Video conferencing was first introduced in 1964 at the New York world fair, when AT&T presented the world's first picture phone. This allowed two people to communicate and simultaneously see each other on their phone screens. In the beginning stages of video conferencing, T1, ATM and ISDN lines were mostly used but were only common for room-based video conferencing.

Initially these lines were quite expensive and operational difficulties such as bad pictures and sounds caused this idea to not go as far as it could. As the internet became more a part of people's everyday lives video conferencing started being conducted differently with computer-to-computer networking. The TCP/IP connections of the Internet were found to be less expensive and was able to hold more information. By 2003, high-speed Internet access became available widespread at a very minimal cost, as well as the cost of web cameras and display technology. An individual is now able to do a video conference in High-Definition which was first introduced in 2005 and the fastest ever. The picture quality is more clear and crisp also, the audio is synchronized providing a higher quality and more effective and enjoyable experience. A conference in High-Definition gives a wider presentation angle which enables more conference participants to be on camera and fully engaged in what's going on. Having this life like experience has completely changed the outlook of these conferences. Many would mock the technology and doubted that it would ever be turned into a viable form of communication. This was due to the low quality of picture and the delay of sound. For many years it seemed that there would be no comparison between video calls and telephone calls as the ease of information transfer were not too dissimilar. It is also good for the transmission of high-resolution content, such as charts or photographs with amazing detail and clarity. These events are more enjoyable and memorable when the material on the screen can be seen without causing eye strain. Plus, the clear images along with the smooth motion makes sign language easy to follow for hearing-impaired conference participants. The high-definition technology makes the quality and range of information communicated through video conferences a more valuable communication product for everyone.

With modern day technologies it is possible to rely solely on standard PC servers and desktops to accomplish boardroom-quality conferencing, but this same technology enables us to go above and beyond. Even though hardware-based systems are still available today, the whole process has become more wonderfully complex than ever before. Nonetheless, the concept is the same but over time the transmission has changed.