/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aspect Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: ASPT - News), a
leading provider of enterprise customer contact solutions, today announced an
upgrade to its award-winning customer self-service (CSS) solution at AVIOS,
SpeechTEK Spring 2004 here at the Moscone Center West. An extension of
Aspect's Uniphi architecture, Aspect(R) Customer Self-Service 7.0 features new
support for the latest versions of third-party server software and hardware
and is compatible with the latest industry standards for speech application
development and contact center connectivity.

With years of mission-critical interactive voice response (IVR) development and support behind it, the Aspect CSS 7.0 open-standards environment delivers support for VoiceXML 2.0 and, using an intuitive workflow tool, offers enterprises and systems integrators an even greater ability to leverage or re-use existing code to rapidly develop, integrate and deploy self-service customer-facing applications across global contact center Internet protocol (IP) networks or public switched telephone networks (PSTN). With version 7.0, enterprises can easily reduce queue times, talk times and abandonment rates while extending service hours. And because an automated self-service application can handle many customer inquiries, such as shipping status, account information and product details, Aspect CSS 7.0 helps to minimize contact center staffing costs.

"The new functionality in Aspect CSS 7.0 will provide more flexibility for our customers without compromising the integrity of the platform that so many industry-leading companies have come to rely on," said Charlie Rabie, senior vice president of research and development at Aspect. "By adding enhanced speech functionality and increasing support for a variety of new standards and platforms, we're facilitating a smoother path towards a more open, flexible and cost-efficient IVR system and contact center overall."

Aspect Customer Self-Service 7.0 includes the following enhancements:

    -- The Power of VoiceXML 2.0:  Support for VoiceXML 2.0 makes it easier to
       build and deploy mission-critical speech applications.
    -- Broader Server Platform Support:  The Aspect CSS 7.0 telephony server
       now utilizes the Windows 2000 operating system, the choice platform of
       Aspect's speech and telephony partners. The run-time server will
       continue utilizing highly scaleable Unix-based platforms and offering
       backwards compatibility for prior releases.
    -- Turnkey Hardware Support:  The solution integrates with
       industry-leading telephony cards from companies including Aculab,
       Brooktrout and Intel/Dialogic.
    -- Enhanced Speech Technology:  The solution supports ScanSoft's
       OpenSpeech Recognizer 2.0 and Nuance 8 speech recognition engines. In
       addition, Aspect CSS 7.0 supports Speechify 3.0, ScanSoft's latest
       text-to-speech technology.
    -- Extensibility:  CTI enhancements allow a run-time server to provide
       services for multiple contact centers. Additional improvements in
       backwards compatibility enhance investment protection for existing and
       new customers.
    -- Flexibility of Choice:  Customers can choose between a software-only
       solution qualified on industry-standard platforms or a turnkey system
       that includes all required hardware and software from Aspect.

"Aspect's CSS 7.0 makes it even easier for businesses to improve customer service through a sophisticated, around-the-clock IVR application," said John Shea, vice president of product marketing and management at Nuance. "With Aspect, our joint goal is to continue to reduce the up-front capital investment, development time and ongoing maintenance costs, as well as simplify system integration to enable corporations to extend the benefits of voice automation across the enterprise."

"With CSS 7.0, Aspect continues to drive adoption of speech solutions for the call center using industry standards like VoiceXML 2.0," said Steve Chambers, president of SpeechWorks, a division of ScanSoft. "Cutting-edge platforms like Aspect CSS 7.0 enable us to deliver superior applications to the market that result in greater caller satisfaction and stronger ROI for our customers."

In addition to these new features, Aspect CSS will continue to maintain its high scalability, modularity and flexibility, so businesses can easily add capacity and functionality as needed. Aspect CSS 7.0 also delivers all the back up and restoration, redundancy, system management and diagnostic and reporting capabilities that customers expect from Aspect.

Building On a Proven Application

A full-featured IVR solution, Aspect CSS 7.0 includes advanced speech-recognition, text-to-speech, voiceprint identification and Web and fax integration capabilities. In addition to reducing costs by automating complex customer transactions, Aspect CSS offers customers convenience, constant access and privacy, with the option of requesting live assistance from an agent when needed. Industry-leading companies using Aspect CSS include Atlanta Gas Light, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Cablevision, Connextions, Cox Communications and the Shop At Home Network.

About Aspect Communications

Aspect Communications Corporation is a leading provider of contact center solutions and services that enable businesses to manage and optimize customer communications. Aspect's global customer base includes more than two-thirds of the Fortune 50 and leading corporations in a range of industries, including transportation, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, retail and outsourcing, as well as large government agencies. The company's leadership is based on 18 years of expertise. Aspect is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with 24 offices in 11 countries around the world.

NOTE: 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.