Merger Boosts Call-Center HelpMerger Boosts Call-Center Help

Concerto Software Inc. and Aspect Communications Corp. have revealed plans to merge, creating what they say will be the world's largest vendor focused exclusively on call-center software and services.

Concerto is acquiring all outstanding shares of Aspect and will take the company off the public stock market when the deal closes, expected as early as September.

Executives say the combined entity will offer the technology needed to create a closed-loop call-center process that simplifies adoption of voice-over-IP and workforce-optimization applications, and will help businesses use experts outside the call center for answering callers' questions. "Being larger will allow us to become better at solving more problems for customers," says Brian Gentile, chief marketing officer for Aspect.

The use of subject-matter experts--such as brokers, insurance adjusters, and nurses--to provide spot support to customers is complicated for businesses. Call centers aren't designed to track calls forwarded to experts, and they're unable to ensure that the experts are upholding the call center's standards for dealing with customers. "As soon as the call leaves the contact center, all of that [control] is gone," says Mike Sheridan, VP of strategy and marketing for Concerto. "Those kinds of process problems can be uniquely solved by this combined company." Concerto says it will divulge more details on its strategy when the merger is complete.

Meanwhile, call centers are trying to get control of their biggest cost--employees--by using workforce-optimization tools that help them speed up the handling of calls and plan their staffing levels to match expected call volumes. The combined company plans to develop a workforce-optimization suite that would handle agent scheduling and management, call analysis, training, and feedback, Gentile says.

Concerto's shareholders--Golden Gate Capital, Oak Investment Partners, and the company's management team--will pay $11.60 for each share of Aspect, making the deal worth about $1 billion.