[1] The company started out selling a well-regarded series of enterprise digital PBX systems for data transmissions in the early 1980s,[2] before becoming a major vendor and OEM of modems, Ethernet network switches, and advanced serial communication cards in the 1990s.

Racal-Milgo announced their intent to move 40 miles north to Broward County in 1982, to the chagrin of Dambrackas and Cole, who did not want to relocate their families in order to keep their jobs.

Data PBXes were once common in non-IBM shops, but they were prone to collisions and became antiquated in the early 1980s amid rapid developments in Ethernet-based local area networking.

Nevertheless, some companies with wide area networks liked data PBXes due to their interoperability with older computer equipment and lower cost, compared to setting up newer cutting-edge Ethernet-based LANs.

[6]: 16 Equinox's data PBX in proved a hot-seller, the company gaining large corporations as customers;[13] among their clientele in 1985 Intel, Bell South, the University of Louisville, AT&T, Toys "R" Us, GTE, Chase Bank, and Sprint.

[16] The hurricane had ripped the roof off of Equinox's main building, flooding the administrative office, destroying 90 percent of its computer systems, and totaling $2 million worth of completed inventory.

[26] In November 2000, Avocent Corporation, a multinational data center equipment vendor headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, announced their acquisition of Equinox for $57 million.