[Asterisk-Users] Total newbie here looking to do a VoIP conferencecall?

[Jim Van Meggelen]

asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
> I am looking to help out my company find a more budget
> conscious but reliable way to hold conference calls between
> 5+ people.  4x a month we hold several hour long conference
> calls during non-business hours.  All of the employees have
> high speed internet.  Currently we dial up an AT&T conf using regular
> analog phones. 

And pay handsomely for the privilege, no doubt.

> I don't have a great grasp as to what Asterick is capable of,
> but my thoughts were that perhaps with VoIP telephone lines
> (either hooked up to the company's network or just using a
> 3rd party VoIP provider such as Packet8, which is whatI have
> for personal use) and an Asterick server, that we could setup a VoIP
> conference bridge. 

Asterisk can certainly do this for you.

> Can someone enlighten an unknowledged as to whether or not
> this is possible, and if so, how might it be done?  Would the
> Asterick server need X number of VoIP lines?  I.e. If there's
> 10 participants, it'd need 10 VoIP lines?

Asterisk is a complicated animal, and to walk you through it could take
days/weeks/months. This is probably the route you need to take:

1) Make sure you are familiar with Linux administration. That knowledge,
while not exactly essential, will certainly save you a boatload of
confusion and misery.
2) Read about Asterisk. Look at:
-The Digium handbook 
--(http://www.digium.com/handbook-draft.pdf)
-The Documentation Project 
--(http://www.asteriskdocs.org)
-The Wiki 
--(http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk)
3) Set up a Linux server and play. Specifically, work towards getting a
conference going. Along the way you will learn what you need to know to
make a decision.
4) Evaluate what you've learned, and make a decision as to whether this
makes sense for you.

Asterisk can do what you want, but it has a steep learning curve - it's
more of a toolkit of telephony functions than anything. Picture walking
into Home Depot and asking "what can I build?". The answer is "just
about anything", but in reality, it depends on budget, experience,
tools, resources, regulations, and so on.

Welcome to Asterisk! Be careful, or you'll get addicted!

Cheers,

Jim.