WITS Witness Systems (MM)

Nortel (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) has teamed with Witness Systems (Nasdaq:WITS) to deliver improved capabilities to Nortel's award-winning Contact Center solution. The new suite of services is designed to drive competitive advantage by providing faster, more efficient responses to customer needs. "The strategic OEM relationship between Nortel and Witness Systems blends leading contact center communications technologies with advanced contact recording and quality monitoring products to create an integrated solution delivering world-class performance optimization capabilities," said Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst, COMMfusion, a market research firm. "The ability to infuse contact centers with a new depth of customer knowledge that makes each interaction as meaningful and productive as possible is a powerful tool for driving competitive advantage," said Malcolm Collins, president, Enterprise Networks, Nortel. "The Nortel and Witness Systems relationship delivers greater choice for our customers, allowing them to deploy multimedia, SIP-based contact center capabilities regardless of whether they have deployed an IP, traditional telephony or hybrid infrastructure." The new Nortel Contact Recording and Nortel Quality Monitoring suite jointly developed with Witness Systems allows more information to be captured for each customer. The new suite can be deployed independently or with the Nortel Contact Center solution (http://products.nortel.com/go/product_content.jsp?parId=0&segId=0&cat Id=-9190&prod_id=9381&locale=en-US), (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.) and provides recording and archiving of all calls to help customers with regulatory compliance. This is particularly important in the financial sector, for example, to quickly confirm that trades and transactions were executed properly. Further, monitoring the interactions of all agents helps identify areas for improvement that can be highlighted in employee training. The new suite is designed to reduce costs and drive differentiation by using customer interactions to maximize revenue, increase customer loyalty, and obtain valuable intelligence and competitive insight. The relationship is also expected to allow Nortel to leverage Witness Systems' experience and proven quality monitoring and IP recording technologies. "We're very pleased to be working closely with Nortel," said Dave Gould, chief executive officer, Witness Systems. "Their confidence in selecting us for this strategic relationship is strong validation of our technology and market leadership in the exciting world of VoIP." "Our jointly developed, software-only solution with Nortel provides forward-thinking companies a powerful combination to improve the performance of their customer service," Gould said. "The offering is more efficient, less expensive to maintain, and offers a single point of administration - all of which lead to a lower total cost of ownership. It allows for a phased evolution from traditional telephony to advanced IP capabilities that protect a company's investment." 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. About Nortel Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the world's most critical information. Serving both service provider and enterprise customers, Nortel delivers innovative technology solutions encompassing end-to-end broadband, Voice over IP, multimedia services and applications, and wireless broadband designed to help people solve the world's greatest challenges. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news. Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations include, among other things: the outcome of regulatory and criminal investigations and civil litigation actions related to Nortel's restatements and the impact any resulting legal judgments, settlements, penalties and expenses could have on Nortel's results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and any related potential dilution of Nortel's common shares; the findings of Nortel's independent review and implementation of recommended remedial measures; the outcome of the independent review with respect to revenues for specific identified transactions, which review will have a particular emphasis on the underlying conduct that led to the initial recognition of these revenues; the restatement or revisions of Nortel's previously announced or filed financial results and resulting negative publicity; the existence of material weaknesses in Nortel's internal control over financial reporting and the conclusion of Nortel's management and independent auditor that Nortel's internal control over financial reporting is ineffective, which could continue to impact Nortel's ability to report its results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner; the impact of Nortel's and NNL's failure to timely file their financial statements and related periodic reports, including Nortel's inability to access its shelf registration statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); ongoing SEC reviews, which may result in changes to Nortel's and NNL's public filings; the impact of management changes, including the termination for cause of Nortel's former CEO, CFO and Controller in April 2004; the sufficiency of Nortel's restructuring activities, including the work plan announced on August 19, 2004 as updated on September 30, 2004 and December 14, 2004, including the potential for higher actual costs to be incurred in connection with restructuring actions compared to the estimated costs of such actions; cautious or reduced spending by Nortel's customers; increased consolidation among Nortel's customers and the loss of customers in certain markets; fluctuations in Nortel's operating results and general industry, economic and market conditions and growth rates; fluctuations in Nortel's cash flow, level of outstanding debt and current debt ratings; Nortel's monitoring of the capital markets for opportunities to improve its capital structure and financial flexibility; Nortel's ability to recruit and retain qualified employees; the use of cash collateral to support Nortel's normal course business activities; the dependence on Nortel's subsidiaries for funding; the impact of Nortel's defined benefit plans and deferred tax assets on results of operations and Nortel's cash flow; the adverse resolution of class actions, litigation in the ordinary course of business, intellectual property disputes and similar matters; Nortel's dependence on new product development and its ability to predict market demand for particular products; Nortel's ability to integrate the operations and technologies of acquired businesses in an effective manner; the impact of rapid technological and market change; the impact of price and product competition; barriers to international growth and global economic conditions, particularly in emerging markets and including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of rationalization and consolidation in the telecommunications industry; changes in regulation of the Internet; the impact of the credit risks of Nortel's customers and the impact of customer financing and commitments; stock market volatility generally and as a result of acceleration of the settlement date of Nortel's forward purchase contracts; negative developments associated with Nortel's supply contracts and contract manufacturing agreements, including as a result of using a sole supplier for a key component of certain optical networks solutions; the impact of Nortel's supply and outsourcing contracts that contain delivery and installation provisions, which, if not met, could result in the payment of substantial penalties or liquidated damages; any undetected product defects, errors or failures; and the future success of Nortel's strategic alliances. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed by Nortel with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.