WITS Witness Systems (MM)

Witness Systems (NASDAQ: WITS), a leading global provider of workforce optimization software and services, today introduced the industry's first SIP-enabled recording solution for IP telephony-based contact center environments. It is designed to lower the total cost of ownership through the support of high availability and high capacity systems, improved robustness through workflow and database support, as well as protocol command forwarding to support multi-site systems. SIP is quickly building a name for itself in the contact center industry as the standard for a unified signaling protocol for communication and presence information. A SIP-enabled contact center will allow customers to leverage the benefits of multi-channel IP communications with the existing base of traditional telephone call centers. By combining IP telephony with the Witness Systems solution, it is becoming viable to deploy recording both in the IP-enabled contact center and beyond. Analyzing all these external communications is more important than ever as every business seeks to gain a competitive advantage from better understanding their customers and acting on insights contained in interactions with them. The open standards nature of SIP enables end users to lower the total cost of ownership by commoditizing end points, and also facilitates presence-enabled communications across multiple mediums. This means that with the added flexibility, contact centers can forward specific calls to domain experts or knowledge workers, which results in more dynamic dialogues and value-added interactions. Improved first-contact resolution also sets the stage for high value customer opportunities. According to a recent survey conducted by an industry research and advisory firm, 50 percent of respondents confirmed that building a closer relationship with existing customers is critical in driving call center growth over the next three years. The SIP signaling protocol allows contact centers to achieve a stronger level of intimacy to customers by leveraging knowledge workers and domain experts. Customers who are immediately provided with informative and warm transfers do not have to start over from the beginning to explain their situation, because calls are linked with important information about the customer's needs. Capturing this information provides valuable intelligence for companies to act upon to optimize their entire customer service value chain. "We are seeing a need for proven, field tested solutions in the most demanding and mission-critical environments, particularly in the financial services industry," said John Bourne, senior vice president, product management, Witness Systems. "By introducing the industry's first SIP-compliant recorder, Witness Systems further reinforces the company's commitment to offering customers an even greater degree of enterprise access and control." The Witness Systems solution scales to support small to large multi-site implementations using distributed call manager clusters. By supporting these environments, the software will: -- Support multiple external gateways that employ least cost routing, allowing customers to use this approach and still deploy recorders controlled by "low level" protocols such as skinny. -- Reduce network traffic with Intelligent Call Control Distribution, which can potentially reduce the call state tracking of recordings in deployments involving large numbers of handsets. The Witness Systems solution is a software-only recorder that can be deployed on an industry-standard PC server without the need for any proprietary hardware. As the servers become more powerful, the scalability of the recorder can continue to increase, while minimizing the investment in specialized administration skills. By exploiting the XML browser interface on the IP telephone, the software provides unprecedented control for recording calls, the "tagging" of calls with additional contextual information, and distribution of calls to the correct parties via e-mail if required. This greatly increases the ease with which organizations can act on and exploit their external communications with customers, suppliers, partners and staff. Further, the IP solution from Witness Systems can be configured to support the recording of calls on demand from the desktop, at the press of a button, or the recording of a selection of calls meeting pre-set parameters, or all calls. About Witness Systems Witness Systems (NASDAQ: WITS) is a leading global provider of workforce optimization software and services. The company's solutions - which play a strategic role in the customer interaction centers of Global 2000 and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) worldwide - also are deployed in IP Telephony and back office environments, and throughout the extended enterprise, including branch offices. Witness Systems' software is comprised of quality monitoring, compliance, high-volume and IP Telephony recording solutions, as well as workforce management, actionable learning and performance management applications. The company's solutions enable organizations to optimize their people, processes and technology throughout the enterprise. Witness Systems' customers benefit from an integrated business consulting, implementation and training methodology that supports a rapid deployment, enabling them to drive revenue, reduce operational costs, and achieve greater customer retention and loyalty. For additional information about Witness Systems, visit www.witness.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this release that involves Witness Systems' expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. They are identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. These statements are based upon information available to Witness Systems as of the date of this release, and the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements believed true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Some of the factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include fluctuations in customer demand and the timing of orders; the company's ability to manage its growth; the risk of new product introductions and customer acceptance of new products; the rapid technological change which characterizes the company's markets; the risks associated with international sales as the company expands its markets, including the risks associated with foreign currency fluctuations; the ability of the company to complete and integrate successfully any acquisitions or investments it may make; and the ability of the company to compete successfully in the future, as well as other risks identified under the caption "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Witness, eQuality and the Witness logo are United States registered trademarks of Witness Systems, Inc., protected by laws of the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.