The convergence of data, voice and multimedia communication over digital networks, coupled with continuous improvement in network capacity and reliability has significantly enriched the ways we communicate. However, the stovepipe approach used to develop today?s communication applications and tools results in rigid technology, limited utility, lengthy and costly development cycle, difficulty in integration, and hinders innovation. In this paper, we present a fundamentally different approach, which we call Communication Virtual Machine (CVM) to address these problems. CVM provides a user-centric, modeldriven approach for conceiving, synthesizing and delivering communication solutions across application domains. We argue that CVM represents a far more effective paradigm for engineering communication solutions. The concept, architecture, modeling language, prototypical design and implementation of CVM are discussed.