Open platform surveillance takes steps into the future

When it comes to technology, people demand functionality, user friendliness and impeccable design. And with good reason, as manufacturers present us with hundreds of new gadgets on a regular basis that are designed to facilitate our lives and to help us navigate throughout the day. The cell phone and the computer are both fine examples of this trend. Physical security is also an area in which such developments are speeding up.

Security is present in almost all aspects of our lives. From the minute we lock our front door leaving for work, we are faced with security matters: Entering the office building with an access card or going to the supermarket where video integrations allow verification of which products – and how many – are really being sold at what price. Not to mention video surveillance in the public sphere that helps the police secure evidence when crimes are committed and to monitor busy areas proactively to make sure that people are safer when walking the streets.

Milestone Systems is the global industry leader in true open platform IP video management software. Our company was established in 1998 with headquarters near Copenhagen, right in the midst of the Oresund Region. Over the years, we have established strong alliances with numerous Swedish companies, and have constantly expanded our company – and partnerships – to cover every world region.

Milestone specializes in the development of software for IP network video surveillance, based on true open platform architecture. The open platform makes it possible to de-couple the hardware from the software, which ensures the ability to choose whichever computer or camera you wish. If you go with a traditional system from one vendor, whose software works only with their hardware or just a few types of devices, you will be very limited in your choices as new products come out on the market that you may want to use. So the rate of innovation is speeding up with so many players in the industry and new ones coming along all the time, so an open platform is the best way to go.

Milestone Systems has more than 50,000 customer installations. Among these are numerous Swedish companies optimizing their security and business needs, working together with our authorized and certified partners including Niscayah, Skyda, Pemel, and others. For example, a few years back, IKEA got a new financial system that drove upgrades of their integration with Milestone at their corporate Pilot Store in the Netherlands - they also have a customized way of looking at their data that has been adapted to their business modes. Milestone’s open platform software could accommodate these changing needs.

Other examples are the Swedish cities of Malmö and Landskrona, where video surveillance has been installed in schools to help manage vandalism and ensure a safe environment for students and teachers. Our digital software furthermore provides the overview necessary for safety in the demanding work environment of the Malmø City Tunneln. Borås Hospital and Elgiganten in Jönköping also use Milestone open platform IP video software to enhance their operational administration.

Below are a few examples of how different industries make the most of our software:

• When you combine video with access control, you can visually verify who is using the access cards in your building. Anti-tailgating software can also send an alert if more than one person is trying to enter. Likewise, camera views of the people buzzing to enter a door or gate inform operators to allow or lock down access – especially useful after hours.
• A U.S. food processing company uses Milestone video surveillance integrated with their production lines, which saves them unnecessary costs. The audio capability in XProtect triggers an alarm when the popping noise in their air-burst machines signals they are not working optimally. A Swedish global packaging company uses another Milestone integration with their line validation equipment to maximize production capacity, reducing the costs of errors.
• In the retail sector there is growing uptake for the benefits of video integrated with Point of Sales that allows verification of product sales at the registers – how many, at what price, and to whom. This helps cut down on loss from personnel errors and internal theft or ‘sweethearting’ (giving employee discounts to friends), short-change returns, etc. A big UK retail customer is using Milestone integrated with their ERP system’s personnel list to track how often each staff member opens the cash register in their workday, when discount prices are used, etc.
• Retailers and hospitality businesses are also improving the bottom line through better customer service aided by video integrated with people counting or other analytics. Traffic flow, queue management, personnel staffing schedules, and merchandise placement in the store are just some scenarios where these benefits are reaped.

An increasing number of private companies and governmental organizations are realizing the numerous options that are enabled by open platform IP video surveillance to create one unified platform – options that help optimize business, assist authorities in crime detection, protect assets, and last but not least, the one thing most precious to us all: our daily safety.

Lars Thinggaard, Presdident & CEO

Milestone Systems