Aspen Publishers Selects Blue Pumpkin Primetime; Service Levels Increase 29% After Implementing PrimeTime Solution.

Business Editors and High Tech Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000

Blue Pumpkin Software, a leading provider of workforce management solutions, announced today that Aspen Publishers has selected Blue Pumpkin's PrimeTime to automate workforce management and support their contact center's future growth.

Aspen Publishers provides books, journals, newsletters and daily publications in print and CD-ROM on a variety of topics, including legal, health, customer service, safety, environmental issues, grants and food service publications, to name a few. Agents in their customer contact center handle all the company's inbound calls and assist customers with account questions, billing and shipping information and basic product information. Because their high call volume fluctuates during college bookstore season, managers always found it difficult to predict their staffing needs. And since training for new agents is a two-week process, there was never a quick solution for trained staff if they underestimated their staffing needs. As a result, contact center managers needed a workforce management tool that could reliably predict their call volume so they could staff accordingly.

"Since we create quarterly schedules, producing one schedule used to take over a week; now it's done in less than a day," said Sarah Strickland, senior supervisor of customer care for Aspen Publishers. "As a result of Blue Pumpkin's forecasting capabilities and accurate scheduling, we now consistently have the correct number of agents on the phones at any given time. Because of that, our service levels have increased 29%, the abandon rate has decreased to 1%, and hold times have reached a record low of only six seconds."

Additionally, Strickland revealed that the agents are happier now with their more flexible schedules. Because she no longer has to create schedules manually, she can offer more shift variety, four-day/forty-hour workweeks, and part-time employment options as well. These new staffing considerations have given her more hiring choices when it comes to selecting qualified applicants.

"PrimeTime is a quality product that's easy to use," said Strickland. "And the support Blue Pumpkin has given us after the sale has made me a great supporter of the product, company and employees."

About Aspen Publishers

For more than 40 years, Aspen Publishers, Inc. has served the needs of legal, business and health care professionals with timely books, periodicals and information services by leading authorities. Today, Aspen publishes more than 400 journals, newsletters, electronic products and looseleaf reference manuals and has more than 1,000 books in print. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.aspenpublishers.com.

Blue Pumpkin PrimeTime

Blue Pumpkin PrimeTime products are robust workforce management software packages designed to optimize the forecasting and scheduling of agents in customer contact centers by ensuring the appropriate people with the right skill sets are available to interact with customers across a variety of channels, including phone, email and Internet chat. Recently awarded a HotPick 2000 Award by Call Center News Service and Product of the Year and Editor's Choice honors from Call Center, Call Center Solutions and CTI magazines, the PrimeTime family of products provide powerful "what-if" analyses to predict how call volume and staffing changes will affect customer contact center operations. With PrimeTime, customer contact centers reduce overstaffing costs and increase revenues by capturing previously lost sales.

About Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc.

Blue Pumpkin Software is a market-leading provider of workforce management solutions for multimedia customer contact centers. Blue Pumpkin develops, markets, and supports the award-winning PrimeTime suite of products designed to help companies guarantee superior customer service across a variety of contact media, including phone and email. Blue Pumpkin provides the tools necessary to efficiently schedule and manage contact center personnel, ensuring that the right person with the right skills handles customer interactions.

Blue Pumpkin Software is headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices around the world. Global leaders in the financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications, and retail goods & services industries depend on Blue Pumpkin solutions. Current customers include ADP, eToys, Airborne Express, Apple Computer, AT&T, Verio, KitchenAid, Drugstore.com, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and PeopleSoft. For more information about Blue Pumpkin and its products, please visit the Blue Pumpkin web site at www.blue-pumpkin.com or call 877-257-6756.