BriefCam Release Notes

June 2025

Analytics

A new Home dashboard was introduced allowing users to switch between different home page versions tailored for specific use cases (Customer Experience, Operations, Safe City, Transportation). Administrators can configure the environment setting to set a default use case (RESEARCH.DefaultUseCase), ensuring a streamlined experience based on user needs. These updates enhance usability, customization, and efficiency, making navigation and analysis faster and more intuitive for users.

RESEARCH

Analytics

BriefCam is now running the latest version of Qlik (May 2024) to ensure security updates. This new version includes enhanced design capabilities and the option to preload both Aggregated and Detailed apps, which will benefit some customers.

RESEARCH

Analytics

Aggregated Dashboard Enhancements: The BriefCam User Guide now includes frequently used expressions for aggregated dashboards, in addition to detailed dashboards. Visual layers, previously only in default detailed dashboards, are now added to several default aggregated dashboards, enhancing user experience with more granular data visualization. External data will now be added to the Aggregated app, extending support previously available for the Detailed app only. These enhancements aim to make aggregated dashboards the preferred choice for users, as hour-level dashboards aggregate data from all captured objects within each hour, significantly reducing storage consumption for longer retention periods (spanning years), optimizing RAM usage, and reducing overall hardware costs, making it a more cost-effective and scalable solution for long-term data storage and analysis.

RESEARCH

Analytics

To simplify data handling, external data is now uploaded to BriefCam’s RESEARCH module using CSV files, the most common upload format.

RESEARCH

Analytics

The Insight Advisor is disabled by default to improve memory resources.

RESEARCH

Infrastructure

The Map view, previously available only in the REVIEW module, is now also accessible within the RESPOND module. This allows users to visualize alerts based on their source location, enabling quicker understanding of incident locations and faster response times. This feature integrates with MapBox’s map service (a pay-as-you-go service with a free usage cap of 50K monthly map loads and 100K monthly searches, typically sufficient for most BriefCam uses – https://www.mapbox.com/pricing ).

Administrative

Infrastructure

Administrators can now log into the BriefCam client (https://[server name or IP address]/app) using their administrator credentials to access the completely revamped Sync to VMS mechanism. This marks the first step in merging the BriefCam Administrator Console into the BriefCam client. Additionally, administrators can disable the drag-and-drop functionality in the client using the new clientDisableDragAndDrop environment setting.

Documentation

Infrastructure

The BriefCam documentation is now available at doc.milestonesys.com, offering users the ability to easily search for content and create custom PDFs directly from the portal for enhanced flexibility and convenience.

UI Enhancements

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

In the REVIEW module, the VIDEO SYNOPSIS list is now sorted by the number of objects (high to low) when filters are applied, enabling quicker identification of relevant synopses for a specific search. In addition, a VIDEO SYNOPSIS with Scene filters appears before a VIDEO SYNOPSIS without Scene filters.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Item counters are now displayed in the footer of every screen in the UI, providing quick visibility into the number of rules, sources, cameras, and cases.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The UI is now available in Czech.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

BriefCam now supports license plate recognition (LPR) of Saudi Arabian license plates, including both Arabic and Latin alphabets.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Multiple network files can now be simultaneously uploaded using a new checkbox, with administrators able to control the number of simultaneous uploads via the new FolderUploadMaxFiles environment setting (defaulting to 5,000 files).

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The YY/MM/DD date format is also now supported.

Next Generation Engine

Analytics

RedHat 8.10 is now the officially supported version of RedHat for the OX6 engine.

Next Generation Engine

Analytics

A new service, CommonPlatformAPI, has been introduced to supply the OX6 engine and Linux services with essential data for execution. For upgrades, this service is automatically configured to run alongside the Notification Service.

Next Generation Engine

Analytics

Minor time differences between the server and Linux are now tolerated, which enhances the reliability of OX6 installations.

