<s>
The	O
office	B-Device
controller	I-Device
was	O
a	O
networking	O
concept	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
to	O
mid-1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
office	B-Device
controller	I-Device
would	O
be	O
a	O
central	O
switch	O
which	O
would	O
link	O
users	O
to	O
applications	O
and	O
provide	O
necessary	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
office	B-Device
controller	I-Device
services	O
were	O
usually	O
restricted	O
to	O
various	O
forms	O
of	O
modem	O
pooling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
LANs	B-General_Concept
and	O
PCs	B-Device
,	O
client/server	O
became	O
the	O
dominant	O
distributed	O
application	O
model	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
standalone	O
applications	O
as	O
PCs	B-Device
became	O
more	O
powerful	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
centralised	O
model	O
supported	O
by	O
the	O
office	B-Device
controller	I-Device
fell	O
out	O
of	O
style	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Office	B-Device
controller	I-Device
products	O
were	O
withdrawn	O
from	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Remnants	O
of	O
the	O
idea	O
,	O
with	O
examples	O
such	O
as	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
and	O
three-layer	O
architectures	O
,	O
did	O
persist	O
with	O
some	O
interest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
the	O
thick	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
PC	B-Device
model	O
of	O
services	O
was	O
predominant	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
the	O
office	B-Device
controller	I-Device
idea	O
is	O
not	O
without	O
merit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
SIP	B-Application
with	O
its	O
session	B-Protocol
border	I-Protocol
controllers	I-Protocol
and	O
service-oriented	O
architectures	O
,	O
the	O
centralized	O
creation	O
and	O
management	O
of	O
user	O
services	O
is	O
again	O
finding	O
widespread	O
interest	O
.	O
</s>
