Milestone XProtect Integration

Milestone XProtect is one of the most popular Video Management Systems. U-alarm is able to send alarms to this system so you can manage incidents in your well-known platform.

There are two ways of sending and managing alarms from U-alarm: through the Alarm Manager, or alternatively, via e-mail, using the built-in e-mail notification feature of Milestone XProtect.

NOTE: As of now, the Alarm Manager is only available in editions Express+ and above. If using Essential+, the only way of receiving alarms in Milestone XProtect is via an E-mail notification.

Consult the following table for the different feature sets of Milestone XProtect editions:

XProtect Edition / FeatureAlarm managerE-mail notificationRecording on Alarm
Corporate✓✓✓
Expert✓✓✓
Professional+✓✓✓
Express+✓✓✓
Essential+-✓✓

*tested on XProtect version 2020 R3

In order to integrate U-alarm in your Milestone XProtect VMS you have to configure three components:

U-alarm => Connector => Milestone XProtect

Alarm signals will flow in the order as described above. Configuration should be made in the reversed order:

  1. Setup Milestone XProtect
  2. Setup U-alarm / Milestone XProtect Connector
  3. Setup U-alarm

Note: This guide has been tested on Milestone XProtect 2020 R1 and 2020 R3.

Before you start

In this guide it is assumed that Milestone XProtect is installed on a computer in your network and you know how to configure it when using it without U-alarm. For further details, please visit the official site of Milestone.

Requirements:

  • All cameras and each device running Milestone XProtect and U-alarm are in the same network.
  • Please make sure that each camera is registered in Milestone XProtect which should use U-alarm.
  • You have administrator privileges on the device running Milestone XProtect (both for Windows and within Milestone XProtect).

Milestone XProtect

User

U-alarm requires access to Milestone XProtect, therefore a new user should be created with administrator privileges.

  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client, go to the Site Navigation panel => Security => Roles.

  2. Click on Administrators in the Roles panel.

  1. Find the Users and Groups tab at the bottom of the Role Settings panel. Click the Add... dropdown and select the Basic user option.

  1. In the Select Basic Users to add to Role pop-up, click the New button.
  2. A new pop-up appears. Fill in the form with new user credentials and click OK. Use a complex password with capital and small letters, numbers and special characters. Remember the password, because it will be used later in the Connector.

  1. Add this basic user to the Administrators by clicking OK.

Event

  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client, go to the Site Navigation panel => Rules and Events => Analytics Events.

  2. Right click on the Analytics Events panel => Add new.

  1. The name should be U-alarm.

    Note: It is very important to set this exact name without the dot or any white spaces.

  1. Click the Save button in the top left corner.

Recording Rule

If your system is not recording continuously, it is recommended to start recording on each triggered alarm. A Rule should be created for this purpose.

Tip: If your system has a custom recording logic, you can skip this step.

  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client, go to the Site Navigation panel => Rules and Events => Rules.

  2. Right-click on the Rules panel => Add Rule

  1. Set any Name.

  2. As the Type of rule, select Perform action on event. Click on the blue underlined "event" word in the lower panel.

  1. In the pop-up select Events => Analytics Events => ... U-alarm. Click OK.

  1. Click on the blue underlined "devices/..." line in the lower panel (after "from").

  1. In the pop-up select Cameras => All cameras. Click the Add button. Click OK.

  1. Click Next.

  2. Skip the Conditions Step (2). Click Next again.

  3. In the Actions Step (3) select Start recording on devices. Click on the blue underlined "recording device" words in the lower panel.

  1. In the pop-up select Use devices from metadata. Click OK.

  1. The recording will start immediately on alarm. You can set other (even negative) values by clicking on the blue underlined "immediately" word in the lower panel.

  2. Click the Next button.

  3. In the Stop Criteria (4) step, select Perform stop action after time. Click the blue underlined "time" word in the lower panel and set the length of the recordings. Click OK.

  1. Click Next.

  2. Skip the "Stop actions" (5) step. Click Finish. The new rule is created.

Alarm

Receiving alarms in the Alarm Manager

Now an Alarm has to be configured in Milestone XProtect.

  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client go to the Site Navigation panel => Alarms => Alarm Definitions.

  2. Right-click on the Alarm Definitions panel => Add new.

  1. Fill the form. Make sure that the alarm is Enabled.

  2. Set any Name for the alarm.

    This alarm will represent all notifications which come from U-alarm.

