start experimenting with basic call routing. Just take it one step at a time, and as you encounter specific questions, post here and I'm sure you'll get great help.
I think that's all anyone was really saying:
Either learn the technology yourself, but recognise that it will be a slow and incremental process, and nobody can just impart, in a gestalt sort of way, the entire universe of necessary knowledge up-front, or procure commercial help, if efficiency/speed is the primary concern.
I have absolutely no objection to that - I though I set it out pretty clearly in my initial post. I am no expert, so the learning curve would be even steeper for me, but it won't be the first time I am doing this sort of thing, so I am not afraid to take that path, if needed.
What I am not going to do though, is spent my time, energy and resources on something, just to find out midway through that it is not what I need or for some reason or other what I want cannot be achieved. My initial post on this thread served this very purpose - to gauge an opinion from people who possess more knowledge on the subject than myself and see if what I want to do is possible with Kamailio or any of the other (similar, in my view) products I listed in that post. It is the reason why I detailed my setup, so that opinions can be canvassed.
Admittedly, I forgot to mention 2 things, which I sort of taken for granted, but reading through I thought to mention this, just in case:
1. My eth0 interface (the one which connects me to the "outside" world) does not have a public IP address - it is connected to DHCP server of my ISP and obtains a private IP address. That ultimately means whatever system/software/product I use, it needs to find my public IP address (through STUN or other such means) and do a proper NAT. I take it this is possible with Kamailio, right?
2. As a matter of policy, all voice calls regardless of whether they are made internally (among ourselves) or to/from the public, are recorded and stored on that server. Is Kamailio capable of doing such thing or do I have to use some other means of obtaining that feature?
So, to summarise once again: at this stage I need to find out whether what I want to achieve is possible if I use Kamailio. If the answer is a resounding "yes" and there are no other - better, less painful and complex alternatives out there (and by that I don't mean "getting a consultant"!) - then I am ready to delve in and tackle these issues head on.
I have no illusions that it would be an easy ride - I realise that my understanding of Kamailio is almost nil, so the learning curve would be steep. That is why I want to make sure that I am not wasting my time for something, which ultimately won't fit or satisfy my needs.
To conclude this, I am grateful for your other - more detailed - post, but I would be able to digest its content once I am certain that the path I need to take with Kamailio is the right one for me. Thanks again.