Witness Systems Extends Dynamic Learning Environment, Empowering Contact Center Managers to Create Customized, Interactive Training(email this article)

ATLANTA & SAVANNAH, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2003-- Witness Systems (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) (NASDAQ: WITS - News), a leading global provider of performance optimization software and services, announced here today the availability of eQuality Producer, a customized contact center e-learning solution that leverages real-life scenarios agents encounter on a daily basis to create company-specific content. The new offering further extends Witness Systems' full suite of customer interaction recording, performance analysis and e-learning capabilities to optimize workforce performance and capture customer intelligence in the contact center.

eQuality Producer enables organizations to address skill deficiencies with e-learning based on actual customer interactions - without the time-consuming hassles of expensive course development. Contact centers can now leverage the best examples of customer support captured through recording applications from Witness Systems. These best practice interactions can serve as "role models" for newer agents to get ramped up quickly. Once produced, the content is readily available, creating a dynamic learning environment in which CSRs simulate customer contacts.

"Leveraging e-learning as a means to improve customer service and sales effectiveness is emerging as a substantial competitive advantage," states Bill Byron Concevitch, e-learning director for Witness Systems. "eQuality Producer allows interactivity, enabling contact centers to meet new challenges and address rapidly changing market conditions. Within a few hours, contact center managers can create a customized piece of learning based on real-world examples and deploy it to their teams. Users also can create high-quality, interactive learning sessions that become part of their e-learning resource library."

The daily pressures of up-selling and cross-selling products and services combined with process changes being implemented as a result of new regulatory requirements are two key factors driving change in the contact center. With eQuality Producer, companies can react quickly to change by producing "disposable learning" without high cost or a substantial investment in time. "Use it while it is relevant--dispose of it when it's not," adds Concevitch. "The disposable learning concept is perfect for the unpredictable contact center environment, in which companies launch new campaigns and service offerings weekly, in some cases even daily."

According to Wendy Close, CRM research director at Gartner, "Most large contact centers are recording agent-customer interactions (voice and data), but few use the recorded interactions to quickly build e-learning content to better train agents on best practices." Close adds, "Some contact centers have avoided investments in e-learning systems because of the concern for creating and managing all of the content, when in reality the content is being created every day as the average contact center agent handles 400 interactions a month. Leveraging these interactions to create e-learning content is a great way to get more value out of your current contact center recording and quality management systems."

eQuality Producer also can be used in conjunction with Witness Systems' award winning eQuality Now e-learning solution to deliver not only online learning but track improvements on an individual and team basis as well. eQuality Now(TM) delivers new hire and ongoing training tailored to customer sales/service representative (CSR) competencies, which helps companies build customer loyalty through a more highly skilled and motivated workforce. By recording customer interactions, evaluating agent performance, and then using eQuality Now to prioritize "chunks" of training, contact centers have an integrated, closed-loop solution for applying organizational learning.

A leading services company identifies best-practice interactions and uses them to test agents' soft skills and knowledge of technological resources and procedures under simulated and controlled conditions. The company has improved troubleshooting, reduced unnecessary service calls and/or ensured more accuracy across the board, saving the company $1.2 million in 2002. By taking best-practice calls and editing them to create online training modules, the company can better educate agents about diagnostic processes to encourage thoroughness.

In today's hectic and rapidly evolving contact centers, CSRs, managers and supervisors must have the appropriate tools to optimize customer relationships. Through monitoring, evaluation and integrated e-learning, organizations can create a dynamic learning environment to ensure that customers interact with motivated CSRs consistently via any channel - phone, e-mail, or the Web site. eQuality Producer will enhance today's contact center and overall workforce performance with these key functions:

Offers seamless integration with the eQuality performance optimization suite for ready implementation of incremental capabilities such as performance analysis
Provides a powerful, easy-to-use solution that requires minimal technical skills to deploy and use
Enables a quickly developed e-learning program based on best practices
Facilitates simultaneous CSR training on technical and soft skills
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 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