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Milestone software ‘video enables’ a popular Virginia business complex from start to finish

Lord and Company Technologies has implemented Milestone XProtect™ Professional IP video surveillance management software and easily upgraded to XProtect Enterprise as a central operational monitoring interface for the Madison Crescent complex.

Located in Gainesville, Virginia, Madison Crescent is a 43-acre, mixed-use village providing residential, retail and office opportunities within a unique community environment.  From the key intersection here of James Madison Highway (Rt. 15) and Lee Highway (Rt. 29), there is direct access to the dynamic Washington, DC market.  This is a place where people can live, work, shop and enjoy a safe, comfortable and convenient lifestyle - all in a region that is one of the fastest growing in the country.

Madison Crescent is using the surveillance to protect their investment, ensuring a clean and safe environment for current and future workers, shoppers and residents to enjoy.  Along with the crime deterrent factor, the Milestone IP video management system is used as a business tool to avoid traffic congestion, check after-hours cleaning crews, and monitor weather maintenance (making sure the parking lot has been plowed after snow or ensuring timeliness and cleanliness of street sweepers).

Developer Scott Olmsted works over 27 miles from the project site of Madison Crescent. He needed a surveillance system that could do much more than simply record activities in an elevator and at a front door.  He needed high-resolution Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras that he could access remotely to monitor building progress and general safety regulations by the crews.

"Our headquarters is over 60 miles away from the project site, and traffic in [Washington] DC can be a nightmare.  With the Milestone software we can view, record and control the cameras for a more efficient way of doing business," says William McClain, Director of Property Management, CRC Commercial, who manage the Madison Crescent complex.

The developer was intrigued with the idea of using 360° technology to monitor the property.  Lord & Company Technologies set up the Milestone software in both the building and the respective offices of Olmsted and McClain.  The preliminary set-up includes a mix of cameras, one recessed with the 360° technology, and the others are domes: a Sanyo VDC-DP7584 Pan Focus Dome camera and a Panasonic PTZ roof camera, in conjunction with a Verint video encoder and an HP server.

Along with the crime deterrent factor, the Milestone IP video management system is used as a business tool to avoid traffic congestion, check after-hours cleaning crews, and monitor weather maintenance

Daniel McKinney of Lord & Company Technologies explains:  "It was an easy sell to the developers with Milestone offering everything they asked for.  Being an IP-based management system it ensures that the customer can place the PTZ cameras almost anywhere.  They loved the fact that Milestone was able to record on motion detection, thus saving them storage and money in the process.  Another feature that sold them was being able to track in real-time while archiving. There was concern expressed that the system would be too complicated to figure out, but they figured it out on their own."

Those who control the Milestone software have said they cannot believe such a sophisticated system is so easy to use.

"The open platform system that Milestone XProtect offers immediately makes the system more sophisticated because we are able to choose any camera we want for the install.  We are not trapped using one type of camera that can be dated as soon as next year," says McClain.  He goes on to explain that Madison Crescent has a professional office building that is constantly expanding and the last thing he wanted to worry about was the cost of the surveillance system.

"Lord and Co. Tech. was instrumental in the installation and setting up the proper storage.  They definitely pointed me to the right solution because we can scale as the building population grows," explains McClain.