<PAGE>

                                  Exhibit 10.17

                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT


     THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT ("Agreement"), is made and entered into effective
this 9th day of August, 1995, by and between ALAN C. MALTZ ("Employee") and
BRITE VOICE SYSTEMS, INC., a Kansas corporation ("Brite").

     WHEREAS, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization and Merger
dated May 24, 1995 (the "Merger Agreement"), Telecom Services Limited (U.S.),
Inc., Telecom Services Limited (West), Inc., TSL Software Services, Inc. and TSL
Management Group, Inc. (the "TSL Companies") have been merged into Brite (the
"Mergers");

     WHEREAS, Employee was an executive officer and substantial shareholder of
the TSL Companies;

     WHEREAS, Brite desires to engage Employee to perform services for Brite and
Employee desires to perform such services on the terms and conditions set forth
herein;

     WHEREAS, Brite and each of the TSL Companies has, through the expenditure
of substantial amounts of effort and money, developed or acquired certain
confidential information and trade secrets which have become of great value in
amassing its customers, establishing its good will, and maintaining its
operations, and each such company has at all times kept its confidential
information and trade secrets confidential, and such information and secrets
have given such company a decided competitive advantage over others engaged in
the same type of business; and

     WHEREAS, the parties desire to preserve and protect for Brite the good
will, trade secrets, confidential information, and other intangible assets of
Brite and each of the TSL Companies.

     NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and
sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, and in consideration of the
covenants and obligations herein contained, the parties agree as follows:

     1.   EMPLOYMENT.  Brite hereby employs Employee on a full-time basis to
serve as Executive Vice President of Brite in charge of Brite's TSL operating
division ("TSL") and to perform such acts and duties and furnish such services
to Brite as Brite, consistent with Employee's position as Executive Vice
President, shall, from time to time, reasonably direct and Employee shall report
directly to the Chief Executive Officer of Brite.  Employee shall use his best
and diligent efforts on a full-time basis to promote the best interests of
Brite.  Employee shall be required to perform his duties hereunder principally
in the New York City/Northern New



<PAGE>

Jersey metropolitan area and shall not be required to relocate from such
metropolitan area.

     2.   COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS.

          2.1  SALARY.  From the Effective Date of this Agreement through
     December 31, 1995, Employee shall be compensated at an annual rate of
     $200,000, payable in accordance with Brite's customary payroll policies in
     effect at the time of payment ("Base Pay").  Base Pay shall be increased to
     an annual rate of $205,000 as of January 1, 1996 and shall be further
     increased to an annual rate of $215,250 as of January 1, 1997.

          2.2  INCENTIVE COMPENSATION.

          (a) Employee shall receive annual bonus compensation pursuant to the
     terms of this Section 2.2.  For the period from the date of this Agreement
     to December 31, 1995, Employee will receive an incentive bonus at an
     annualized rate of $85,000 ("Base Bonus") if TSL meets a mutually agreed
     upon financial performance target for the subject fiscal year established
     during the annual budget preparation of Brite for such subject fiscal year,
     which Base Bonus will be reduced on a sliding scale basis if targeted
     performance is not met, to 0% of the Base Bonus if TSL fails to meet the
     financial performance target by 25% or more, and increased on a sliding
     scale basis, to a maximum of 200% of the Base Bonus if TSL exceeds the
     financial performance target by 25% or more.  The Base Bonus shall be
     increased to $87,125 as of January 1, 1996 for the year ending December 31,
     1996 and shall be further increased to $91,481.25 as of January 1, 1997 for
     the year ending December 31, 1997.

          (b)  Each month during the period from the date of this Agreement
     through the later of (i) December 31, 1996, and (ii) the last day of the
     sixteenth month after the date of this Agreement, Employee shall be paid a
     non-refundable advance in an amount equal to 1/12th of the Base Bonus for
     the year in progress.  Such payments shall be made on the second payroll
     date of each month commencing with the first month following the execution
     of this Agreement.  Each such advance under this clause (b) shall be
     non-refundable to Brite, regardless of TSL's financial performance during
     each such year.

          (c)  Payments of any additional annual bonus compensation due Employee
     under this Section 2.2 beyond amounts paid under Section 2.2(b) shall be
     made by April 10 of each year with respect to the bonus compensation due
     Employee for the immediately preceding fiscal year of Brite.

          2.3  VACATION.  Employee shall be entitled to at least three weeks of
     paid vacation per calendar year, to be utilized


                                      - 2 -
<PAGE>

     pursuant to the reasonable policies established and/or modified by Brite
     from time to time.

          2.4  OTHER BENEFITS.  Employee will be entitled to a car allowance of
     $600 per month and to participate in Brite's standard benefits provided to
     other employees of similar responsibility with Brite as established and/or
     modified by Brite from time to time, including, but not limited to, life
     insurance, health insurance, and dental insurance.

