The beta version of Aspect Unified IP 6.2, expected to be available at the beginning of the third quarter 2006, is the next iteration of the company's Unified IP Contact Center product line. Aspect Unified IP incorporates an automatic call distributor (ACD), voice portal, quality management and recording, a predictive dialer and Internet contact. It also provides unified reporting, routing and administration functionality and hosted capabilities with multi tenancy, while running on the customer's transport of choice. These transport options include:

--  Open source IP PBX solution, such as the Asterisk Business Edition package offered by Aspect Software at significantly less than the cost of traditional IP PBX
--  Closed source IP PBX, offered by companies like Cisco, Avaya and Nortel
--  Any session initiation protocol (SIP) 2.0 compliant PBX
--  Traditional voice telephony
    

The Aspect Software IP strategy takes advantage of the openness and ubiquity of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) notably via SIP to deliver a new and better contact center. It gives customers the choice between embracing IP to address increasingly dynamic processes and practices with its open Unified IP Contact Center product line or to migrate to IP over time with its Signature product line. It provides greater choice, flexibility, productivity and control without compromising the contact center functionality that customers expect from Aspect Software offerings.

"Our Unified IP strategy recognizes the evolution, standardization and market acceptance of IP, notably via SIP, as well as the maturation and market acceptance of a unified contact center offering. And we are seeing increased market opportunities as a result of this natural convergence," said Gary Barnett, chief technology officer and executive vice president of technical services at Aspect Software. "Additionally, as this convergence occurs, we uniquely understand that businesses are demanding a choice of IP plumbing: open source or closed source IP and Aspect Unified IP clearly meets this need."