  3. Set the Triggering event to Analytics Events, then set U-alarm in the drop-down list below.

  4. At the Sources setting, click the Select... button. A pop-up will appear.

  5. Click on the Servers tab. Select the All Cameras node and click the Add button. Click OK.

  6. If you are familiar with Milestone XProtect, you can configure the rest of the settings as you wish or you can leave them as they are.

  1. Click the Save button in the top left corner (once enabled).

All done. You will receive alarms in the Alarm Manager.

Receiving alarms by e-mail

Besides the Alarm Manager, Milestone XProtect has an additional way of viewing received alarms: in e-mail format with optional image and/or video attachments.

If your copy of Milestone XProtect lacks the Alarm Manager feature (i.e.: your edition is the Essential+) - this is the only way of receiving alarms.

Follow the steps below to have a working e-mail notification setup.

Mail server
  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client, go to the Options in the upper menu bar => Mail Server.

  1. Type in the sender address.
  2. Type in the smtp address of the sender in Mail server address.
  3. Click OK.
Notification Profile

Now let us create a profile for sending the e-mail notifications.

  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client go to the Site Navigation panel => Rules and Events => Notification Profiles.

  1. Right-click on the Notification Profiles icon in the right-side panel => Add new.
  2. Set U-alarm email as the Name of the profile. You may fill the Description field as well (optional).

  1. Click Next.

  1. Fill in the Recipients field with the e-mail addresses of your recipients, separated by semi-colons.
  2. Set any name for the e-mail Subject.
  3. Type in any text for the e-mail.

Optional:

By clicking on any of the items under Add system information, the e-mail body will automatically include them as additional information. You may also set a minimum time interval between the e-mails sent, in seconds.

Under Data, you may add and configure images and videos (the latter in AVI format) of the alarms by ticking their respective boxes. You can include the images as attachment, or embedded in the e-mail by ticking the Embed images in e-mail box.

  1. If you would like to test the settings you just configured, click Test E-mail.
  2. Click Finish to save the profile, which will appear under Notification Profiles of the Site Navigation Panel.

E-mail Rule
  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client, go to the Site Navigation panel => Rules and Events => Rules.
  2. Right-click on the Rules panel => Add Rule

  1. Set any Name.
  2. In the Type of rule Step (1), select Perform action on event. Click on the blue underlined "event" word in the lower panel.

  1. In the pop-up, select Events => Analytics Events => ... U-alarm.

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click on the blue underlined "devices/..." line in the lower panel (after "from").
  3. In the pop-up, select Cameras => All cameras. Click the Add button. Click OK.

  1. Click Next.
  2. Skip the Conditions Step (2). Click Next again.
  3. In the Actions Step (3), select Send notification to profile. Click on the blue underlined "profile" word in the lower panel.

  1. In the pop-up, select U-alarm email, under Notification Profiles. Click OK.

  1. Click on the blue underlined "recording device" word in the lower panel.
  2. In the pop-up, select Use devices from metadata. Click OK.

  1. Click the Next button.
  2. In the Stop Criteria (4) step, select No actions performed on rule end.

  1. Click Finish. The new rule is created and Milestone XProtect is ready to send alarms via e-mail from U-alarm.

All done. Recipients will receive emails upon a triggered alarm.

Connector

Compatibility

Upgrade Connector from 1.0.0 to 1.0.1

  1. Close the Connector 1.0.0.

  2. Uninstall the Connector 1.0.0.

  3. Proceed to the next section.

    NOTE: The Connector cannot use windows credentials any more, therefore you must create a Basic User in Milestone XProtect with Administrator privileges.

Install

  1. Download U-alarm - Milestone XProtect Connector installer.
  2. Install it on the computer which runs Milestone XProtect.

Configure the Connector

  1. Open the connector service. Look for the connector's icon on your system tray.

    The connector icon indicates the following states:

    • Running (green)
    • Pending (yellow)
    • Stopped (red)

  2. Double click the icon in the system tray to open the Connector's settings.

  3. Port: The Connector uses port 10000 by default. Optionally you can set a different unused Port for the connector when the Server status is Stopped.:

    • Click the Stop Server button. This will enable the Port setting.

    • Set any other unused Port number.

NOTE: Please make sure your Windows Firewall on Connector's server is configured properly (enable communication through TCP 10000 port) or turned off.

