is instead the anomaly in the security industry.

Perhaps it’s the lack of common integration protocols and standards, but it seems like there is a hidden gravitational pull in security to ultimately default to an end-to-end portfolio from individual manufacturers.

Why is this?

If we look back in time, the security industry is littered with numerous examples of fully end-to-end solution companies. Legendary names have built and/or acquired product after product and over time assembled an end-to-end comprehensive solution, all sold and supported under the umbrella of a singular brand. Never mind that many of these companies either made only a few things well, or covered up otherwise average products with excellent support: the fact remains that companies have been built and fortunes realized with this end-to-end approach.

As the security industry transitioned from analog to IP network technology, some of this has changed, and many of the successful end-to-end brands have ultimately failed in the transition. But even today we can see striking examples of new IP technology manufacturers beginning to creep their way towards an end-to-end portfolio.

Why is there this pull to what in the IT world is so unnatural? Why do companies seem so insistent on polluting their one or two really good product lines with otherwise lower quality companion solutions? What has happened to the notion of best in class?

Clearly, one of the appealing attributes for an end-to-end portfolio is control. The manufacturer has more control over the customers – and locked-in revenue from them – by delivering a broad technology set of offerings. This reduces the risk of other manufacturers’ products gaining a foothold in their client base. This also allows the manufacturer to offer a more comprehensive product support service, bridging the various products and technologies. And for the systems integrator, this makes quoting, procurement and commissioning easier because all roads lead back to a single manufacturer.

This is that “one throat to choke” mentality.

But what is ultimately better for the end user? Do they get the best technology solutions from an end-to-end solution? Do they get the best innovation from the combined creative expertise in the marketplace? Is the return on investment maximized, and do they have an open road to adjusting their technology suite to meet their evolving business needs easily and economically over the long run?

Are end-to-end solutions really the best thing for customers or are they really just the easiest things for the manufacturers and system integrators?

On the other hand, if an open platform approach is better, then what about the question of quoting, procurement, commissioning and support? If the best technology, access to innovation and return on investment is rooted in open platform solutions, how can these solutions defy the gravitational pull of the security industry’s fascination with the ease and convenience of end-to-end portfolios?

If open is better, then the companies that focus on delivering best-of-breed products have a responsibility to make quoting, procurement, commissioning and support more seamless and approachable across various technology manufacturers. Whether its common industry standards, easier integrations, coordinated marketing or cross-product support, open platform providers have the responsibility to make working with open solutions an easier and less complex experience for systems integrators and end users alike.

If we agree that end customers are best served by open solutions, best-in-class and freedom of choice, then we must focus on the ease of use and experience related to the combined multi-manufacturer solution. Those of us committed to open solutions are responsible for making them easier and more approachable. This is the key to helping the marketplace realize the full potential of the open platform – and defying the gravitational pull of the industry bias.

It’s time to join together and help the security industry realize its full potential and deliver on the exceptional value proposition of the open platform with integrated best-in-class solutions. Are you ready to defy gravity together?

by Tim Palmquist, VP Americas, Milestone Systems

Look for this article on pg 56 in the September 2017 issue of Security Technology Executive!

With mid-size systems, there are often several ways to approach a requirement and accomplish the same goal — at least in the short term. My focus at Milestone Systems is on mid-market video surveillance solutions in the 33- to 250-camera range. As you can imagine, this is a hyper-competitive space with a huge variety of options today.

Because of this, there’s a lot of noise in the marketplace with many vendors competing for sales and mindshare. There’s a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD!) as end-users, installers and integrators approach project requirements and try to figure out what’s best. How do installers and integrators make the right decisions? The answer is fairly simple: Keep focused on what’s important for the end-user, now and for their future.

To cut through the information overload, just ask what’s important for the customer.

It’s Easier Than You Think

When Milestone works with our technology partners for fully integrated solutions, we provide a detailed software development kit (SDK) with information on our Application Programming Interface (API) so the partners can tie their solutions into ours. This means that the Milestone open architecture, video management software (VMS) can deliver to end users unique, optimal systems that look and feel like end-to-end solutions – yet offer way more flexibility to change and expand in future.

With many technology partners writing plug-ins directly into our XProtect Smart Client, the customer gets a single graphical user interface (GUI) as just one simple piece of software to learn, while leveraging key competencies from multiple providers in the background.

