This is a quick start guide to the Milestone Management Client and Smart Client. It is not extensive and not written to replace Milestone’s own documentation, but some of the more common requirements are noted here for ease.
Milestone’s own documentation is very good and available here
Accessing the System
There are three ways of accessing the Milestone system. Xprotect Management Client, Xprotect Smart Client and Xprotect Web Client.
Xprotect Management Client is the overall system and server manager, so limited user will have access to this. It is currently installed on the Milestone CCTV server and is accessed from the Desktop over a remote desktop connection. If you require this, you will need to speak to Garry and IT, and your login will still need to be assigned to a Role that can administer the system.
The Xprotect Smart Client is Windows software used to access the system and is the best way of reviewing live and recorded footage. The Smart Client is a better user experience but can only be used from the security network, or for a Remote Desktop Connection to the server. If you require the RDP file to connect, please contact IT.
Xprotect Web Client is and HTML based viewer designed for quick access to the system. It is not as feature-rich as the Smart Client and can be laggy when reviewing records. Your login needs to be assigned to Role that has access to the Web Client, and you should then be able to access is at http://10.21.13.29:8081/ assuming you are on a network that can access it. again, you may need to check with IT.
Logging in to the Web Viewer
Access is at http://10.21.13.29:8081/ Your login needs to be assigned to Role that has access to the Web Client. The web client can be accessed from any of the CT networks on your own laptop. It is fine for finding and reviewing footage but does not have an export function.
Logging in to SmartClient and Management Client
These two softwares are only available by Remote Desktop Connection to the CCTV server. IT can provide the RDP file needed to connect. Once connected, there are shortcuts to them on the Desktop, and you can log into both using your username and password, as long as you have the permission to log in.
The Smart Client will be the day-to-day software you use, allowing you to review and export footage and set up custom multiviews. This is a shortcut on the Desktop for ease of access.
The Management Client is the underlying control of the server, managing the cameras themselves, users, permissions and password resets.
Creating New Multiviews in Xprotect Smart Client
To create new multiviews, your login needs to be assigned to a Role that has Client setup enabled, and at least has the Read permission applied to the cameras or camera groups you want to use. You will also need either Live view or Playback permissions in the Device tab to be able to view video.
Click Setup in the top right of the Smart Client window. This will highlight various parts of the window in yellow. In the Views section of the left-hand menu, select the folder you want to build your new multiview in. The Private folder is private to your login, only you will see this multiview. The folders below this are shared with all users assigned permissions to view that View Group. Click the Create New View icon and select the style of layout you want to use. The name will default so edit this to something friendly.
To populate your new view with cameras, expand the UUKCCTV folder in System Overview, then simply drag and drop the camera (or group of cameras) onto the multiview. Again, you will need Read permissions to the devices to see them in the list, and at least one of either Live or Playback permissions to get video from the camera. Once you are happy with the layout, click the Setup button again to exit the setup screen. If you have created your multiview in a shared View Group, all users with that permission will be able to use your newly created multiview.
Adding a New User to an Existing Role
To allow a someone to log in, they need both a Basic User account, and that account has to be assigned to a Role so the system knows what permission to apply. This can only be done via the Xprotect Management Client, there is no option for user management in the Smart Client viewer.
From the left-hand menu, expand the Security folder if it isn’t already, right click on Basic Users and select Create Basic User.
For consistency, set their username to be their CT email address, set a basic password and ensure the change password checkbox is left ticked, forcing the user to change their password at first login.
Now the Basic User has been created, they need to be assigned a Role. Select Roles from the Security folder in the left-hand menu.
Select an appropriate Role from the list. All the roles have descriptions of what permissions are applied, or what users can do to save you having to trawl though all the settings.
Once you have chosen a suitable group, select the Users and Groups tab from the bottom of the right-hand pane. Click the Add button and select Basic User. Tick the checkbox next to the user(s) you want to add to the Role and click OK.
Resetting Passwords
This can only be done via the Xprotect Management Client, there is no option for user management in the Smart Client viewer.
From the left-hand menu, expand the Security folder if it isn’t already, and click on Basic Users.
Select the user from the list and check the Force Basic User to change password on next login box
Creating New Roles (and editing them)
This can only be done via the Xprotect Management Client. The permissions structure is very granular so not all permissions are covered here. Often it is useful to create a dummy Basic User, apply the permissions to your new Role and test them out by logging in as the dummy user.
From the left-hand menu, expand the Security folder it it isn’t already, and right click on Roles. Select Add Role. Give the Role a good descriptive name and put in as much detail as you can in the description. You can always edit the name and description later.
At the bottom of the right-hand pane are 17 tabs, each has a lot of settings within them that define the permissions for the Role. It’s good practice to work through them one-by-one, though many are not applicable to the CT system. we will only cover the applicable ones here.
Info – Name and description will have been filled in already, but you can edit those here. The four checkboxes are important. Do you want the users assigned to this role to be able to log in to: the Smart Client (yes, almost certainly), the Mobile Client (no, it’s not set up and why would users be reviewing on their phones), the Web Client (probably yes, even though the experience isn’t as good as the software. Leave the final checkbox blank. If you check this, when a user logs in they will be held at a pre-login state until an administrator permits them into the system.
Users and Groups – covered above, but this where you apply the Roles to users.
