Milestone Systems, leading developer of open platform IP video management software, recently held its bi-annual ‘MIPS' event in Puerto Rico. Several hundred security industry professionals gathered to learn about the latest in digital surveillance solutions and future strategies. Network camera manufacturers and integrated software solution partners were honoured with awards, and the company's 35,000th customer installation was celebrated.
The Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS) is a twice-yearly event that collects an IP elite to hear industry speakers, take interactive workshops and training certifications, see exhibitions from manufacturers and integrated solution partners, and network with some of the most successful IP video systems integrators, resellers, distributors, consultants, and hardware producers. The event has become an essential opportunity for increasing expertise, sharing knowledge, and learning about the newest solutions from Milestone and its channel.
First to see Milestone video analytics
The event unveiled the first offering in a new series of Milestone XProtect Analytics: License Plate Recognition (LPR). XProtect Analytics LPR 1.5 is a system that detects, reads, and stores license plate information from a digital video stream. It is designed to control vehicle access, as in traffic surveillance and law enforcement, toll and parking management, gas stations, transportation or any other application where there is a use for the registration, recognition and detection of vehicle license plates.
"The true value from video analytics is derived through a video management system like XProtect with an open framework that can correlate feed from multiple video analytics with different behaviours - regardless of whether the video content analytics are performed in a camera - at the edge - or server based," explains Eric Fullerton, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Milestone Systems. "Best-of-breed analytics can be integrated with the Milestone open platform to allow a combination of license plate, facial recognition and object tracking, for example, from three different vendors to be used as one comprehensive solution."
Milestone Users Group and 35,000th customer
For the first time, Milestone invited end users to the MIPS event, along with Architects & Engineering (A&E) consultants. Special sessions were targeted to their interests, and the new Milestone Users Group website with blogs and discussion forum was introduced. They can now interact with key Milestone personnel, partners and other users, share information, and give direct input for product development.
The Moore Public School District of Oklahoma was honoured for being Milestone Systems' 35,000th Customer Installation. The school district's implementation of XProtect Corporate IP video management software by ISG Technology began at the end of 2007, with a mix of almost 1,000 Axis and IQinVision cameras eventually expected for the total system.
Milestone awards alliance partners
At the evening dinner ceremonies the following annual awards were presented:
- Milestone Solution Partner of the Year for 2007: S2 Security Corporation develop a line of open architecture, scalable, network-ready products that integrate access control, alarm monitoring, video, and temperature monitoring - all with a web-based user interface. The S2NetBox integrates access control with Milestone XProtect IP video management.
- Manufacturer Alliance Partner of the Year for 2007: There was a tie between Axis Communications and IQinVision, two of the industry pioneers in IP video cameras. Axis leads in market share and IQinVision leads with innovation in megapixel technology.
- Partner of the Year for 2007: ISG Technology, an IT integrator and services provider for 25 years with nine offices throughout the Midwest, epitomizes the success to be gained with IP convergence.
Over 200 attendees
The symposium counted over 200 people from 92 companies and 11 countries. The exhibitors in the Technology Showcase included ACTi Corporation, Axis Communications, Canon, Intransa, Integrated Retail Solutions, IPVS, IQinVision, JVC Professional, ObjectVideo, Open Options, Panasonic, Paxton Access, Pelco, Pivot3, S2 Security Corp., ShotSpotter, Sony, Strix Systems, Synnex Corporation, Veracity, and Vidient.
Other activities at the event included Milestone Masters Class Certification training, workshops in advanced IP surveillance and video analytics, and Developer's Training for solutions integration with the XProtect Software Development Kit (SDK).
An industry panel discussion was led by Keven Marier (IPVS) with panel members Paul Bodell (IQInvision), Eric Fullerton (Milestone), Fredrik Nilsson (Axis), and Mike Sherwood (Vidient). Together with the audience, they explored the true value of open platforms, integrating for best-of-breed solutions, the long-term influence of megapixel cameras, and what is needed for a successful migration from analogue to IP.
The next MIPS event in 2008 will be held the first week of October in Copenhagen, where Milestone Systems has their worldwide headquarters.
