1. A service gateway residing in a server at a head end operator for providing communication between a plurality of service providers and a plurality of applications running on a plurality of head end operator client devices comprising: a server for communication between the service providers and the client devices; an application level meta language for communication between client applications and service providers; a communication link between the client devices and the service platform for transmission of messages between the client devices and the service gateway; a transport protocol process residing in the client device for sending a transport level message encapsulating the meta language to a service provider; and a conversion function for converting the client's message from the transport level protocol into a plurality of standard protocols for transmission to the service provider over the communication link.