Aspect Communications and Annexio Partnership Delivers Multichannel CRM Solutions To Small and Midsize Companies.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2001

Aspect Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:ASPT), the leading provider of customer relationship portals -- contact servers for managing dynamic customer contact transactions across all wired and wireless communication channels -- today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement authorizing Annexio to host and re-sell Aspect's customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. Building on the foundation of Aspect's contact server, the Aspect(R) Customer Relationship Portal, Annexio can provide fully blended, multichannel-hosted contact center services to small and medium enterprises. Now these companies can provide multichannel contact support easily and affordably to their customers and are freed to focus their internal resources on their core businesses.

Using the Aspect Portal, Annexio helps its clients expand the contact options they offer to their customers and streamline their operations. Annexio's clients can choose sophisticated functionality such as contact prioritization based on business rules that apply to all support channels -- Web click-to-talk voice over IP (VoIP), text chat, telephone and e-mail. MaxLife is one of the first companies to experience the benefits of Aspect technology through Annexio's service offerings. Annexio uses the Aspect Portal to provide MaxLife's customers with real-time access to health-related information and services through all communication channels.

"We feel that there is tremendous need in the marketplace for the combination of a best-of-breed product like the Aspect Portal with our services," said Gerry Barber, senior vice president of Annexio's eCRM services. "With this solution in place, our clients can have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their contacts aren't going into an e-mail black hole or otherwise not being handled quickly. Our clients' customers are going to experience a high level of service that doesn't deviate according to the channels they use to make contact."

"One of the keys to delivering this type of service," Barber continued, "is the ability to make decisions and change contact-handling priorities on the fly. Reading reports tomorrow or next week about what happened today means that any costs I could have saved, any service level agreements I could have enforced by making real-time changes today, are lost. In my opinion, Aspect technology has the best real-time functionality of any of the offerings on the market."

"Annexio can reduce the information technology burdens of its clients and free up their time and resources to focus on their core businesses," said Gary L. Smith, Aspect's chief operating officer. "They can rest easy knowing that Annexio is using the same Aspect solutions that most Fortune 50 companies rely on to tie together all of the vital components of an effective CRM strategy to reduce costs and improve service delivery quickly."

"We are pleased to be associated with and be a partner with Aspect," said Raj Kaushal, Annexio's chief executive officer. "Now customers large and small can take advantage of this cutting-edge technology offering."

Selecting the Aspect Customer Relationship Portal as the contact server upon which the multichannel solution is based lets Annexio enable all of its clients to manage customer interactions effectively regardless of the medium customers use to contact the enterprise -- Web, e-mail or voice. The Aspect Portal enables Annexio to quickly develop custom business rules for its clients that can be applied to all of its clients' customer contacts regardless of the contact channel. For example, a premier customer who calls on the phone and gets routed to a top agent will have the same premier experience via e-mail and the Web, and the agent will have all contact history at his or her fingertips. Furthermore, the Aspect Portal enables Annexio to easily integrate customer, sales and marketing data that sits on disparate front- and back-office systems and deliver that data to agents. Agents then have a complete view of the customers they are interacting with and can take advantage of cross- and up-selling opportunities where appropriate.

Annexio provides initial implementation and integration of the Aspect technology as a critical element of its Annexion ASP (application service provider) Platform, controlling data management and providing continuous, uninterrupted connectivity and support. Customers purchase access to Annexion on a per user per month basis, offering a significant savings over the cost of purchasing individual software licenses, attempting to integrate the software functionality, integrating software with business functions and maintaining the operating infrastructure. Annexio's professional services group integrates a client's business functions with Annexion for a single, all-inclusive integration charge.

Annexio

Annexio, formerly known as Cottonwood Inc., has been providing technology solutions to businesses since 1985. Annexio was created to develop the proprietary, patent-pending Annexion core solutions platform in order to provide additional services to client companies as an application service provider. The company's corporate office is located in Nashville, Tenn. The company also maintains offices in San Jose, Calif., Chicago, Ill., Jacksonville, Fla., and Chandigarh, India. To contact Annexio for more information, e-mail Raj Kaushal at the following address: [e-mail].

Aspect Communications

Aspect Communications Corporation is the leading provider of customer relationship portals, contact servers for managing dynamic customer contact transactions across all wired and wireless communication channels. The Aspect Customer Relationship Portal allows businesses to manage all customer contacts dynamically and turn them into relationships, opportunities and loyalty. Aspect is the only company today that delivers a complete multichannel contact center -- the core of any company's CRM strategy. The Aspect Portal synchronizes all customer contact points, including live and self-service, with demonstrated customer ROI. Aspect's leadership in CRM is based on more than 15 years of experience and over 7,600 implementations deployed worldwide. Aspect powers 74 percent of the Fortune 50. The company is headquartered in San Jose, with offices in major cities around the world. For more information about Aspect, visit the company's Web site at http://www.aspect.com or call 1-877-621-3692.

Aspect, the Aspect logo and the phrases and marks relating to other Aspect products and services discussed in this press release constitute one or both of the following: (1) registered trademarks and/or service marks of Aspect Communications Corporation in the United States and/or other countries or (2) intellectual property subject to protection under common law principles. All other names and marks mentioned in this document are properties of their respective owners.