Applicast and Aspect to Offer First Integrated eCRM Outsourcing Solution; Aggressive-Growth Companies Can Now Benefit From World-Class, Scalable Multimedia Contact Centers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2000

Applicast(TM) Inc., the premier total-solution application service provider (ASP) for aggressive-growth companies, and Aspect Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:ASPT), the leading provider of customer relationship portals, today announced that they have chosen to bring affordable, best-of-breed eCRM solutions to mid-market companies. Applicast will provide full-service outsourcing of the Aspect(R) Customer Relationship Portal thereby enabling aggressive-growth businesses to ensure consistent interactions with their customers.

"Until now, sophisticated tools for managing and measuring a state-of-the art multimedia contact center have been out of reach for many early-stage businesses," said John McGrory, president and CEO of Applicast. "The Applicast/Aspect solution makes it easy for these businesses to benefit from Aspect's unique blend of eCRM software, a proven powerful foundation from which a young company can grow as it expands and diversifies. The Aspect Customer Relationship Portal is a natural extension of Applicast's best-of-breed front-office outsourcing solution."

"In June, Aspect announced that we intended to work with a new breed of application service providers, eBusiness Service Providers (eBSPs) that need the proven performance and scalability of the Aspect solution. Applicast has an unmatched level of experience in deploying and managing front-office solutions for customers," said Chris Purpura, vice president Strategic Marketing. "Applicast's hands-on, full-lifecycle services will allow aggressive-growth companies and dot-coms that lack contact center expertise to get a state-of-the-art system that can be the foundation for success in the digital economy."

By outsourcing Aspect with Applicast, mid-market companies can leverage a world-class, proven platform combining a multimedia contact center, Siebel eBusiness applications, extended multimedia capabilities, and an industry-leading contact center systems infrastructure. Applicast/Aspect customers can benefit from a common interface that manages and routes incoming communication from all media types -- voice, fax, e-mail and the Web -- based on each company's unique business processes.

Sophisticated customer communication solutions have traditionally required extensive investment in infrastructure and internal resources, as well as specialized expertise to deploy and manage them. Now, aggressive-growth companies can leverage Applicast to deliver an affordable Aspect solution that provides the same customer acquisition and customer retention tools as larger, more established organizations that may have more mature customer contact systems.

Applicast and Aspect will jointly deliver the mid-market eCRM solution, which will be sold through Applicast as an integrated part of the Applicast Business Applications Network(TM). The Aspect Portal software is fully integrated with Siebel eBusiness Applications, one of Applicast's core outsourcing solutions platforms. Applicast will provide complete, full-lifecycle support of the Aspect solution, including rapid implementation, hosted operations, support for end users, and evolution of the system as a customer's business changes with growth.

The Applicast Business Applications Network

The Aspect Customer Relationship Portal is the latest addition to the Applicast Business Applications Network, which offers a full portfolio of best-of-breed software platforms and related business processes for complete, fully-integrated outsourcing solutions. In addition to Aspect, the Applicast Business Application Network is comprised of a comprehensive set of enterprise applications from world-class partners, including: Siebel Systems, SAP, Vitria Technology, Inc., Agile Software Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Tumbleweed Communications. The Aspect Portal is integrated with Siebel's eBusiness Applications, giving customers a powerful extension to their core Applicast-managed Siebel system.

The Aspect Customer Relationship Portal

The Aspect Customer Relationship Portal allows companies to build eCRM applications that integrate front- and back-office systems, eCommerce applications and multimedia contact centers into one centrally managed eBusiness system. The Aspect Portal Multimedia application unifies and personalizes customer interactions across Web, phone, fax and e-mail to identify, qualify, cross-sell, up-sell and route customers in real time. The Aspect Customer Relationship Portal was named a Best of Show award winner at the fall 1999 and spring 2000 Communications Solutions Expos and received Product of the Year in the "Multimedia Customer Contact Portal" category from C@ll Center CRM Solutions magazine.

About Aspect Communications

Aspect Communications Corp. is the leading provider of customer relationship portals, a software platform for building and deploying eCRM applications that enable businesses to ensure consistent interactions with their customers from one centrally managed eBusiness system. Aspect's leadership position in customer relationship management solutions is based on its 15-year history and more than 7,600 customer contact center implementations. Aspect is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices in major cities worldwide. For more information about Aspect, call 877/621-3692.

About Applicast

Located in Menlo Park, Applicast, Inc. is the premier, total-solution ASP for aggressive-growth companies. Bringing customers the power of top-tier business software, the Applicast Business Applications Network offers full-service application outsourcing for mission-critical applications, such as mySAP.com and Siebel eBusiness Applications, over secure private or Internet connections. Applicast's unique combination of a world-class application portfolio, targeted FastFit(TM) solutions and full-lifecycle service enables its clients to slash the time, costs and risks of deploying top-tier systems.

To power its Business Applications Network, Applicast has developed relationships with SAP, Siebel Systems, Vitria Technology, Agile Software, Aspect Communications, BMC Software and GTE Data Services, among others.

Applicast is privately funded by leading investment organizations including Trinity Ventures, Piper Jaffray Ventures, Bowman Capital Management, Crescendo Ventures, Bluewater Capital Management, Sippl Macdonald Ventures and MKS Ventures. More information is available at www.applicast.com.

Note to Editors: Applicast, the Applicast logo design, FastFit and Applicast Business Applications Network are trademarks of Applicast, Inc. All other company and product brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Aspect, the Aspect logo and the phrase "The Starting Point for eBusiness" are trademarks and/or service marks of Aspect Communications Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. All other product or service names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.