NOTE: Remember the static IP address of this machine and the port you have set for it will be used in U-alarm later.

  1. Milestone URL: set the Milestone XProtect server's address.

  2. User and Password: set the Milestone XProtect credentials you have created before.

  1. Click the Start Server button. The Server status will change to Running.

  1. Everything is set. You can close the window - the service will continue running.

Additional information:

  • You can always stop or restart the service by right-clicking on the tray icon and selecting the Stop/Start server option.
  • To re-open the settings view to modify the connection or credential settings double click the tray icon.
  • On the settings view, you can always check the cameras registered to Milestone XProtect with their GUID. Click the Camera ID-s button for this list. Note that you must close and reopen the list dialog whenever you add (or remove) more cameras to Milestone XProtect.
  • You can configure an alarm time offset in seconds. The default value is -0.5 seconds.

U-alarm

Now U-alarm can be configured as described in the User's guide, with a few extra steps. Please come back to this article after you have finished setting up U-alarm.

Cameras

Each camera's Technical name in U-alarm should match its GUID in Milestone XProtect. Camera GUID's can be obtained from either the Connector or from Milestone XProtect.

How to get the GUID

Option 1: Get the GUID from the Connector
  1. Open the Connector.
  2. Click on the Camera ID-s button.

GUID

  1. Copy the GUID of the respective camera.

Note: In this version, the camera list cannot be refreshed unless you close and reopen the list's window.

  1. Paste it in U-alarm as the Technical name. Please create or update each camera setting in U-alarm accordingly.
Option 2: Get the GUID from Milestone XProtect
  1. In the Milestone XProtect Management Client, go to the Site Navigation panel => Cameras.

Note: This can be a little bit tricky so please follow this guide carefully.

  1. In the Devices panel, find the Cameras root node and click on it.
  2. Now (without clicking anywhere else) hold CTRL key and click on the specific camera.
  3. In the Properties panel on the right, under the Info tab, you will find the ID (GUID).

GUID

  1. Select the ID value and copy it to your clipboard.

Note: Make sure that you don't copy any leading or tailing spaces. It is recommended to create a note about these ID-s.

  1. Paste it in U-alarm as the Technical name. Please create or update each camera setting in U-alarm accordingly.

Alarms

  1. Edit an existing Alarm or create a new one in U-alarm.
  2. Enable HTTP client settings in the form by clicking on the switch.
  3. Set the Target url to the Connector's address using the location and the port you have memorized before, e.g. http://192.168.1.123:10000.
  4. Submit your settings.

Receiving alarms in Milestone XProtect

Alarms through the Alarm Manager

Whenever an Alarm is triggered by U-alarm, it should be visible in Milestone XProtect Smart Client under the Alarm Manager tab with annotations.

The metadata in the alarms:

  • Name: the name of the alarm in Milestone XProtect.
  • Message: U-alarm (cannot be changed).
  • Type: The name of the alarm in U-alarm.

Alarms via E-mail

Reciipents are receiving alarms according to the E-mail notification settings.

Troubleshooting

U-alarm Connector can not be started

  • Please make sure that the location of Milestone XProtect server is available
  • Please make sure that the Milestone XProtect credentials are correct and the user has Administrator privileges in Milestone XProtect.

Milestone XProtect does not receive Alarms from U-alarm

Please check whether the U-alarm Connector is

  • Running
    • If not, please start the Connector and make sure that it is in RUNNING state
  • Milestone XProtect credentials are set well in the Connector.
    • Please update the credentials if needed.
  • The window firewall is off or the communication is enabled so the location and the port is accessible for U-alarm.
    • If these settings are fine, it means that U-alarm Connector does not receive Alarms from U-alarm. Please proceed to the next issue.

U-alarm Connector does not receive Alarms from U-alarm

  • Please make sure that the network location of the connector is set well in U-alarm's Alarm.
  • Please double check that U-alarm camera's Technical name matches its GUID in Milestone XProtect.
  • Under the [Events] view in U-alarm please check whether U-alarm detects incidents. If you can not find a record recently it means U-alarm does not trigger Alarms. In this case please proceed to the next issue.

U-alarm does not trigger Alarms

  • Please double check the configuration of your Alarm in U-alarm especially the Sensitivity and the Filter Area (ROI) settings.
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