Security professionals, which IP software do you prefer?

[thewireguys 3]

So what are your yearly support costs for Milestone? Do they still charge to call them for support?

 

we don't pay for SA (the support assurance) It's optional and honestly, while it's nice to think that you can upgrade to a later version when released, the version releases are that slow and there seems to be very little by way of new features with the new versions so I'm happy to just re-buy the whole package should something amazing come out or, stay with what we have (it's working fine now, chances are it's going to be working fine in 10 years)

 

Fwiw, Milestone Package the Mobile Server (for mobile devices) separate to the software, and as such new version of it you can upgrade for free, also the device packs which upgrade Milestones capabilities to talk to camera's is also free, so really your only paying SA to either be able to:

 

1, Upgrade between versions of the software, so from Express to Professional

2, be able to patch, so in the case of Express, to go from 1.0b to 1.1 (we have sites on both, and I'm not really noticing any difference, these programs are very polished before they release anything)

 

I generally don't call them for support, I've been sending any basic query's through the company I bought the software from (techcctv) and anything complex I just email them, we've yet to get charged for this

 

come to think about it, if you don't want to use a NAS you can download the Milestone Xprotect GO version which is free, it has the limitations of not being able to support more than 8 camera's, will not talk to NAS systems, only keeps footage for 5 days, cannot do alarms & is limited to a single user.... but free is free

 

Way more complicated. With Avigilon you have three options Core, Standard Enterprise plus you can add the Gateway license for mobile support. Software upgrades are free and so is the 24/7 phone support.

[MR2 0]

So it sounds like milestone can not view the same camera live and recorded in a single client simultaneously.

 

From what I've found, you're probably correct

 

others who have more experience with Milestone might have a way, but we just load up a separate client if we need both at once(which you cannot do in the free version since it only allows a single client, so if you wanted to do that and there is no way (probably is, Milestone is pretty comprehensive) then you'd need to use a mobile client.)

[MR2 0]

So what are your yearly support costs for Milestone? Do they still charge to call them for support?

 

we don't pay for SA (the support assurance) It's optional and honestly, while it's nice to think that you can upgrade to a later version when released, the version releases are that slow and there seems to be very little by way of new features with the new versions so I'm happy to just re-buy the whole package should something amazing come out or, stay with what we have (it's working fine now, chances are it's going to be working fine in 10 years)

 

Fwiw, Milestone Package the Mobile Server (for mobile devices) separate to the software, and as such new version of it you can upgrade for free, also the device packs which upgrade Milestones capabilities to talk to camera's is also free, so really your only paying SA to either be able to:

 

1, Upgrade between versions of the software, so from Express to Professional

2, be able to patch, so in the case of Express, to go from 1.0b to 1.1 (we have sites on both, and I'm not really noticing any difference, these programs are very polished before they release anything)

 

I generally don't call them for support, I've been sending any basic query's through the company I bought the software from (techcctv) and anything complex I just email them, we've yet to get charged for this

 

come to think about it, if you don't want to use a NAS you can download the Milestone Xprotect GO version which is free, it has the limitations of not being able to support more than 8 camera's, will not talk to NAS systems, only keeps footage for 5 days, cannot do alarms & is limited to a single user.... but free is free

 

Way more complicated. With Avigilon you have three options Core, Standard Enterprise plus you can add the Gateway license for mobile support. Software upgrades are free and so is the 24/7 phone support.

 

and what is the pricing, both base and with each camera? what else is charged for? I've honestly found I've required very little support

[skomo 0]

Tyco just acquired Exacq.... That will make things interesting for Exacq customers since Tyco always finds away to screw a good thing up.

 

Living up to their name I see.... Take Your Company Over

[Quantum 0]

and what is the pricing, both base and with each camera? what else is charged for? I've honestly found I've required very little support

 

Fair question.

 

Wireguys?

[hardwired 0]

So it sounds like milestone can not view the same camera live and recorded in a single client simultaneously.

 

From what I've found, you're probably correct

 

others who have more experience with Milestone might have a way, but we just load up a separate client if we need both at once(which you cannot do in the free version since it only allows a single client, so if you wanted to do that and there is no way (probably is, Milestone is pretty comprehensive) then you'd need to use a mobile client.)

Milestone does allow per channel playback while viewing other channels live, if you hover the cursor over the bottom of the camera view in the smart client, there will be a selection marked "Independent Playback".

 

Also, the version of Milestone software that is the usual fit for home / small business owners would be "Essential", not "Express". Essential allows for up to 26 cameras, 5 concurrent connections. It is (MSRP) $99 for the base license (two channels), and $49 per channel after that. Mobile and Web client is included.

 

Support agreement (not required, optional, allows for version updates, and upgrades) is approximately 18% of the license cost, per year.

[cglaeser 0]

Also, the version of Milestone software that is the usual fit for home / small business owners would be "Essential", not "Express". Essential allows for up to 26 cameras, 5 concurrent connections. It is (MSRP) $99 for the base license (two channels), and $49 per channel after that. Mobile and Web client is included.

 

That's very reasonable pricing. What operating systems are supported?

 

Best,

Christopher

[hardwired 0]

Also, the version of Milestone software that is the usual fit for home / small business owners would be "Essential", not "Express". Essential allows for up to 26 cameras, 5 concurrent connections. It is (MSRP) $99 for the base license (two channels), and $49 per channel after that. Mobile and Web client is included.

 

That's very reasonable pricing. What operating systems are supported?

 

Best,

Christopher

Server and thick client are Windows (7/Vista/XP, Server 03/08), Mobile for Android and Apple.

 

The web client is nice, no plugins, so Firefox, Chrome and Safari will work, along with IE. Here's the spec sheet http://www.milestonesys.com/SharePoint/XProtectEssential/XProtect%20Essential%202_1/SpecSheet/Milestone_XProtect_Essential_21_Specification_Sheet.pdf

[MR2 0]

So it sounds like milestone can not view the same camera live and recorded in a single client simultaneously.

 

From what I've found, you're probably correct

 

others who have more experience with Milestone might have a way, but we just load up a separate client if we need both at once(which you cannot do in the free version since it only allows a single client, so if you wanted to do that and there is no way (probably is, Milestone is pretty comprehensive) then you'd need to use a mobile client.)

Milestone does allow per channel playback while viewing other channels live, if you hover the cursor over the bottom of the camera view in the smart client, there will be a selection marked "Independent Playback".

 

Also, the version of Milestone software that is the usual fit for home / small business owners would be "Essential", not "Express". Essential allows for up to 26 cameras, 5 concurrent connections. It is (MSRP) $99 for the base license (two channels), and $49 per channel after that. Mobile and Web client is included.

 

Support agreement (not required, optional, allows for version updates, and upgrades) is approximately 18% of the license cost, per year.

 

Sure it is, unless you want to run a NAS, at which point you want "Express" or unless you don't want more than 5 days or more than a single user, at which point "Go" will do fine