The Asterisk Community Conference 2016 was a resounding success, with speakers, partners and delegates describing the event as “fantastic”.

The event took place in Johannesburg on 16 and 17 February and was the first-ever Digium endorsed Asterisk community gathering in Africa.

Delegates enjoyed training, discussions, presentations and exhibitions from South Africa’s top Asterisk companies, and listened to many prominent international speakers.

“Asterisk really is taking the world by storm, and what a great conference,” said Aki Anastasiou of Talk Radio 702 who was one of the speakers at the event.

“It was very well-attended”

The conference attendance exceeded expectations, with many attendees gathering from around Africa to meet international industry leaders.

David Duffett of Digium, one of the international speakers at the conference, said that it was “great to see so many people gathering from around Africa.

“We’ve got people here from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique as well as South Africa here, and it’s nice to see the community gathering, having a conversation and looking at all the opportunities there are around Asterisk.”

Diego Gosmar of xCally added that, “We already have quite a few customers in Africa, but it was amazing to share the vision of our products and the future of the Asterisk technology with other South Africans and others from around the continent.”

Networking and collaboration

Another key theme for partners and delegates alike was the opportunity to meet other industry professionals and share knowledge and ideas.

“It was great to meet other people in the community and meeting the industry leaders was very exciting – they’re so down to earth and it really feels more like a community now,” said delegate Jaun Venter of Capfin.

Jason Handel of Sangoma added that, “The conference is a great opportunity for the like-minded community to collaborate, get together, share ideas, share content and really hear what’s been happening for the Asterisk Conference here, around Africa and throughout the rest of the world.”

Craig McLeod of Clarotech Consulting echoed this, saying “It’s great to be able to talk with people that know what they’re talking about, share ideas, and take the opportunity to show them what we do.”

“The conference was fantastic. I enjoyed the fact that there was so much knowledge sharing, a wealth of information and so much independent literature around Asterisk,” said Michael Colin of BitCo.

A unique learning opportunity

The first day of the conference was focused on training, which many delegates found invaluable.

“The conference was awesome. We got to learn new things and see all the possibilities of what you can do with Asterisk, and when we go back home we are going to unlock the magic and see what this framework can do for us,” said delegate Masimba Mangumbu of Leon Business Solution in Zimbabwe.

Another delegate, Irene Chauke of Switch Telecom added that “The conference has been very insightful, and I’ve learned a lot.”

“It’s been really nice to work with other companies that are working with Asterisk here and we’ve got a lot of great ideas from it. It’s been fantastic,” said Sylvestor Kuisis of Teleforge.

Rob Lith of Connection Telecom concluded that “I’ve been to a few of the Asterisk conferences overseas, and I think that this equals that.”

The following video includes more feedback from the speakers, partners and delegates.

This article was published in partnership with Asterisk Community Conference 2016.