A conference bridge gives you the ability to speak with multiple people at once. It enables you to have a meeting with several people without them all having to be in the same physical room. In the 70’s, conference calls were accomplished by physically bridging the copper lines together. This setup was generally limited to only 3 participants. Copper lines were designed for one on one conversation. Adding more participants to the conference call resulted in the quality of the call diminishing. Participants would have trouble hearing each other clearly. By the 80’s, telephone system manufacturers added a conference call feature to their telephone system. It was also limited to 3 or 4 participants. However, the quality of the conference call was greatly improved, since the system provided amplification and line balancing.