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A Historical Timeline of Videoconferencing in the College of Medicine

Endpoint System Types
1993
- Sun SparcStation (Unix-based processor) used on an ATM switch network (pre-h.323 standard) with Communique! software

1996
- Sun UltraSparc (Unix-based processor) used on an ATM switch network

1999
- Intel/PictureTel TeamStation 5.0 (Windows NT-based system) used on a Microsoft network introduced

2001
- PictureTel (later Polycom) Ipower 900 series (Windows 2000 based system) used on a Microsoft network introduced

2003
- Polycom Ipower 600 series (Windows 2000 based system) used on a Microsoft network introduced

2004
- Polycon ViewStation F/X introduced

2005
- Polycom VSX series introduced

2008
- Polycom HDX series, high definition capable systems were introduced

2013
- Cisco SX20 cart systems and Cisco C60 room systems introduced

2014
- Cisco SX-10 systems introduced

Multipoint Conferencing Bridge, Gateway and Recording Infrastructure
Hardware to create a multi-point (more than 2 sites) conference, to connect to external sites using IP or ISDN stnadards and to manage content was accomplished with the following:

1993
- On the ATM network a decicated SunSparc Station connected to a VideoFlyer with ISDN capabilites was used to convert audio and video from one network to the other. The conversion was digital to anlalog to digital.

1999
- After moving to a Windows network, a PictureTel 220 ISDN Gateway and a PictureTel 330 Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU) were used.

2003
- A Radvision MCU/Gatway system was used. This system was built on a single PC server.

2005
- A Polyocm MGC-50 48 port MCU, PathNavigator, GMS and Gateway solution was deployed, giving the ability to perform and manage multipoint conferences.

2013
- With HD prolifereating the video world the Cisco TelePresence MCU (TANDBERG Codian MSE 8510), Cisco VCS Expressway (for ease of in and out dialing), and the Cisco Content Server recording/streaming solutions were deployed.

2018
- Zoom implemented for all faculty, professional staff and students at Drexel University for desktop to desktop videoconference meetings and integration with our existing room videoconferencing systems.