STAR CONTACT, Ltd. Improves Staff Performance and Quality Assurance with eQuality Software from Witness Systems(email this article)

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2003-- Witness Systems (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) (NASDAQ: WITS - News), a leading global provider of performance optimization software and services, today announced that STAR CONTACT, Ltd. has experienced a 300 percent gain in productivity for its quality assurance agents since implementing Witness Systems' eQuality® suite two years ago.

Having been in the outsourcing business in Panama for more than 30 years, STAR CONTACT decided to expand operations to manage inbound programs for U.S. accounts servicing the general population and the Hispanic market in the U.S. In 2002, the company finished building a new state-of-the-art facility, equipped with the most sophisticated technologies. The company, looking for a customizable customer interaction recording solution that would integrate easily with other systems, decided to implement Witness Systems' eQuality software.

"When we built our new contact center, our goal was to equip it with the 'Rolls Royce' of all products and technologies," explains Alex Rodriguez, general manager at STAR CONTACT. "That philosophy applied to our quality monitoring solution as well, so we researched the top providers and chose Witness Systems because they are focused on meeting the specific needs of the contact center market."

With eQuality, STAR CONTACT is able to identify issues and trends by country for its travel clients since the software captures a percentage of calls from specific countries, and U.S.-based clients even have remote access capabilities to review this information realtime. Recording occurs automatically with predefined business rules that are established with eQuality Balance, a voice and data recording tool that captures conversations between CSRs and customers. Because STAR CONTACT has integrated eQuality Balance with its customer relationship management system through the eQuality Connect middleware, the system triggers the recording of these types of transactions at the appropriate point in the application process, i.e., when a certain field has been populated. STAR CONTACT also implemented eQuality Evaluation, an online scoring tool, to provide immediate performance feedback to contact center management, which has reported a huge gain in productivity for its agents and has also been a key selling point in closing new business.

"Our clients appreciate the value eQuality brings to their service programs and we value the competitive differentiation it provides us to close new business," said Joseph Fidanque III, president of STAR CONTACT. "It's a win-win solution for both parties."

STAR CONTACT also attributes the completion of its ISO 9001 certification to eQuality, which indicates the organization's commitment to a quality environment controlled by detailed processes and indicators. During peak season, STAR CONTACT employs up to 250 CSRs who handle as many as 9,000 calls per day, depending on the campaign to which they are assigned.

"We are thrilled that eQuality is a core part of STAR CONTACT's business model and that we are contributing to the growth and development of the CRM industry in Latin America," said Sandra Jimenez, managing director for Witness Systems in Latin America. According to Datamonitor(1), the total amount of call centers in Latin America is expected to grow approximately 36 percent over the next four years, rising from 4,028 in 2003, to 11,054 in 2007. A growing number of these centers are turning to Witness Systems and its integrated performance optimization software suite to help improve their people, processes and technology, offering customers an enhanced customer experience.

About STAR CONTACT, Ltd.

STAR CONTACT, Ltd. operates a multi-lingual, multi-disciplined contact center that specializes in handling customer service for financial services and travel-related organizations. The company serves both English and Spanish-speaking customers in the United States, adding value to clients because it understands the cultural nuances of the diverse Latin American population, enabling greater customer acceptance and satisfaction among this audience. STAR CONTACT has obtained its ISO 9001 certification, indicating its commitment to a quality environment controlled by detailed processes and indicators. STAR CONTACT is a subsidiary of Fidanque Hermanos e Hijos, S.A., founded in 1885.

About Witness Systems

Witness Systems (NASDAQ: WITS - News) provides the contact center industry's first integrated performance optimization software suite to help global enterprises capture customer intelligence and optimize workforce performance. Comprised of business-driven and/or full-time customer interaction recording, performance analysis and e- learning management applications, the browser-based eQuality® solution is designed to enhance the quality of customer contacts across multiple communications media, including the telephone, e-mail and Web. The closed-loop suite enables companies to record, evaluate, analyze and learn from customer contacts and the touch points they use to develop staff, generate revenue, reduce costs, and achieve greater customer retention and loyalty - all by sharing captured customer and business intelligence throughout the entire organization. An integrated business consulting, implementation and training methodology provides services to support an effective, rapid deployment of eQuality that enables organizations to maximize their return on investment. For additional information about Witness Systems and its eQuality software suite, visit http://www.witness.com/.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Information in this release that involves Witness Systems' expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements about Witness Systems' strategies in the marketplace, its market position and its relationship with customers. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Witness Systems as of the date of the release, and the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, 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 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, and any other reports filed from time to time 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.