History of Dalcon/Amplion
Dalcon International,
Inc. was founded by David L. Condra in 1978, and incorporated in 1979 in
Nashville Tennessee. The company initially did business as Nashville Computer
Center, subsequently changed the DBA to Dalcon Computer Systems in 1981.
The product focus of
the company was business computer systems designed to meet the needs of small
businesses. As an indication of how early Dalcon was in the Nashville market,
it was the first company to be listed under the then new Nashville Yellow Pages
listing, “Computers”.
Although personal
computers were just coming into businesses for use by individuals, Dalcon’s
focus was on systems to run an entire small company, which required multiple
simultaneous users accessing a common database, which was not then supported by
personal computers. Consequently, Dalcon based its solutions on the Alpha
Micro, which enabled the
development of multi-user application software such as would be required for a
business that had a number of people needing to access common data, such as
Order processing, Inventory Billing, Accounts Receivable, Payable, Payroll,
General Ledger. This allowed the Alpha Micro to compete with Minicomputers of
the time such as DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation), DG (Data
General), Wang, and IBM
System 34/36, at a cost often
80-90% less than those Minicomputers.
During the early 80s
Dalcon grew rapidly as a developer of solutions for wholesale distributors and
medical clinics. In 1985 it was ranked #330 on the INC
500 list of fastest growing
companies in America.
In 1986 Dalcon
acquired its local competitor, the Basic
Four division of Endata,
and became the distributor of Basic Four computers in the region, primarily
expanding its base of wholesale distribution customers.
In 1986, Dalcon
created a new subsidiary, Dalcon Desktop Systems. This division was focused on
providing Apple Macintosh-based pre-press graphic and layout systems to publishers such
as newspapers, magazines, and other print content producers. As such, Dalcon
became the first authorized dealer of Macintosh products in the country that
was not a retail computer store. In addition to Macintosh and Compugraphic imagesetters it sold, the company also
provided proprietary software, consulting services and training in the use of
the systems and software allowing use of Macintosh for pre-press work.
In 1988 Dalcon introduced
its ICIS (Imaging Center Information System) for the fast growing new industry
of Outpatient Diagnostic Imaging Centers which were being rapidly built around
the country. Over the next ten years, ICIS became the dominant enterprise
software for imaging centers with over a third of the US market. Dalcon sold
that division of the company to Medical Resources Inc, in 1998.
During the period from
1992 to 1994 Dalcon joined forces with Zortec to pursue an open-systems initiative in the
world of 4GL languages to jointly develop and market the language System Z.
In the early 90s
Dalcon moved its technology from proprietary computer systems like Alpha Micro
and Basic Four to open systems based on the UNIX operating system, and PC networks and
continued to focus its efforts on wholesale distribution and imaging centers.
In 2006 Dalcon sold
its wholesale distribution systems business to focus exclusively on the new and
rapid growth technology VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Again
building on open systems technology, it developed and marketed a complete VOIP
system based on UNIX and Asterisk. Dalcon continued to expand its market with
this product into Hospitals in 2009 where it provided specialized VOIP phone
systems for healthcare, including wireless phones for nurses integrated into
the system for voice and messaging.
In 2010 Dalcon
introduced its Dalcon Alert product. A proprietary device that installed in
patient rooms to provide specialized communication of medical device alarms and
care reminders to the nurse wireless phones. As interest and demand for this
product grew, Dalcon elected to focus exclusively on communication in hospitals
and its Dalcon Alert product and in 2012 rebranded the product and changed the
company name to Amplion.
In 2015 Amplion
expanded its Amplion Alert product to encompass complete Nurse Call system
functionality and received its UL 1069 listing for Nurse Call in June of 2015.
External Links
Dalcon changes its
name to Amplion.
Internet
Telephony Magazine Product of the year award
Links/References about
ICIS
Dalcon rebrands as
Amplion
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