Overall Security – For most new Roles, there will be no need for users do do anything to the system. In this tab, everything should be unchecked in all the settings (which is the default) with the exception of the Connect option under Management Server. This option permits the user to connect to the server via the Smart Client so it needs to be enabled.
Devices – This tab decides which cameras the Role can access, and whether they can view them live or not. Cameras can exist in multiple Groups so some of the folder will show as partially ticked, displayed as a black square in the checkbox, rather than a tick. Don’t worry too much about the appearance of this, just select the permissions you want as by default new Roles are created with no camera permissions.
You can expand Groups to see the cameras contained within them. If you select a folder as shown in the screenshot, the permissions will apply to all cameras in that Group. Alternatively, you can select individual cameras and apply permissions to a single device. These are the permissions that affect what a user can see and do when the log in to the Smart Client
Read: Allows the user to see that the camera exists. It appears as a name in the navigation menu but they cannot access it, the live video or the records. So regardless of what permissions are set beyond this, this must be enabled for the user to have access to it.
View Live: Allows the user to view the live video feed of the camera or Group.
Playback: Allows users to view recorded footage for the camera or Group. this permission does not require View Live so users can be set up to only review footage, not see live feeds. A time limit can also be imposed, so users can only view records back as far as the limit you set.
Read Sequences: this option populates recorded events into the Smart Client timeline. This allows for easier searching of events and is probably going to be enabled for anyone who has playback access.
Smart Search: This is not a feature we have enabled. Milestone is able to process records and automatically tag records as having movement, person, vehicle etc within it.
Export: allows a user to export video recordings on the camera or Group they have access to.
Start/Stop Manual Recording: By default Milestone is motion activated. Enabling this options allows a user to start and stop a record manually on the cameras they have access to. As we don’t have CCTV operators constantly watching the system, it’s unlikely this will ever be useful.
Client: This is a simple checklist of what you want this Role to be able to do in the Smart Client.
Enabling Live makes the Live button appear at the bottom of the Smart Client window. The Role would still need permission to view the cameras Live on the Devices tab. Browse has the opposite effect, completely disabling the Playback button in the Smart Client. Setup enables the Setup function in the Smart Client, giving access to View Group (multiview setup)
View Groups: View Groups act as multiviewers for the cameras. Users who have SmartClient Setup permission can create and edit View Groups to allow for quick access to cameras. View Group are linked to Roles to give more flexibility, and any Views created by a Smart Client admin would appear for all users with permission to that View Group. As our use-case is quite simple, it’s easier just to give permissions to the corresponding Role ie, the Warehouse Reviewers Role gets access to the Warehouse Reviewers View Group.
Checking Read will display the View Group in that users Smart Client so they can open it and view the cameras. Edit allows the Role to rename and change cameras in the multiview, Delete is delete and Operate allows the creation of new multiviews. These three permissions will only be useful to a Role if they are given permission to Setup in the Client tab (see above).
Roles will still need permission to the cameras displayed in the View Group otherwise the videos will appear with an availability or permission warning. For example, if you gave the Prep Area Reviewers Role permission to Read the Warehouse Reviewer View Group, you would also have to give the Prep Areas Reviewer Role access to the relevant cameras in the Devices tab.
Device Groups
Device Groups allow administrators to create logical sets of cameras to make permissions easier to manage. Cameras can belong to more than one Device Group at a time. To edit a Device Group, expand Devices in the left-hand menu and select Cameras. right-click on the Device Group you want to edit, and click on Edit Device Group members. From the pop-up window, select the camera you want to add from the left-hand column and click Add, or select the camera you want to remove from the right-hand column and click Remove.
Creating a new Device Group follows the same process, just select Add Device Group from the menu when you right-click. Once created, it will appear in the Devices tab when you are editing Roles, so you can quickly add permissions for a group of camera.
Exporting Records
Exporting records can only be done through Xprotect Smart Client and requires your login to have export permissions.
Log in to the server over a Remote Desktop session (see Logging in to SmartClient and Management Client)
Open the XProtect Smart Client from the shortcut on the Desktop and log in using your credentials.
If you only need to export the video from one cameras, skip to the next step. If you need to export multiple cameras it is easier to create a temporary multiview in your private folder using the instructions above.
It’s often easier to find the dates and times you want to export in the normal Views screen, taking note of the timestamp for the next step.
Click Exports at the top of the screen, and select your camera or multiview from the Add item… drop-down. Next to each camera in the list is a start and end time. Click on these one-by-one and select the date and time to start and end each camera export. Make sure you click the GoTo button each time you set the date and time stamp to save it. In most cases all cameras will have the same start and end time but there is no way to set all these at once.
There are three types of export but for flexibility and security we recommend you always use the Export as XProtect format. Although this is only compatible with Windows PCs, it includes a standalone version of the Smart Client, password protects the videos and prevents re-exporting of the videos. Click on Export Settings and ensure ‘Prevent re-export’ and ‘Encrypt with Password’ are selected.
Click Create Export. Give the export a name, and an optional description if required. Choose where you want to save the export and click Export. You will be prompted to create a password for the videos. This password cannot be recovered at a later date, if it’s forgotten you will have to create the export again.
The export creates a folder with various folders and files inside it. The complete folder s required for the SmartClient-Player to work. If sharing the export with others it’s easier to zip the folder up (right-click -> Send to -> Compressed (zipped) folder) and share that.
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