Next Generation Engine

Infrastructure

The process of creating custom classes has been moved to the BriefCam client, offering a more user-friendly experience. Class management is now performed directly from the BriefCam client, eliminating the previous limit of three classes and removing the need for scripts during class training. Additionally, aggregated charts can now be generated based on these custom classes, and users can filter dashboards by a custom class and its opposite (e.g., “yellow taxis” and “not yellow taxis”).

Functionality Improvements

Infrastructure

.NET 8 has replaced .NET Core 3.1, while existing .NET versions (4.7.2 and 2.0) remain in use.

Functionality Improvements

Infrastructure

Redis has been removed, with in-memory caching now managed by PostgreSQL in-memory tables.

Functionality Improvements

Infrastructure

The RESEARCH database and installer have been enhanced to further support secure connections.

Functionality Improvements

Infrastructure

The RESEARCH backup and export BI tools have been improved.

Functionality Improvements

Infrastructure

To better support split QVD files, the maintenance process now includes automatic deletion of detailed data files, with a default retention period of 30 days for detailed information in the RESEARCH module.

Functionality Improvements

Infrastructure

Visual artifacts are now stored more efficiently on the file system; the maintenance process no longer needs to cycle through numerous folders to delete task-related artifacts. This improvement is enabled by the new CameraBasedStorage.MigrationTime environment setting (enabled by default) and a new “CameraBased” type for the BlobStorage.PathProviderType setting. Users can revert to the previous data structure by setting BlobStorage.PathProviderType to “Hierachical” and adjusting CameraBasedStorage.MigrationTime to a future date.

Functionality Improvements

September 2024

Integration

Qognify VMS 7.4 (OX6) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

Qognify Ocularis 6.1 SP1 (OX5) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

Qognify NiceVision 3.2 UP2 (OX5) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

Milestone 2023 R2 (OX5 and OX6) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

lss SecurOS 11.8 (OX5) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

Intellicene Symphia 8.0 (OX5 and OX6) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

Genetec 5.11.3 (OX5 and OX6) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Integration

CASD VisiMAX NVR-RTSP 9.10 (OX5) is certified for BriefCam 2024 R2 HF4.

VMS Integration

Infrastructure

The Ada L4 GPU is now certified to work with BriefCam.

Performance

Infrastructure

Next-Gen environments now support deployment on RedHat 8.9.

Next Generation Engine

Integration

With a Genetec integration, by default, BriefCam uses the live stream for all cameras. You can now change the stream type for individual cameras or globally.

VMS Integration

Integration

You can now connect multiple Genetec Media Gateways to BriefCam to share the load of managing your cameras.

VMS Integration

April 2024

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The Upgrade button is disabled for the PostgreSQL, Web Services, and Server installers.

Installers

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Crowd Counting cameras are not suitable for the Instant REVIEW mode with full assets.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Disabling Crowd Counting on a camera will turn existing Crowd Counting rules into People Counting rules.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Enabling Crowd Counting on a camera will cause existing rules to stop sending alerts.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Only the Area filter is available with the Crowd Counting filter.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

To optimize the Crowd Counting network, all other networks are now disabled for cameras using the Crowd Counting feature.

Next Generation Engine

April 2024

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The following GPUs have undergone thorough testing and certification by BriefCam, accompanied by throughput benchmarking conducted by our organization: NVIDIA Ampere A10, NVIDIA Ampere RTX A2000, NVIDIA Ampere RTX A4000, NVIDIA Ampere RTX4080 Ada, and NVIDIA Ada L4

Performance

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The database’s data structure was enhanced resulting in improved performance for the Appearance Similarity filter and reduced disk space usage.

Performance

Infrastructure

The startup time for the VIDEO SYNOPSIS® was enhanced by tens of percentage points, depending on the number of objects.

Performance

Integration

To support accounts with over 100 real-time cameras, BriefCam now supports multiple Milestone RTSP bridges.

