Getting started - what's needed

No doubt this question his probably been raised before, but I’m sure that it is something which can help many people. Can somebody please tell me what hardware to acquire in order to set up a simple system? Once I’ve acquired the hardware, what software do I need to load. Can you also recommend any documentation which will help a first-timer set up a new system?

Many thanks

Buy this book, http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596510480/index.html ,read the first couple of sections and you will have a much better understanding of what Asterisk is all about, what you need and how to install and configure it.

If after reading the book you still have questions feel free to fire away here.