Aspect Software, the world’s largest company solely focused on the contact centre, announced today that the company has placed in the top 100 of the 2006 Software 500 list of the world’s largest software and services providers. For 2006, Aspect Software is 82 on the list overall, up from 144 in 2005. Aspect Software is also positioned as a leader in Software Revenue Growth in two categories, ranked second in the $100 Million to $1 Billion Revenue category, and ranked sixth in revenue growth for the Overall Software 500 for 2004 through the end of the 2005 fiscal year.

“Our ascent on the 2006 Software 500 list is a testament to the company’s many achievements over the last year. We are dedicated to enhancing and releasing products that help our contact centre customers better execute their customer service, collections and sales customer strategies. By providing our customers the full range of contact centre offerings, they have the luxury of working with one vendor for all of their needs, which significantly reduces complexity,” said Jim Foy, president and chief executive officer at Aspect Software. “Another factor contributing to the success of Aspect is our growth in international markets, particularly the Asia Pacific region where we have a strong presence. We’ve established ourselves as a leader, not just in the contact centre market, but also the greater software industry and we look forward to another year of playing a critical role helping transform company-customer relationships.”

The Software 500 list is a reflection of the overall software and services industry and provides a benchmark for the growth of that segment in the market. “The 2006 Software 500 results show that growth in the software and services industry was flat from 2004 to 2005, the ranking year. The industry continues to be dynamic with more than 90 new companies on the list this year,” says John P. Desmond, editor of Software Magazine and Softwaremag.com. “While much of the growth is coming from outside the U.S. in the services segment, the flattening world effect is sending some of it back too. Total employee head count is down from the previous year’s Software 500, reversing a growth trend. The industry produced about the same revenue with fewer employees.”

The Software 500 ranking is based on total worldwide software and service revenue for 2005. This includes revenues from software licenses, maintenance and support, training and software-related services and consulting. Suppliers are not ranked on their total corporate revenue, since many have other lines of business, such as hardware. The financial information was gathered by a survey prepared by King Content Co., as well as from public documents. The Software 500 list is posted at www.softwaremag.com.

About Digital Software Magazine, the Software Decision Journal, and Softwaremag.com, Digital Software Magazine, the Software Decision Journal, has been a brand name in the high-tech industry for nearly 30 years. Softwaremag.com, its Web counterpart, is the online catalog to enterprise software and the home of the Software 500 ranking of the world’s largest software and services companies, now in its 24th year. Software Magazine and Softwaremag.com are owned and operated by King Content Co.

Note: Aspect, Spectrum, CallCenter, Customer Self Service, EnsemblePro, Uniphi Suite, eWorkforce Management, Quality Management and Aspect Software are registered trademarks of Aspect Software, Inc., in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks or tradenames are the property of their respective owners.

- End -

Aspect Software, Inc., the founder of the contact center industry, is the world's largest company solely focused on providing proven, innovative contact center products and services that enable the key business processes of customer service, collections, and sales and telemarketing. Each day, thousands of in-house and outsourced contact centers around the globe conduct more than 125 million customer interactions using Aspect Software products. We believe in using the power of technology to positively transform the customer-company experience. That belief has led us to accept the challenge of developing the world's most reliable automatic call distributors (ACDs), most trusted dialers, most widely-used and respected workforce management (WFM) solutions, most flexible voice self-service systems and the industry's first and most comprehensive unified, multi-channel contact center solution. Headquartered in Westford, Mass., Aspect Software has operations across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit www.aspect.com.