VMS Integration

Integration

March Networks Integration was now enhanced and works with March Networks CES.

VMS Integration

Integration

When working with IndigoVision version 19.1 and above BriefCam now supports the following v19.2 SDKs, which are both installed as part of the IndigoVision plugin.

VMS Integration

Integration

Using the new Management Client for Milestone plugin, non-administrator users (and not just administrator users) can log into the Milestone system and see BriefCam.

VMS Integration

Integration

To better enable troubleshooting issues with the Milestone embedded client, BriefCam will display information about the error encountered (and not just display a white screen) and a dedicated log is now available to help troubleshoot these errors.

VMS Integration

Infrastructure

The NGINX installer exposes less ports than in previous versions for multi-site environments.

Security Improvements

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The site name is now automatically synced from the Hub to the site every five minutes (by default). Therefore, you no longer need to define a site name in the Hub. This improvement helps avoid connectivity problems and misunderstandings, facilitating a more streamlined experience for the administrator and the user.

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

There are now two types of Hub licenses: Nexus Free and Nexus Premium. With the free license, the Hub can be used to view aggregated alerts from all sites. The premium license adds the ability to view aggregated RESEARCH data from sites.

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

You can now save a view of filters that you set for the Hub’s Sites tab.

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

A new aggregated dashboard was added for Hub environments: Bank Trends.

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The Next-Gen engine and the backend communicate using RabbitMQ instead of the Mosquitto MQTT broker.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The Next-Gen engine is no longer orchestrated by Kubernetes but rather by the new Host Controller service.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The Next-Gen installation has been enhanced and now only requires running one script.

Next Generation Engine

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The RabbitMQ installer was improved.

Installers

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The installer will deploy PostgreSQL database version 15.5 both for new installations and upgrades. Upgrades may take some time, because data is exported from the old to the new database.

Installers

Infrastructure

For the BriefCam version without Face Recognition, remnants of the Face Recognition feature that were non-functional but remained in the BriefCam Administrator Console were removed.

Administrative

Infrastructure

For all service templates, the following services are now turned off by default: Milestone SSO Provider, Telemetry Service, Push Alert Service, and DataAnalyticsService.

Administrative

Infrastructure

The OX5 GPUs and OX6 GPUs screens were merged into one GPUs screen.

Administrative

Analytics

You can now manually enter GIS coordinates for outdoor cameras for use by the new Maps view and for Fast Track.

REVIEW

Analytics

There are now 20 CustomVAR environment settings instead of three to be used in custom dashboards.

RESEARCH

Analytics

New measures were added for aggregated dashboards including number of people with and without handheld bags, number of new and returning unique identities, and crowd counting measures.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

A new aggregated dashboard was added for Hub environments: Bank Trends. For additional information, see the Nexus Multi-Site Improvements section below.

BriefCam Nexus

Analytics

Two new aggregated dashboards were added: Crowd Management and Intersection Analysis.

RESEARCH

Analytics

Improved people detector, especially for people at greater distances.

Accuracy

Analytics

Improved person similarity, accompanied by a reduction in feature vector length to expedite the matching process.

Accuracy

Analytics

Enhanced geometry estimation for improved accuracy.

Accuracy

Infrastructure

The Make & Model Recognition (VMMR) is now available in the Windows-based OX5 engine, complementing its existing support on the Linux-based Next Gen (OX6) engine.

Functionality Improvements

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Dynamic GPU Allocation is now available by assigning a processing weight to GPUs and their cameras so that they are not over-utilized by rules or oversized to accommodate for high resolution cameras.

Performance

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

BriefCam’s Next-Gen engine now includes a specific crowd count capability to provide more accurate estimations of crowds when there are groups of more than 50 people. Crowd counting can be used via RESPOND alerts or a dedicated RESEARCH dashboard.