Some customers express doubt about trying such a customized, integrated solution. They’re afraid of components not working together properly or not receiving necessary support — but they shouldn’t be. The Milestone open platform provides a seamless, easy-to-use, reliable, and safe video management solution, while still providing flexibility and freedom of choice. In short, we make it easy for all involved.

Many Milestone Solution Partners also choose to get their integrations certified. This involves testing the solution to document the results, including best practice guidelines on the set up and configuration of the solutions, which helps to ensure optimal operation.

One Solution Does Not Fit All

Vendors who pitch end-to-end solutions – selling their own brand of cameras, management software, servers, and storage — are telling the customer that this is the best way to go. In my view, this is a retreat back to the old ways of analog systems when companies sold closed, proprietary systems, thereby locking customers into a single brand for the life of their system.

At Milestone, we know this is not a good approach for the customer. This may seem good for resellers who care more about simplifying their own sales process, and obviously, it’s a good setup for the manufacturers because they lock in their customers (at least in the near-term) – but where does this leave the customer? A single-provider, closed, proprietary system does not offer the most viable path for system upgrades, feature expansions, or the integration of new technologies and capabilities that come from many providers in the marketplace.

Deliver End-User Value

Let’s face it, customers can buy an all-in-one system at a seemingly low price, from a single manufacturer. But over time, the user will discover the frustrations and costs of a closed system; that what they have is not going to meet their long-term needs. As the customer’s requirements change, when they want to add cameras, increase storage, or leverage newly-available technologies, the closed, end-to-end systems don’t offer good options. At some point, that system will need to be completely ripped out and replaced just to expand capabilities. Whereas with an open platform, customers can always adapt and change as technology evolves. Our software doesn’t stay static.

Milestone software excels for customers as their foundation for the future.

Leverage Partner Expertise

Often an installer or integrator is an expert with a specific access control system, or a real pro with a particular brand of cameras. With an open platform approach, the integrator can leverage multiple skills to deliver a custom solution that meets the end user’s real-world, current and long-term needs. With an open platform, the installer has less risk of losing the business because the system can be supported and expanded over many more years. If for any reason the customer becomes less than satisfied with any of the deployed technologies, components can easily be removed and replaced with a more applicable solution.

In contrast, if an end-to-end, single-manufacturer solution brings dissatisfaction with a single component, the entire system needs to be removed and replaced just to achieve upgraded capabilities. What if the customer opens a second facility and needs some centralized management between sites? A “forklift” upgrade of an entire system is a very expensive alternative.

The Power of Partnerships

Milestone partners with all leading video security and surveillance manufacturers to deliver the most choice to our integrators and end-users. Customers deserve the freedom to choose. The IT sector understands this concept and has enabled IT professionals to mix and match components to build relevant, optimum-performing systems for their customers for decades.

As new technologies emerge in the market — innovations in business and video analytics, metadata management, camera capabilities, access control modes, storage breakthroughs — the companies bringing those solutions to market are partnering with Milestone to deliver value-adding integrations. Our partners and customers count on Milestone to be a leader in supporting and delivering new technologies.

For example, Milestone was one of the first VMS companies to support the new compression codec H.265. We were also the first VMS company to bring seamless video and Access Control integration without delivering our own competing AC product. There are many examples of supporting leading-edge capabilities.

A current example of this is in the trend of mid-size systems leveraging video analytics that are built into cameras. With in-camera (network edge-device) analytics, the customer doesn’t need a separate analytics license and they don’t need a separate server because the analytics run within the camera are then monitored and controlled through the VMS. Milestone makes it simple to leverage the technology that’s housed in the camera. This is a cost-effective option for small- and mid-sized systems to increase their video system’s effectiveness and value.

Along the same idea, XProtect Access is another huge differentiator in the market. If a customer wants to visually monitor a modest number of doors and openings at their facility, they don’t have to use two separate pieces of software (video and access control). With an integration via XProtect Access, they can visually verify access control events directly within the XProtect Smart Client. XProtect Access works with a variety of leading access control manufacturers that deliver on-site as well as cloud-based packages. This is very attractive to businesses that don’t want to lock themselves into paying for expensive hardware and servers on site.

TMI? — Just Stay Focused

Changing the security installation goal from price to value requires a shift in thinking. Instead of talking about cost and product features, the discussion needs to be about open platform benefits and the community of applications that map into a more flexible, comprehensive and long-lasting solution that realize return on investment well into the future.

