Written by Allison Smith. Edited by Omar shaikh.
In a mere four days, developers and code gurus from around the world who have discovered the unlimited potential and versatility of Asterisk — the fastest-growing telephony platform in the world today — will gather in beautiful Glendale, Arizona October 13-15 for a concentrated three days of amazing talks, demonstrations, and networking about this product which is a phenom in the world of telecommunications, and which has set the standard for open-source VoIP telephony. Little did I realise — when I was contacted in 2002 to voice the initial set of prompts for Asterisk — that it would take the world by storm in quite the way it did. I seriously thought it was a one-off job, voicing some (sometimes) offbeat prompts for some very hyperactive guys in Alabama. When I was invited to the first Astricon in Atlanta in 2004, I gave myself a pep talk beforehand,

reminding myself to overcome my shyness and introduce myself to everyone — little expecting to be mobbed. Apparently, the hundreds of attendees there not only were eager to talk to one of only five women there — they were all looking forward to meeting “The Voice of Asterisk” — the living person behind the prompts they had been working with and deploying for years. Even after attending Astricon every year since then, (and with me being now known to most of the community) — it still gives me such a thrill to meet clients face-to-face and hopefully personify the sound of Asterisk to them.

With attendees arriving from 35 countires, this year’s Astricon promises to be a bigger, better and more diverse Geekosystem than ever!

I’ll be blogging from Astricon next week, so stay tuned!

PS: That’s me and the “Father of Asterisk” — and one of my favorite people in the world — Mark Spencer, taken at Astricon 2008. That’s the first incarnation of the now famous “Asterisk Dress” — this year, I’ll be unveiling a new version, which puts the old one to shame….
Related websites:
www.theivrvoice.com
www.theasteriskvoice.com
voicegal.wordpress.com
Written by Allison Smith. Edited by Omar shaikh.