difficult to write CTI-enabled application software. The need for a standardized cross-vendor CTI call model and supporting protocol was becoming apparent. A group of computer and telecommunications equipment vendors interested in this problem approached the European Computer Manufacturers’ Association (now simply known as ECMA) with a proposal to undertake this standardization. The proposal was accepted and Robert Roden, an architect from the Digital Equipment technical team, was chosen as convenor (chairperson) for the standards work. Phase I (the first edition) of CSTA was released in 1992. The CSTA standard has since progressed through several editions, incorporating technologies such as voice response and XML. Each Phase of the CSTA standard includes both a call model as well as a recommended set of communication protocols. See for more information about the early work on CTI standards. The initial CTI software from Digital Equipment supported only VAX computers running the VMS operating system both as the server providing the telephone system interconnection and as application clients. Support for Digital's ULTRIX operating system was later added. But during the early 1990s, personal desktop computers became more pervasive in corporate computing environments. Digital Equipment responded to this trend by releasing Pathworks, a networking suite that allowed IBM-compatible PCs and Apple Macintosh computers to participate in a DECnet network. The Digital Equipment CIT team built on this platform and released a PC-based version of the CIT client that supported applications written for the Microsoft Windows operating system. The Windows desktop environment offered easier integration between business applications and telephone functions via the Microsoft Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) mechanism, since many off-the-shelf PC applications and development platforms supported the DDE interface. Dialogic Acquires Digital's Technology and Team In 1995, Digital Equipment sold the CIT product line to Dialogic Corporation, which was then the leader in server-scale telephone interfaces for the PC form factor. Digital's CIT management staff and most of the development team moved to Dialogic with the sale, forming a new 'CT Division' within Dialogic and maintaining the product’s momentum. Dialogic converted the product from its original proprietary Digital Equipment hardware and software platform to an industry standard platform based on personal computer hardware and the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. The resulting product, rechristened CT-Connect, was released by Dialogic in August, 1995. (The hyphen was dropped from the name in later releases.) Dialogic Acquired by Intel In 1999, Intel acquired Dialogic and all of