The value proposition requires discovering and understanding a customer’s short- and long-term goals. Through knowledge of the applications needed, it is readily apparent that no single provider can deliver the total solution. With this point of view, it becomes obvious that the open platform partner community working together becomes the best path for fulfilling customers’ needs.

So stop listening to all the noise in the marketplace. Listen to your customers and stay focused on what they need from a system — they’ll tell you what’s important, and that makes it all very easy.

by Paul Messenger, Manager of Partner Development & Inside Channel Management (ICM) – Americas, Milestone Systems

The Brandon Hall Group has recognized – not just once, but twice – how Milestone Systems’ Learning & Performance brings best practice to the open platform video community. The ‘Best Advance in Competencies and Skill Development’ was awarded to the Milestone Systems Learning & Performance Program, and the ‘Best Certification Program’ was credited to the Milestone Systems Training & Certification Program.

The Learning & Performance Program at Milestone has evolved significantly over recent years. Training activities have expanded beyond the classroom, and the certification assessments are focused on proving the skills needed by job role in designing, installing, configuring, operating, and maintaining Milestone XProtect video management software.

Training is available online, in the form of individual, self-paced eLearning modules or in a traditional classroom setting led by an expert instructor and delivered in person all over the world. Online certification assessments can be used to identify knowledge gaps and when passed successfully, prove expertise with Milestone products.

Milestone is very proud to receive these awards, especially considering the rigorous judging process. These awards validate the approach we have taken over the last three years to redesign all our training and certification assessments around job competencies and the ability to perform in the field. At Milestone, we view our certifications as a brand promise to our customers regarding the knowledge and skill of individual partners.
– Greg Willmarth, Director of Learning & Performance, Milestone Systems

The Learning & Performance team has worked tirelessly to develop a world-class program that allows Milestone partners flexible options to develop the skills of their team, with a certification program where they can differentiate themselves as proven experts in designing, installing, and configuring Milestone solutions.

In the end, everyone benefits from a highly skilled channel. Our customers win with better designed solutions. Our partners win by quicker installations improving profitability on each job. And of course, Milestone wins with more satisfied customers. – Willmarth

The award entries were evaluated by an international panel of independent industry experts, Brandon Hall Group senior analysts and an executive leadership team. The judging was based on the following criteria: fit to the business needs, program design, functionality, innovation, and overall measurable benefits.

Excellence Award winners symbolize the power and impact that Human Capital Management practices can have on any organization. Many companies can have great HCM initiatives, but the standard of excellence only applies for organizations whose practices truly benefit business. That’s what the Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards program stands for.
– Rachel Cooke, Chief Operating Officer of Brandon Hall Group

Excellence Award winners will be honored at Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Excellence Conference in January 2018 in Florida. Selected winners also will present in more than 20 breakout sessions during the 3-day event. Milestone Systems shares the honors with esteemed companies such as Boeing, Accenture, SAP, Carolinas Healthcare System, Cognizant Technology, Emirates NBD, and The National Council on Behavioral Health. See the full list of award winners.

Brandon Hall Group is a HCM research and advisory services firm that provides insights around key performance areas, including Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition and Workforce Management. With more than 10,000 clients globally and 20 years of delivering world-class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is focused on developing research that drives performance in emerging and large organizations, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results. 

As the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences One Dalton Street rises to claim its place on the Boston skyline, details inside the building are also taking form. One Dalton developer, Richard L. Friedman, President and CEO, Carpenter & Company, set out to find the most innovative companies in the security industry, tasking them with developing a plan for Boston’s tallest residential building. 

The result of Friedman’s search is three key partnerships: former Head of the U.S. Secret Service Mark Sullivan, now principal and co-founder of Global Security & Innovative Strategies (GSIS); Evolv Technology; and industry-leading video management software company Milestone Systems.

We plan to offer luxury in all forms at One Dalton, everything from 24-hour room service and a stellar spa to a seamless and safe security plan. As always, we are looking ahead for the ideas and technology that will continue to set our building apart and make living at One Dalton a premier experience on every level. Partnering with GSIS, Evolv Technology and Milestone Systems is really next-level thinking for us. – Richard Friedman

Friedman met Mark Sullivan during President Bill Clinton’s visits to his house on Martha’s Vineyard. After Sullivan concluded his federal service, he co-founded GSIS, a company that leverages its extensive private and public sector, homeland and public security, and international expertise to provide comprehensive solutions for its clients. Sullivan has been tasked to oversee the security plan for One Dalton which includes security assessments, design, implementation and advisory services. On Sullivan’s recommendation, One Dalton is incorporating cutting-edge technology from Evolv Technology and Milestone Systems to provide a superior surveillance system.

