What is Milestone Care and why is it important?

Please note this is now an old post. Please find the updated information on Milestone Care here.

Many feel that Milestone Care is an unnecessary added cost; in this post, I am going to explain what Care is and why it is beneficial for you and your system.

What is Milestone Care?

Milestone Care is a complete service and support program that takes care of your product throughout its lifetime.

Similar to their VMS products there are different options when it comes to Care, these options are:

• Basic
• Plus
• Premium
• Elite

Care Basic is a free service that is provided with all Milestone products. As per the title ‘basic’ this service has some limitations. With Care Basic you will get access to the extensive Milestone eCare Portal which is a self-help universe filled with online guides, chat assistance and a user forum.

Care Plus contains all the features of Care Basic with some added extras intended to future proof your system. Care Plus includes:

• Instant access to product updates three times annually
• Access to Milestone Customer Dashboard
• 100% trade-in discount when upgrading
• Exclusive online features such as push notifications and Smart Connect

Use Care Plus when you want to protect your investment.

Care Premium again builds upon the services in Basic and Plus and includes:

• Direct 24/7 access to a global team of Milestone Technical support engineers
• A service-level agreement with committed response time
• Prioritised support to promptly address critical system issues
• Localised support in select markets based on availability

Use Care Premium when you need 24/7 direct technical support.

Care Elite features all the services in Basic, Plus and Premium but gives you more specialist services which include:

• Customised service-level agreement defining the exact level of support your business requires
• Direct and prioritised access to Milestone Technical Support 24/7 with committed resolution objectives
• A dedicated Milestone Technical Account Manager with extensive knowledge of your installation

Use Care Elite when you need a dedicated technical account manager.

​	Basic​	Plus​	Premium ​	Elite ​
Self-help support​	✓​	✓​	✓​	✓​
E-Learning​	✓​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Chat support​	✓​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Knowledge base​	✓​	✓​	✓​	✓​
User Forum​	✓​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Access to new device driver packs ​	✓​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Access to new product versions​	-​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Reseller access to Customer Dashboard​	-​	✓​	✓​	✓​
100% trade-in credit when upgrading​	-​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Push notifications and Smart Connect ​	-​	✓​	✓​	✓​
Direct Technical email and phone support 24/7/365​	-​	-​	✓​	✓​
Case Management Tool​	-​	-​	✓​	✓​
Localised support available in selected markets​	-​	-​	✓​	✓​
Committed response times​	-​	-​	✓​	✓​
Committed resolution times​	-​	-​	-​	✓​
Dedicated technical account manager​	-​	-​	-​	✓​
Known issues list​	-​	-​	-​	✓​

We recommend Care Plus with all Milestone purchases of XProtect VMS. If you are already a customer of ours you will know we are big fans of keeping up to date with the latest software versions and Milestone is no exception, which is why we recommend purchasing Care Plus and keeping on top of the renewal of this to enable constant access to the latest software version.

If you have any questions or want any further information please contact me or a member of the team at info@use-ip.co.uk.