Milestone XProtect Essential+ enables developers to tap into the rich programming context of open platform video management software at no cost. Users gain all the benefits of third-party add-on solutions and high-end features

Milestone Systems, the globally leading open platform company in networked video management software (VMS), has released XProtect Essential+ as a free entry product to the company?s portfolio.

?XProtect Essential+ is a game changer for our open platform community. Essential+ allows anyone to start right. Any user can now benefit from the power of add-on solutions from our partners,? says Bj?rn Skou Eilertsen, Chief Technical Officer, Milestone Systems.

?Developers can use our rich programming environment now to create tomorrow?s add-on solutions to XProtect. They can install Essential+ and get our Software Development Kit for free. Add cameras and you are good to go. It?s that simple to start developing solutions for this rapidly growing business segment.?

Developers benefit from true open platform
By including the Milestone open platform programming environment in the free Essential+, Milestone is handing over the keys to future innovation to developers. The software and SDK can be downloaded at no cost from the Milestone website. Documentation, eLearning courses and an online developer forum are just some of the resources to which open platform software developers gain free access.

XProtect VMS products are built on Microsoft and other industry standards, so any Microsoft-certified developer can start developing value-adding business video solutions right away.

Milestone also offers marketing support for developers, as solutions can be entered in the online Milestone Solution Finder that showcases the integrations to a global audience. The Milestone alliance partner team also offers certification of solutions with testing and documentation.

Users gain from top-end features
Making XProtect Essential+ a free offering gives thousands of new users the chance to take advantage of Milestone?s award-winning software for use in businesses, organizations and at home. XProtect Essential+ is designed to provide a professional-grade security experience as a stand-alone video business solution. Users have access to their system from anywhere via three easy-to-use clients.

Highlights of the free XProtect Essential+ 2017 R2:

• Supports up to eight (8) cameras from more than 6,000 supported devices. This enables the user to freely pick and mix the perfect camera models and brands for their needs.
• All Milestone clients are supported with full functionality: XProtect Smart Client, XProtect Web Client and Milestone Mobile.
• The software supports hardware acceleration: processor-intensive video decoding can be offloaded to the graphics card. This can save up to 80% in processing power.
• The full Milestone programming environment (MIP SDK and advanced rules engine) are supported. This includes metadata handling for advanced analytics.
• Upon installation, the users of the free XProtect Essential+ will gain access to the Milestone online support community dedicated to XProtect Essential+ at no cost.
• XProtect Essential+ can easily be upgraded to XProtect Express+ or other advanced XProtect products if the need arises for extra functionality for interconnecting systems, encrypting video recordings or simply more advanced features.

XProtect 2017 R2 Essential+ is available for download now.

Watch the launch video here.