Milestone Systems has announced significant advancements to its XProtect video management software (VMS) and BriefCam video analytics. The XProtect App Platform, a new containerised application platform for VMS, and a new BriefCam analytics engine are designed to deliver increased reliability, greater customisation, more efficient hardware utilisation, and full readiness for Generative AI and analytics, empowering security teams to stay ahead as demands evolve.
Cameras and sensors collect more data than ever before. Today, the challenge has shifted from capturing information to understanding it – and turning it into actionable insight. Surfacing the most urgent threats and the most valuable operational insights requires AI and analytics tools built for the scale of modern video.
Even as capabilities advance, integrating new functionality still requires time, expertise, and coordination. Even routine software updates introduce operational risk. The possibility of system downtime often forces security teams to delay the very innovations that would make their operations more effective.
For solution developers creating the next generation of VMS applications, building and distributing solutions across thousands of customer environments adds another layer of complexity.
Milestone has built its new solutions to address these challenges – without requiring customers to replace what already works.
Building the Future of Video Management with the XProtect App Platform
Milestone’s new XProtect App Platform is a component that brings the latest VMS applications – including solutions like AI, analytics, access control, and more – into a surveillance system without friction.
The XProtect App Platform amplifies existing infrastructure by enabling customers to unlock insight from new AI tools, customise their systems quickly and safely, and install updates without downtime.
Built on a Linux-based, containerised architecture, the platform runs alongside existing XProtect installations and extends what the system can do without changing how it operates. Because each application and service runs in its own container, isolated from the core VMS and from other apps, customers can install apps and updates without requiring a full system restart or disrupting live operations.
Delivering next-generation analytics that scale with BriefCam’s new engine
BriefCam’s engine has been redesigned to deliver scalable analytics capabilities – with significant improvements to real-time processing, scalability, and workflow efficiency. Thanks to better resource utilisation, users will see an improvement of 38%* in real-time throughput. All processing can be run on-premise, with no cloud dependencies.
The new engine enables investigators to translate witness statements into searches using plain language instead of filters, identify key moments to reduce review time and turn fragmented video into a connected narrative, and train BriefCam with custom categorisations to match their organisational needs.
Andrew Burnett, Chief Technology Officer, Milestone Systems, said:
“The rapid growth of AI in video security has created an urgent need for platforms that can keep pace. Together with our partners and customers, we are co-creating the next generation of our technology on our open platform foundation. The XProtect App Platform and the new BriefCam engine are two major steps forward – giving organisations the flexibility to adapt quickly and confidently, as well as powerful on-premise intelligence that doesn’t compromise data sovereignty or operational control.”
Innovation across the ecosystem: App Centre and Developer Portal
The XProtect App Platform runs applications from the Milestone App Centre — the home for applications developed by both Milestone and our technology partners. The App Centre enables customers to browse, test, and install verified applications that extend the capabilities of their XProtect VMS. This makes it easier to discover new functionality, add AI analytics, or test emerging innovations without risk to live operations.
To support this, Milestone is introducing a new set of tools for developers and technology partners across the ecosystem. The Milestone Developer Portal consolidates everything developers need to build applications for the open platform in one place — from idea to development to release — providing a single, simple path to reach Milestone customers worldwide. The portal will be generally available by the end of 2026.
The XProtect App Platform and the new BriefCam engine are available now for early access customers. General availability is currently planned for late 2026.