Evolv Technology is a technology startup founded by Boston-based security and technology veterans Mike Ellenbogen and Anil Chitkara. Focused on rethinking physical security, Evolv uses advanced sensing and deep learning to ensure a threat-free environment while balancing the everyday pace of life. Evolv’s flexible, risk-based screening approach fulfills the needs of state-of-the-art facilities like One Dalton. The company’s experienced leaders, alongside an advisory board of security veterans from the Department of Homeland Security, CIA, TSA and the U.S. Secret Service have created products designed to address today’s emerging threats. One Dalton will be the first residential building to utilize Evolv’s revolutionary technology.

It was a natural fit to have Milestone Systems, the world-leading provider of open platform IP video management software (VMS), as part of this exceptional team. The company’s solutions increase overall safety and optimal operations through comprehensive management and distribution of digital video data. High performance network video recorders and the video monitoring software platform can be tailored to meet the demands of any complex security installation. Its open architecture enables ongoing integrations with new technology innovations as they come to market.

One Dalton is one of a few elite buildings worldwide to embrace change and incorporate technology that will provide the best life for its hotel guests and residents. Public venues have been working to improve security for some time but this is a remarkable and intelligent investment for a residential development. – Mark Sullivan

The final plan has yet to be determined, but One Dalton will begin by improving upon the common back-of-house security operations that are typically used in hotels and residential buildings. Surveillance of common areas and public spaces using Milestone Systems integrated with event security through Evolv Technology and employee screening are among the solutions being considered.

For us, this is part of a long view on security for One Dalton. As technology improves and we learn more about exactly what our residents and hotel guests want and need, we will introduce new elements that ensure all who spend time at One Dalton feel relaxed, safe and cared for. – Richard Friedman

For more information, please visit www.onedalton.com or contact 617.502.3700.

About Carpenter & Company

Carpenter & Company is a highly respected and experienced firm that has been involved in the development, ownership and management of real estate since its establishment in 1898. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Carpenter & Company is regarded as one of the foremost real estate investment and development corporations in America. Since being led by President and Chief Executive Officer Richard L. Friedman from 1973, Carpenter & Company has devoted most of its resources to the development of hotels, mixed-use projects and retail properties. Some of Carpenter & Company’s most notable projects include the St. Regis San Francisco Hotel and Residences, and in the Boston area the conversion of Boston’s historic Charles Street Jail into the luxury Liberty Hotel, the Logan Airport Hilton, and the development of Charles Square, an 800,000 square foot mixed-use project that includes the iconic Charles Hotel adjacent to Harvard University. www.carpenterandcompanyinc.com

Razberi, the intelligent surveillance platform company, has integrated its new CameraDefense cybersecurity solution with Milestone XProtect^® Corporate, enabling organizations to consistently guard their video surveillance systems from a single user interface. Razberi CameraDefense protects IP cameras and corporate networks from cyber attacks by automating and scaling industry best practice cyber protections. Integrated into Razberi ServerSwitchIQ appliances, the solution creates a video surveillance platform that defends the camera ecosystem with automated camera hardening, a secure appliance architecture, and cyber threat monitoring.

Many of our customers use Milestone XProtect, so merging the CameraDefense events and notification into a single management and operational dashboard creates a more efficient workflow to address cyber threats within their surveillance system infrastructure. Using CameraDefense, integrators and end users don’t need additional firewall products and special expertise to consistently implement and maintain cybersecurity best practices to protect their cameras and video surveillance platform. – Tom Galvin, Razberi CEO

Razberi’s integration with the Milestone video management software (VMS) creates a ‘single pane of glass’ for Milestone VMS operators to be notified and take action if CameraDefense detects a cyber threat. CameraDefense is policy-based, making security policies easy to implement when the installer executes the solution’s wizard on tens, hundreds or thousands of surveillance cameras.

Policies include key hardening practices such as closing unused ports and binding devices to known ports, removing unneeded network services, whitelisting to restrict traffic to known networks, and enforcing password complexity to stop default and common password usage. These best practices are automated with an easy-to-use dashboard to identify vulnerabilities across a system.