          2.5  BUSINESS EXPENSES.  Pursuant to Brite's customary policies in
     force at the time of payment, Employee shall be promptly reimbursed,
     against presentation of vouchers or receipts therefor, for all reasonable
     expenses properly incurred by him on Brite's behalf in the performance of
     his duties hereunder.

     3.   TERM AND CANCELLATION.

          3.1  TERM.  The Employment Period shall commence on the date hereof
     and shall continue until December 31, 1997, unless earlier terminated
     pursuant to Section 3.2 below (the "Employment Period").

          3.2  TERMINATION.

          (a)  The employment of Employee and the obligations of Brite under
     this Agreement may be terminated by Brite at any time for "Cause".
     Termination for Cause shall mean termination only for one or more of the
     following reasons:  (i) misappropriation of corporate funds; (ii)
     conviction of a felony, any crime involving theft or dishonesty, or
     conviction of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; (iii) willful
     failure by Employee to devote substantially his full business time to
     Brite; (iv) willful violation of reasonable directions of the Board of
     Directors which are consistent with Employee's duties hereunder; (v) death
     of Employee; (vi) Employee's inability substantially to carry out his
     obligations hereunder for a period of 120 consecutive days or for a period
     of 180 days during any period of 270 consecutive days by reason of a
     Disability (as hereinafter defined); or (vii) material breach by Employee
     of a provision of either Section 4 or Section 5 hereof.  For purposes of
     this Agreement, "Disability" shall mean the physical, emotional or mental
     illness or incapacity of the Employee, such that in the judgment of a
     physician (in the case of a physical illness) or a psychiatrist or
     psychologist (in the case of a mental or emotional illness), who shall be
     chosen by the Employee and be reasonably satisfactory to Brite, the
     Employee shall be unable to perform his duties as Executive Vice President,
     as contemplated by this Agreement.


                                      - 3 -
<PAGE>

          If Brite elects to terminate the employment of Employee for Cause, it
     shall do so by giving at least five business days written notice thereof to
     Employee, which notice shall set forth the effective date of termination;
     provided, however, that termination of employment shall be deemed to have
     occurred automatically on the date of death of Employee.  If Brite seeks to
     terminate the employment of Employee for Cause, based upon the occurrence
     of any of the events described in clause (iii), (iv) or (vii) above, the
     written notice of termination shall state the acts or omissions on the part
     of Employee which constitute Cause pursuant to clause (iii), (iv) or (vii)
     above, in order to give Employee a reasonable opportunity to correct such
     acts or omissions within 14 days following the giving of such notice, and
     if such acts or omissions are corrected within such period of time, then
     the notice of termination shall not become effective.  If Brite at any time
     terminates this Agreement for Cause, Employee shall not be entitled to any
     compensation or incidental benefits from Brite, except for such amount of
     his salary, incidental benefits and non-refundable advance due to Employee
     under Section 2.2 hereof, that are due and payable to him hereunder on the
     date of termination.

          (b)   Employee shall have the option to terminate this Agreement, upon
     30 days written notice to Brite, if Brite materially breaches this
     Agreement, including, without limitation, Brite makes a material change in
     the duties and responsibilities of Employee inconsistent with Employee's
     position as Executive Vice President and his duties and responsibilities
     hereunder, including a relocation of Employee from the New York
     City/Northern New Jersey metropolitan area, changes in conditions of
     employment which are in the aggregate material, or Brite's material failure
     to support TSL's business.

          If Employee's employment is terminated pursuant to this subparagraph
     (b), Employee shall be entitled to receive, as severance, Employee's Base
     Pay and Base Bonus as would otherwise have been paid through December 31,
     1997 had Employee remained employed by Brite through December 31, 1997 and
     TSL achieved its financial performance targets established pursuant to
     Section 2.2(a), such severance to be paid in installments in the same
     manner as Employee's compensation has theretofore been required to have
     been paid, at the regular pay periods of Brite, less legally required
     payroll deductions.  For purposes of the restrictive covenants set forth in
     Section 5 hereof only, Employee's employment with Brite shall be deemed to
     be continuing throughout the period during which Brite makes the severance
     installment payments contemplated by this subparagraph (b).  In addition to
     the severance payments provided for herein, Brite shall pay to Employee the
     non-refundable advance due to Employee under Section 2.2 hereof,


                                      - 4 -
<PAGE>

     if any, calculated through the end of the last full month of employment
     completed as of the date of termination and the incidental benefits that
     are due and payable to him hereunder on the date of termination of his
     employment.

          (c)  All obligations of Employee under Sections 4 and 5 hereof shall
     continue, in accordance with their terms, in spite of any termination of
     this Agreement.

