Aspect Software Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2006 Results

Aspect Software, Inc., the world’s largest company solely focused on the contact center, today announced 2006 fourth quarter and full year financial results, for the period ending December 31, 2006.

For the year ended December 31, 2006, Aspect Software achieved total pro forma revenue1 of $610.9 million. The company experienced sequential total revenue growth in all quarters of 2006, due in large part to the addition of 156 new name customers and significant add–on business from existing customers.

Total pro forma revenue for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $158.9 million, an increase of 3.0 percent over $154.1 million in revenue for the third quarter of 2006.  Product revenue for the fourth quarter was $59.6 million, an increase of $4.6 million, or 8.4 percent, compared to $55.0 million product revenue from the third quarter of 2006.  The fourth quarter was the strongest product revenue contribution from the Unified IP and Contact Center Performance Optimization product lines, which generated 32 percent of total product revenue during the quarter.

As a result of its strong revenue and financial performance in the fourth quarter, Aspect Software continued to strengthen its balance sheet and ended the year with cash and cash equivalents totaling $135.7 million.

“We’re very pleased with the company’s quarter-over-quarter growth for 2006,” said Jim Foy, president and chief executive officer of Aspect Software. “We are clearly demonstrating our continued market success, which can be attributed to the quality and completeness of our product portfolio, as well as the complementary value from global partners and Aspect® Global Services.

“Our sequential growth in 2006 came from several areas — existing customers are very focused on adding IP-based solutions, while new logo customer sales continue to be very robust with 75 percent coming from our unified and performance optimization offerings,” added Foy. “Based upon our fourth quarter performance, we believe that our new product offerings, Aspect® Quality Management™ and Asterisk Business Edition IP-PBX, will contribute positively to our performance in 2007.”

Contact center industry experts have been taking notice of the company’s success in 2006 – the strength of its solutions and the value Aspect Software products deliver to its customers.

“Throughout 2006, Aspect Software has been proactive in pointing the way for new technologies and new models,” said Alpa Shah, vice president and research director, Frost & Sullivan. “Businesses are evaluating the value of unified solutions in reducing complexity and the importance of quality monitoring in the contact center, and are noticing how Aspect EnsemblePro and Aspect Quality Management can enhance the customer experience. Aspect understands its market and its customers and that’s evident in the company’s quarter-over-quarter success.”

Growing Number of Customer Wins
In the fourth quarter of 2006, Aspect Software added 46 new logo customers to its base, bringing the total of new customers in 2006 to 156.  Among the new customers that purchased Aspect Software products in the fourth quarter include:

• 24-7 INtouch, a Canadian contact center outsourcer, is implementing Aspect® eWorkforce Management™, from the Performance Optimization Product Line, for its customer service and sales and telemarketing processes.

• ACE Cash Express, Inc., a Texas-based leading retailer of financial services, including check cashing, short-term consumer loans, bill payment, and prepaid debit card services, is implementing Aspect® EnsemblePro™ for its inbound and outbound collections business processes.

• Apollo Health Street, an India-based end-to-end healthcare focused services company, backed by the renowned Apollo hospitals group, is implementing Aspect EnsemblePro for customer service business processes.

• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, a private non-life insurer and network presence, which is a joint venture between Bajaj Auto Limited India and Allianz AG of Germany, is implementing Aspect EnsemblePro, for customer service and sales and telemarketing processes.

• Certegy Limited, a credit card and financial services provider with operations in the United Kingdom, is implementing Aspect EnsemblePro for its collections and telemarketing and sales business processes.

• NewAce, a Korea-based online shopping mall, is implementing Aspect EnsemblePro to enable their customer service and telemarketing processes.

• OnlinTour, a Korea-based online travel agency, is implementing Aspect EnsemblePro to enable their customer service and telemarketing processes.

• Trust Center, a collections agency based in Greece, is implementing Aspect EnsemblePro for its collections processes.

Building Product Momentum

In Q4 2006, Aspect Software enhanced its product roadmap with new capabilities, adding value to its offerings:

• Aspect® Customer Self Service™ 7.2 received formal certification for deploying Open Call Steering™ functionality from Aspect Alliance Partner, Nuance Communications, enabling callers to describe their needs in their own words and move directly to their destination, enhancing the customer experience.

• Web Powered Agent™ 10.1, a thin-client agent desktop for Aspect® Spectrum® ACD, provides integrated communication application that includes scripting and screen pop capabilities, resulting in greater agent productivity and an improved customer experience.

Industry Recognition and Awards

Aspect Software won a total of 29 awards in 2006, demonstrating its industry and product leadership.  The company garnered the following honors in the fourth quarter:

• Software 500 List from Software Magazine, ranking Aspect Software sixth in revenue growth for the Overall Software 500. The company placed 82nd on the list overall, up from 144 in 2005 and ranked second in revenue growth in the $100 Million to $1 Billion Revenue category.

• Innovation Award from TMC Labs, for the unique and innovative features of Aspect eWorkforce Management.

• Excellence Award from Internet Telephony Magazine, for the quantitative results the Aspect® Uniphi Connect was able to deliver for a customer implementing IP-based agents.

• Customer Value Enhancement Award from Frost and Sullivan, recognizing the customer value of the Unified IP Contact Center product line.

Aspect Software customers were also recognized for their implementation of our products, including Carolynn Chamoun of Telerx, who was honored by Computerworld as a Premier 100 IT Leader (implemented Aspect Uniphi Connect for IP agents), and HealthNet, which was honored by InfoWorld Magazine on the InfoWorld 100 List (for implementing Aspect Customer Self Service, resulting in increased agent resources and an improved customer experience).

Leading the Industry in Q4 2006
Aspect Software continues to demonstrate its position as the contact center industry leader, both in product offerings and market insight.  This was marked by several key initiatives launched in the fourth quarter of 2006.

For example, Aspect Software continues its support of open source solutions by taking advantage of its move to a new corporate headquarters, located in Chelmsford, Mass., to help underscore the value that a packaged open source IP PBX can bring to businesses. The company installed approximately 500 seats of Asterisk Business Edition and integrated the solution with Aspect EnsemblePro, which is used by the Aspect® Technical Services global customer support group, enabling Aspect to take advantage of its Unified IP contact center solution, while capitalizing on the flexibility and cost-saving benefits of an open source IP PBX. 

The company also announced the results of the Aspect Software Australian Contact Centre Index, which found that the customer satisfaction with contact center interactions is low – a 69 on a scale of 100. The results also revealed that contact centers in Australia are looking to increase their focus on staffing and performance optimization technology to improve the customer experience.

In addition, Aspect Software launched a new global marketing campaign designed to inspire leaders to deliver better customer experiences and address the trend of “Power Shift 2.0” – the empowerment of consumers using emerging web technologies.  The “Prove It” marketing campaign consists of online and airport advertising, blogging, white papers, a website and webinars, to inform businesses that Power Shift 2.0 is a phenomenon that will have a serious impact on the way companies interact with their customers.

“Aspect Software continues to innovate in the industry with the launch of several strategic initiatives in 2006, embracing emerging technology and demonstrating our unparalleled market insight,” said Foy. “We expect another strong performance in 2007 as we continue delivering on our vision of helping companies balance the needs of the consumer with the realities of the bottom line.”