Should a violation occur on one or more of these policies, CameraDefense generates an event and posts it in real time to the Milestone Alarm Manager. The operator or end user can then notify the relevant personnel or investigate and remediate the violation.

In addition, Milestone operators can use CameraDefense events in their rules manager or event automation. If customer operations on Milestone are unattended, the incoming events can be routed via automated notification or other key actions using the Milestone Rules and Events features. For example, if a violation of a CameraDefense policy occurs at 3:00 in the morning, the customer can be notified in real time via text or email that an event has occurred.

Cybersecurity is an increasing concern for physical security customers and requires proactive defense not reactive, costly fire drills. Razberi has taken a big step forward to interface CameraDefense cybersecurity in conjunction with the Razberi ServerSwitchIQ appliance as a key part of the Milestone Solution Partner integration and ecosystem strategy. Extending this functionality to Milestone VMS users enables them to monitor and manage cyber threats as well as practice good cyber maintenance from within their video management software. – Reinier Tuinzing, Strategic Alliances Manager, Milestone Systems

CameraDefense recently won an ASIS 2017 Accolades award, and Security Today magazine named the solution the 2017 “New Product of the Year” in the inaugural Cyber Defense Solutions category. 

More about Razberi CameraDefense

Embedded in the Razberi ServerSwitchIQ video surveillance appliance, CameraDefense hardens cameras automatically so they don’t become a liability. The unique, secure architecture with appliances deployed at the edge provides an isolated camera network by separating it from the business network with independent network interfaces and a confi­gurable VLAN. Integrated virus and malware protection guards the VMS by predicting known and unknown attacks to proactively prevent malware execution. Encryption-ready hardware supports trusted system boots with an embedded Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The solution is compatible with all network cameras.

Razberi CameraDefense with automated camera hardening enables integrators to:

• Block Unauthorized Internet of Things (IoT) Devices: Binds cameras and other IoT security devices to the network and prevents unauthorized devices from using Ethernet ports.
• Limit Access to Cameras: Restricts camera access to whitelisted IP addresses, blocks camera traffic to the public Internet, flags weak passwords, and denies un-needed and potentially dangerous camera services with a next-generation firewall.
• Monitor for Cyber Threats: Provides dynamic threat protection that evolves with new threats through machine learning and generates real-time security alerts for incident response.

For more information about cybersecurity best practices, download the Razberi white paper Top 6 Measures to Reduce Video Surveillance Cybersecurity Risks.

Did you know that it would take more than 5 million years to watch the video that’s crossing global IP networks every month in 2021?

We all know that more and more data is created every minute of every day, across the globe. A vast amount of this data is and will increasingly be generated from digital video stored or distributed via communication networks. How do we handle this growing amount of data in a smart and safe way that helps us make intelligent decisions in life and at work?

It’s all about how we can increase the level of intelligence within digital video systems. And this is where machine learning and neural networks come in. Machine learning is a field of AI that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. Neural networks is a machine learning technique, inspired by biological neural networks.

The beauty of neural networks is the ability to learn to do tasks by considering examples. In short, they can watch and learn, generally without task-specific programming. When it comes to image recognition, neural networks identify images that contain a certain object by analyzing examples that have been manually labeled as that specific object. The results are then used to identify the same kind of object in other images.

By deploying neural network technologies, video content analysis exceeds the capabilities of your average rule-based analytics systems. Instead of just evaluating a few pre-defined situations, neural network-based video content analysis can learn directly from the video. It can learn about objects and their normal behavior, alerting the operator in case of unusual activities. Neural networking technologies provide operators with expert assistance in a fraction of the time it takes for any living operator today to make a qualified decision.

This is just one way of handling digital video data in a smarter and more intelligent manner. Many other promising technologies are currently evolving, and this step into the world of intelligent video is not one any VMS manufacturer can take alone. There is a need for highly specialized knowledge and new specialized services.

Our open platform technology is the foundation for intelligent video systems and our partners have the expertise and infrastructure needed to reach the next frontier in intelligent video solutions. Together, we can provide unlimited solutions for our customers.

Milestone Community Days (MIPS) 2018 is all about how we can create an intelligent world together.

Will you be joining us?

by Hans Jorgen Skovgaard, VP of R&D, Milestone Systems.