Aspect eWorkforce Management to Help Sykes Achieve eCRM Strategy Staffing Goals Across 16 Contact Centers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2000

SSPA Hall of Fame Inductee To Install Software to Keep

Service Levels High, Labor Costs Low for Fortune 500 Clients

Using Outsourced eCommerce and Technical Support Services 

Aspect Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: ASPT), the leading provider of customer relationship portals, today announced that Sykes Enterprises Inc. is implementing the multisite edition of Aspect(R) eWorkforce Management software and its advanced Real-Time Adherence (RTA) and Agent Productivity (AP) modules. Sykes will use the technology, which can be purchased separately or as an Aspect Customer Relationship Portal application, to manage a multiskilled workforce across 16 contact centers handling multimedia customer communications for Fortune 500 firms. An inductee in the Software Support Professionals Association Hall of Fame, Sykes provides outsourced, around-the-clock eCommerce services and technical support in 30 languages for more than 500 software and hardware products.

"Critical to the success of our eCRM strategy is the ability to staff our contact centers with the right number of agents with the right skills needed to serve each of our unique client's customers," said Jim Lamer, Sykes executive vice president of Business Services. "We chose to implement Aspect eWorkforce Management with RTA and AP as one of our key workforce management tools because of its ability to reduce the complexities of staffing in multisite, multiskill and multimedia environments like ours. The software provides the ability for us to deploy and manage our agents at these sites effectively which, in turn, enables us to consistently achieve our clients' contractual service level requirements."

"Sykes' clients can be confident that the centers handling their customers' needs are staffed appropriately and that overstaffing costs that might not otherwise have been avoidable won't be accrued and passed along," said Gary L. Smith, Aspect chief operating officer. "By implementing Aspect eWorkforce Management, Sykes can keep its clients' customers happy with the prompt service received from appropriately skilled agents scheduled to work when they're actually needed."

Aspect eWorkforce Management forecasts contact volumes and handle times for voice, Web, e-mail and fax; determines the staff and resource requirements for consistent, optimal customer service; schedules staff and resources for all skill sets and contact center sites to meet business criteria, such as revenue maximization or quality of service; and tracks performance by operational criteria, such as service level.

The advanced Aspect eWorkforce Management Real-Time Adherence software module provides a real-time, at-a-glance view of each agent's activity and compares it to the agent's scheduled activity. Managers can instruct the software to display color-coded alarms for those agents who are not adhering to scheduled activities.

The advanced Aspect eWorkforce Management Agent Productivity software module helps managers identify individual employees or employee groups who are most or least productive. Documentation is generated for employee personnel files and for establishing performance benchmarks for use in training new agents, coaching existing ones and establishing standards for employee incentive and reward programs.

More than 2,600 contact centers in 40 countries use a release of Aspect eWorkforce Management software, including those centers representing such Fortune 50 companies as Aetna, Allstate, AT&T, Bank of America, Bank One Corporation, Bell Atlantic, Boeing, Chase Manhattan Corporation, Chevron, Compaq Computer, Costco Wholesale, Exxon, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, IBM, Intel, JCPenney, Johnson & Johnson, Lucent, MCI WorldCom, McKesson HBOC, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, Prudential Insurance Company, SBC Communications (Pacific Bell), Sears, Target, TIAA-CREF, Time Warner and United Parcel Service.

Sykes Enterprises Inc.

Sykes is a global leader in providing vertically integrated, technology-based business solutions and services. Sykes' Business Solutions group provides professional services in eCommerce, globalization and customer relationship management with a focus on business strategy development, solution implementation, Web design, development and education, localization and program management. Sykes' Business Services group provides value-added customer support outsourcing including technical support, customer service and fulfillment. These services are delivered through multiple communication channels encompassing Web, e-mail and telephony support. Sykes' solutions and services combination offers clients value-added end-to-end solutions. Sykes, headquartered in Tampa, Fla., has approximately 14,700 employees and currently operates 39 customer interaction centers, five eCommerce fulfillment centers and 17 branch offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa and Central America. Visit the Sykes Web site at http://www.sykes.com.

Aspect Communications

Aspect Communications Corporation 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, visit the company's Web site at http://www.aspect.com or call 1-877-621-3692.

Aspect, the Aspect logo, the phrase "The Starting Point for eBusiness," 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.

Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Examples include statements regarding our products' abilities to help businesses to: reduce the complexities of staffing in multisite, multiskill and multimedia environments; deploy and manage agents in such environments at these sites effectively which, in turn, enables them to consistently achieve clients' contractual service level requirements; schedule staff and resources for all skill sets and contact center sites to meet business criteria, such as revenue maximization or quality of service; and ensure consistent interactions with their customers from one centrally managed eBusiness system. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from the company's current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: any unforeseen technical difficulties or product errors related to our products or connectivity to third parties' technology; difficulties in meeting customer specifications or in providing installation or maintenance services; unforeseen developments in customer service operations; and other factors and risks discussed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, the company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2000, and June 30, 2000, and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update information concerning its expectations.