     4.   CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.

          4.1  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.  Employee acknowledges that:

          (a)  Brite's products and services are highly specialized items;

          (b)  the identity and particular needs of Brite's customers are not
     generally known in the industries of which Brite's businesses are a part;

          (c)  documents and information regarding Brite's methods of
     production, sales, pricing, costs, and the identity and specialized
     requirements of Brite's customers, are highly confidential and constitute
     trade secrets; and

          (d)  Brite has a legitimate need to protect the confidentiality of
     Confidential Information (as hereinafter defined).

          4.2  DEFINITION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.  For purposes of this
     Agreement, the term "Confidential Information" shall be defined as follows:

          Information of Brite related to the conduct by Brite of its
          business not otherwise publicly disclosed or publicly available
          (whether or not discovered or developed by Employee) and known by
          Employee as a consequence of Employee's employment with Brite.
          Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, such
          proprietary information shall include information not generally
          known in the industry or related industries, which concerns (a)
          customer lists of Brite; (b) computer programs and facilities of
          Brite; (c) the identity of specialized consultants and
          contractors and Confidential Information developed by them for
          Brite; (d) operating and other cost data, including information
          regarding salaries and benefits of employees of Brite; (e) cost
          and pricing data of Brite; (f)  acquisition, expansion,
          marketing, financial and other business plans of Brite; (g) Brite
          manuals, files, records, memoranda, plans, drawings and designs,
          specifications and computer programs and


                                      - 5 -
<PAGE>

          records, whether or not legended or otherwise identified as
          Confidential Information; and (h) all information which is a "trade
          secret" of Brite as defined in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act as
          adopted in Kansas at K.S.A. 60-3320.

          Notwithstanding the foregoing, Confidential Information shall not
     include information which Employee can demonstrate, or Brite agrees, (a) is
     previously known on a non-confidential basis by the Employee or that later
     becomes published or otherwise generally known in the industry without
     breach of this Agreement by Employee; (b) is in the public domain through
     no fault of the Employee; (c) is later lawfully acquired by Employee from
     sources other than Brite; or (d) is, at the time of its disclosure to
     Employee, known to Employee independently of any previously disclosed
     Confidential Information.

          4.3  NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.  During Employee's
     employment with Brite, Employee will have access to and become familiar
     with Confidential Information of Brite.  Employee acknowledges that such
     Confidential Information is owned and shall continue to be owned solely by
     Brite.  During the term of Employee's employment with Brite and after
     termination of such employment, Employee shall not use or divulge
     Confidential Information to any person or entity other than Brite, or
     persons expressly designated by Brite or as otherwise would be necessary to
     disclose in the ordinary course of his employment with, and in furtherance
     of, the business of Brite.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, Employee may
     disclose Confidential Information if and to the extent he is compelled to
     do so by judicial or administrative process, or by other requirements of
     law.

          4.4  RETURN OF DOCUMENTS.  Upon termination of Employee's employment
     with Brite, all procedural manuals, guides, specifications, plans,
     drawings, designs, records, lists, notebooks, diskettes, customer lists,
     pricing documentation and similar documentation which is or contains
     Confidential Information, including all copies thereof, in the possession
     or control of Employee, whether prepared by Employee or others, shall be
     forthwith, upon request by Brite, delivered by Employee to Brite.

     5.   RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS.

          5.1  NONCOMPETITION.  Employee covenants and agrees that:

          (a)  During Employee's employment with Brite, whether during the
     Employment Period or thereafter, and following the date of termination of
     Employee's employment with Brite if such termination was other than
     pursuant to Section 3.2(b)


                                      - 6 -
<PAGE>

     hereof, for a period of three years and, if Employee has been an employee
     of Brite for less than a full year at the time of termination of
     employment, a number of days equal to the difference between 365 and the
     number of days elapsed from the date of this Agreement to the termination
     date, Employee shall not in any manner compete with Brite with respect to
     any line of business conducted by Brite during Employee's employment with
     Brite ("Prohibited Business").

          (b)  If Employee's employment with Brite is terminated pursuant to
     Section 3.2(b) above, Employee shall not in any manner compete with Brite
     with respect to a Prohibited Business throughout the period during which
     Brite pays Employee the severance payments provided for in Section 3.2(b)
     hereof.  In addition, Brite shall have the option of extending such period
     of noncompetition to the fourth anniversary of the date of this Agreement,
     provided, however, such agreement of Employee so not to compete is
     conditioned on Brite's payment in monthly installments, and shall be
     effective only for so long as Brite makes such payments, on an annualized
     basis of an amount equal to the product of (I) such employee's Base Pay
     plus his Base Bonus (both as in effect on December 31, 1997, as if Employee
     had remained employed by Brite through such date and TSL achieved its
     financial performance targets established pursuant to Section 2.2(a),
     multiplied by (II) a fraction (i) the numerator of which is the difference
     between $20,000,000 and the aggregate net proceeds received by Employee,
     Scott Maltz, and Stephen Rockoff from sales of Brite's stock (after
     deducting all taxes, fees and expenses incurred in connection with such
     sales) from the closing of the Mergers to December 31, 1997, and (ii) the
     denominator of which is $20,000,000.

