Concerto, Aspect To Merge As 1 Company

July 5, 2005

Privately held Concerto Software Inc. and�publicly traded Aspect Communications Corporation, both�contact center products and services providers, today announced a definitive agreement to combine the�two companies, merging to form a privately held company with products and services for customer service, sales and collection.

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The transaction, according to the announcement,�will form the largest company solely focused on contact center products and services. The merger combines Concerto's�experience�in predictive dialing and unified contact center systems with Aspect's�experience in contact center workforce management applications and performance analytics.

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With the companies' VoIP and traditional voice ACDs, the new company will also be able to offer a product portfolio that includes multichannel routing, self-service IVR, Internet contact and virtual contact capabilities, reporting, monitoring and recording. The rich portfolio will provide customers with a unified and tightly integrated approach for their customer service, sales and collections strategies.

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The transaction is valued at approximately $1 billion. Under the agreement, Aspect shareholders will receive $11.60 in cash for each share of common stock, which represents an approximate 15 percent premium to the average closing price over the last 30 trading days.� The holder of Aspect Series B Preferred Stock will receive an equivalent amount of cash per share on an as-converted basis.

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The transaction has been approved by Aspect’s board of directors and is anticipated to close as early as September 2005, subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by Aspect shareholders. Upon closing, Aspect will no longer be publicly traded. The new company will be privately held by Concerto’s investors, Golden Gate Capital, Oak Investment Partners and management. The�CEO and president of the combined company will be�Concerto's�current�CEO, James D. Foy.

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