Next Generation Engine

Analytics

BriefCam now includes a Map view in REVIEW cases. In the Map view, case and non-case cameras and files are displayed on a map with easy access to the detected objects and quick addition of cameras to the case. Note that this feature is enabled by integrating with MapBox’s map service.

REVIEW

February 2024

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

You can now convert an existing environment into a Site and the Site’s alerts and BI data will be sent to the Hub. The conversion is done by running the update_siteid_for_research.bat script.

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The maximum default duration of closeup clips was changed from 20 to 60 seconds. This value can be changed using the OX6.CloseupClipMaxDurationSec environment setting.

Next Generation Engine

December 2023

Infrastructure

The Fetching mechanism was enhanced to address issues with aging Fetching tasks.

Performance

Integration

The BriefCam plugins and documentation now reflect the company name of Verint to Intellicence. Note that the company name was originally changed from Verint to Cognyte.

VMS Integration

Integration

To optimize the BriefCam license usage, the Milestone embedded client will now attempt to login into BriefCam only when the user selects the BriefCam tab (called the “Rapid REVIEW” tab in some versions) in the Milestone XProtect Smart Client and not when the Milestone XProtect Smart Client is launched.

VMS Integration

Integration

A new L2A integration was released with March Networks Recorder (CRS) 6.70. The integration was tested and certified for use with the Windows-based (OX5) engine and Linux-based Next-Gen (OX6) engine.

VMS Integration

Integration

Dallmeier SeMSy 5 was tested and certified for use with the Linux-based Next-Gen (OX6) engine.

VMS Integration

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

For use in multi-site environments, you can set time zones for cameras for use in the RESPOND module.

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

To save resources on the machine where the Rendering service is running, the temp path where case reports are downloaded to (Windows temp folder) can be changed. This is done in the Cache.CacheRoot environment setting in the Rendering Service type.

Performance

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The ability to lock out users after server unsuccessful login attempts is also now supported for administrator users.

Administrative

Analytics

The new UploadFileFormatsConvertMp4 environment setting was added to help solve cases where the uploading of files fails.

REVIEW

Integration

The Sync to VMS functionality has been improved. The cameras are now identified by their names and not the external ID, Therefore, if you change a camera’s name, you need to redefine and reactivate the camera.

VMS Integration

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

A BriefCam version where Face Recognition is only available in the REVIEW module based on the specific license is available.

Compliance

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

A BriefCam version where Face Recognition is deactivated and excluded from the user interface is available.

Compliance

Analytics

It is now possible to know when an object enters and exits an area and not just when the object enters and exits a camera. This functionality is available using the Avg. Duration in Custom Dimensions measure.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Aggregated dashboards can now be built using average dwell time and speed.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Additional dimensions related to sites were added to the Hub dashboards (such as Site’s name, city, state, country, and type).

BriefCam Nexus

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The Aggregated dashboards are now the default view for new customers. When upgrading to 2024 M1, the default view is still the Detailed dashboards.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

BriefCam is now running Qlik Sense (May 2022) with Patch 16, which addresses a number of Qlik security vulnerabilities.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

The main Qlik QVD file, which contains data about the extracted objects, is no longer one single file, but rather one new QVD file is created each day. This significantly improves the performance of the RESEARCH module.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

You can now use a preset defined in the REVIEW module when creating a RESEARCH custom dimension.

RESEARCH

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Users defined as data managers, can now export or delete objects from the database directly from a case, in addition to this functionality from within the Data Manager tab. When the data manager selects objects in a case, there are two additional icons for exporting and deleting.

UI Enhancements

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

Clicking anywhere on a row selects the row, compared to having to select the row’s checkbox like in previous versions.

UI Enhancements

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

You can now right-click on text in tables and an action menu will open. This includes the ability to copy text.

UI Enhancements

Installation, Configuration, and Scalability

You can copy the text from many areas in the UI, such as the source name or time range by hovering over the name and clicking the copy icon.

UI Enhancements