Monday September 27, 8:32 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Aspect Communications and eGain Communications Deliver Industry-First Integrated Solution That Fully Blends Customer Interaction Media
Aspect to OEM eGain Email Management System
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 1999-- Aspect Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:ASPT - news), a leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, and eGain Communications (Nasdaq:EGAN - news), a leading provider of customer service infrastructure for e-commerce, today announced a multimillion dollar, multiyear agreement to deliver eGain's Email Management System with the Aspect© Customer Relationship Portal in an out-of-the-box integrated solution.
Aspect and eGain are the first companies in the CRM industry to deliver a solution with the breadth and depth that enables customer service representatives (CSRs) to become ``super agents' who can effectively handle all forms of customer communication for complete synchronization of customer relationships. Combining e-Gain's e-mail solution with the Aspect Customer Relationship Portal enables companies to deliver a consistent, high-quality customer experience, regardless of whether the customer uses a phone, e-mail, fax or the Web to contact the company.
``The agreement between eGain and Aspect is significant because today, most customers use either e-mail or the telephone to contact a company,' said Robert Mirani, director, Customer Relationship Management practice, Yankee Group. ``Many companies with a call center and Web site still struggle with how to integrate these two media to ensure that customers receive consistently good service. Adding the eGain Email Management System into the Aspect Customer Relationship Portal gives companies a compelling solution for blending customer e-mail and phone support, along with other media.'
``The out-of-the-box integration of eGain Email Management System into the Aspect Customer Relationship Portal delivers a breakthrough opportunity for companies to deliver consistently excellent service to customers,' said Beatriz Infante, co-president of Aspect. ``eGain's unique Internet-class solutions deliver significant scalability, rapid deployment and the highest level of flexibility, and they leverage the powerful media-blending capabilities of the Aspect Customer Relationship Portal to meet the exploding needs of e-commerce. Through this OEM agreement, we are thrilled to partner with an industry leader like eGain to provide a best-of-breed e-mail management solution to our customers. Together, eGain and Aspect offer a new, powerful way to manage customer interactions.'
``As customer preference broadens to encompass e-mail and the Internet as well as phone, it is critical that companies provide tools to seamlessly manage customer communication across multiple channels,' said Ashutosh Roy, CEO of eGain Communications. ``Together, eGain and Aspect will lead the way in delivering integrated multimedia customer service infrastructure for global businesses.'
Aspect and eGain anticipate the integrated solution will offer the following benefits to customers:
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Significant Benefits
-- Deliver consistent customer experience by enabling CSRs to
provide the same high level of service across all media.
-- Increase productivity of CSRs by automating appropriate tasks and
delivering comprehensive information to the customer support team
at the click of a button.
-- Contain overall customer support costs by giving agents the
flexibility to handle requests from various media. When there
aren't customers in a phone queue, an agent can respond
immediately to a customer e-mail message instead.
-- Synchronize customer relationships across multiple channels and
business functions.
Key Features
-- Queues from multiple media can be blended enterprise-wide.
Priority of a given media can be changed depending on business
needs. For example, a company may give priority to e-mail during
peak periods.
-- Integrated skills-based routing means that the system identifies
the CSRs who can handle e-mail, phone calls or both, and routes
the request to the appropriate representative.
-- A central log of all customer transactions lets companies track
customer communication and identify trends.
-- Universal CSR log-in saves time by enabling representatives to
log in and be instantly available to any media requests.
Aspect Communications
Aspect Communications Corporation is a leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that enable businesses to ensure consistent interactions with their customers. Aspect's leadership position in CRM solutions is based on its 14-year history and more than 3,500 customer contact center implementations. Aspect is headquartered in San Jose, with offices in major cities worldwide. For more information about Aspect, visit the company's Web site at aspect.com or call 888/412-7728.
eGain Communications
eGain (Nasdaq:EGAN - news) is a leading provider of customer service infrastructure for e-commerce. eGain's products and services help companies manage high volumes of customer emails and provide live assistance to website visitors. The solutions are available through the eGain Hosted Network, the world's largest network for hosted e-commerce customer service applications, or through customer site deployment.
Companies use eGain solutions to build customer loyalty, to convert online visitors to online buyers, and to leverage customer information. eGain customers include Mazda of North America, AltaVista, and USA Networks Inc. eGain's world headquarters is located in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information about eGain, please visit egain.com or call the company's U.S. office at 888/603-4246 or European office +44 (0) 118 988 0266.
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters pertaining to Aspect Communications Corporation discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are made under the safe-harbor provisions thereof. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected including: the ability to attract and retain personnel in technical and management positions, meeting the scheduled milestones of the OEM agreement, including the successful integration of the eGain EMS version 3.0 with Aspect's Media Blending/Portal Multi-Media product, technical performance of products and services, risks associated with competition and competitive pricing pressures, technological change, and new product introduction and market acceptance. Other risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected are discussed in Aspect's Form 10-K and Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998 and Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended June 30, 1999. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. Aspect undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters pertaining to eGain Communications set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to the perceived benefits of the agreement with Aspect Communications and the anticipated benefits of the combination of eGain's Email Management System with the Aspect Customer Relationship Portal, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the ``safe harbor' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by use of the words ``expects,' ``will,' ``anticipate,' ``intends,' ``plans,' and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in eGain's Registration Statement on Form S-1 and other risks detailed from time to time in eGain's SEC reports. eGain disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
These statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Risks and uncertainties facing eGain include those described in the risk factors of eGain's S-1 Registration Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward looking statements represent eGain's judgement as of the date of this press release. eGain disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Note to Editors: Aspect and the Aspect logo are trademarks and/or service marks of Aspect Communications Corporation 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. eGain is a trademark of eGain Communications Corp.
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Contact:
Aspect Communications
Jennifer Sims, 408/325-2823
jennifer.sims@aspect.com
or
eGain Communications
Jessica Ly, 408/212-3401
jly@egain.com |
