Lenel, a leading provider in advanced security systems for over 20 years, announced it will begin selling Milestone Systems Video Management Software (VMS) solutions directly through the Lenel Value Added Reseller (VAR) channel in North America. This alliance will reduce the total cost of ownership for users by offering both the industry-leading Lenel OnGuard® access control and the Milestone XProtect® VMS solutions through the same channel with reduced licensing fees. Lenel and Milestone Systems have a combined 40 years of industry experience in providing customers with open security solution technologies. Lenel is part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

Both Lenel and Milestone Systems have been committed to providing open platforms that provide customers with the flexibility to select the optimal solutions to meet their needs. Since 2011, Milestone Systems has also been a member of the Lenel Open Access Alliance Program (OAAP), which provides customers a tight coupling between the Lenel OnGuard access control system and Milestone XProtect VMS.

?Enabling users to obtain both Lenel OnGuard and Milestone XProtect platforms through our VARs will provide them with a unique value proposition,? said Ron Virden, managing director, global access solutions, UTC Climate, Controls & Security. ?Not only can the solution be more cost effective, users will also be able to take advantage of a unified support infrastructure for their complete access and video system. And, the strong interface between the OnGuard and XProtect systems ensures customers will have an industry-leading security system today and into the future.?

?As the sophistication with network technology continues to expand, customers want to take advantage of open platform interoperability ? in this case, for video verification of access events, both live and recorded, as evidence. Lenel?s move to reduce the total cost of ownership of the combined OnGuard and XProtect solution eliminates barriers to using this best-of-breed integration for improving security operations,? said Tim Palmquist, Vice President Americas, Milestone Systems.

Virden went on to say, ?The most critical elements of a robust and powerful security solution are the access control and video management systems. The significant technology advances achieved by OnGuard and Xprotect provide customers with a feature-rich, proven security system for protecting their people and assets. As security threats become more sophisticated they demand continuous innovation across systems, and strong interfaces between industry leaders, which is what this alliance delivers.?