garybdavis 0 Posted May 2, 2017 System: 12 cameras, 3MP, mostly Hikvision with USA firmware Dell T20 Server, Xeon E3 3.25GHz, 16GB Ram, 1TB OS Hard Drive, 4TB Purple Video Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 610 Video Card 2GB Originally, my system was turned up with Milestone. Things ran fine for the first year or so and then it started to hang every few days. I suspect it was after a Windows update. Problem was, my licenses had expired and I couldn’t get an update or support from Milestone. The dealer who sold me the licenses did spend some time checking out my system but couldn’t find anything wrong. They offered to sell me a new support license and I suspect that an update to the Milestone software would have fixed the issue, but I felt like I had already paid for the software. I was aware of the Milestone support fees but I didn’t think I would need updates just to keep the system working. I suppose if I had disabled Microsoft updates that might have been true. Perhaps a simple reinstall of the current version would also have solved the problem but without any support to guide me, it’s hard to say. Instead of continuing on with Milestone, I purchased Avigilon Core through Alex (AK357). For the initial purchase price, I get support and upgrades from Avigilon until the software version is discontinued. It's a new release so I expect this to be at least 5 or 6 years and after that, I hear they give discounts for moving existing users to the next release. After I got it installed, Alex took the time to log into my system, check things out and make a few recommendations. I’ve called him a couple of times since and he always answers the phone. Nice to know there’s someone in case you need the help. The two systems are similar in functionality with Avigilon being a bit higher in initial cost. You can find pricing for Milestone online but you have to get Avigilon pricing from a dealer. When I factored in the reoccurring support fees from Milestone, I was better off with Avigilon in the long run. I was initially happy with Milestone and thought it to be a very powerful system, but the reoccurring support fees didn't fit my application (or budget). Avigilon seems to be better suited for me and with several weeks of uptime, it’s been rock solid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomcctv 190 Posted May 2, 2017 AK357 is the expert on avigilon .....good to hear you got good advice and the help. It is good to hear technical advice from AK357 And knowing avigilon you will be happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