          (c)  The foregoing covenants shall prevent Employee, directly or
     indirectly, on Employee's own behalf or as an employee, officer, agent,
     director, partner, consultant, lender, or advisor, during the period
     covered by this Section 5, from forming, owning, joining, controlling,
     financing, or otherwise participating in the ownership or management of, or
     being otherwise affiliated with, any person or entity engaged in a
     Prohibited Business during the period covered by this Section 5.  During
     the period covered by this Section 5, Employee shall not permit any person
     or entity (other than Brite) of which Employee is a shareholder or partner
     or in which Employee has an ownership interest, to engage in a Prohibited
     Business.  Notwithstanding any other provision herein, the parties agree
     that Employee may, during the period covered by this Section 5, invest
     Employee's personal, private assets as a passive investor in not more than
     one percent of the total outstanding shares of any publicly traded company
     engaged in a Prohibited Business, so long as Employee does not


                                      - 7 -
<PAGE>

     participate in the management or operations of the affairs of such company.

          5.2  SOLICITATION OF EMPLOYEES.  During the period in which the
     noncompetition provision set forth in Section 5.1(a) or 5.1(b) shall be in
     effect, Employee shall not, without the prior written approval of the
     Chairman of the Board of Directors of Brite, directly or indirectly
     solicit, any person who presently is, or at any time during the Employment
     Period shall be an employee of Brite (other than secretarial and other
     personnel whose duties are ministerial in nature), to become employed by
     any other person, firm, or corporation in any business which is a
     Prohibited Business.

          5.3  SOLICITATION OF CUSTOMERS.  During a four-year period following
     termination of Employee's employment with Brite, regardless of the basis
     for such termination, Employee shall not directly or indirectly, on behalf
     of himself or any other person or entity, solicit any person, corporation,
     firm, or other entity who is or was a customer of Brite during the period
     of five years prior to the termination of Employee's employment for
     purposes of obtaining business which would constitute a Prohibited
     Business.

          5.4  REASONABLENESS OF RESTRICTIONS, REFORMATION, AND SEVERABILITY.

          (a)  Employee has carefully read and considered the provisions of this
     Section 5 and, having done so, agrees that the restrictions set forth
     herein, including, but not limited to, the time period of the restriction
     and the scope of the restriction, are fair and reasonable and are
     reasonably required for the protection of the interests of Brite.

          (b)  In the event that, notwithstanding the foregoing, any part of the
     covenants set forth in this Section 5 shall be held to be invalid or
     unenforceable, the remaining parts thereof shall nevertheless continue to
     be valid and enforceable as though the invalid or unenforceable parts had
     not been included therein.  In the event that any provision of this Section
     5 relating to the time period and/or scope of restrictions shall be
     declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to exceed the maximum time
     period, scope or geographical area as such court deems reasonable and
     enforceable, said time period, scope and/or geographical areas of
     restrictions shall be deemed to become and thereafter be the maximum time
     period, scope and/or geographical area which such court deems reasonable
     and enforceable.

          (c)  Any provision of this Agreement otherwise prohibited by or
     unenforceable under any applicable law or public policy in any jurisdiction
     which cannot be reformed in accordance


                                      - 8 -
<PAGE>

     with the provisions herein, shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective
     without affecting any other provision of this Agreement, or shall be deemed
     to be severed or otherwise modified to conform with such law or public
     policy; and the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall remain in
     force, provided that the purpose of this Agreement can be effected.  To the
     full extent, however, that the provisions of such applicable law or public
     policy may be waived, this Agreement shall be deemed to be a waiver
     thereof.  The parties hereto understand and agree that all the covenants
     set forth herein are and shall be separately enforceable, each to the full
     extent permitted by applicable law.

     6.   REMEDIES.  It is agreed that Brite would be irreparably damaged by
reason of any violation of the provisions of this Agreement, and that any remedy
at law for a breach of the provisions of this Agreement would be inadequate.
Therefore, Brite shall be entitled to seek injunctive or other equitable relief
in a court of competent jurisdiction against Employee, Employee's agents,
employees, affiliates, partners, or other associates, for any breach or
threatened breach of this Agreement, without the necessity of proving actual
monetary loss.  It is expressly understood that the remedy described in this
Section 6 shall not be the exclusive remedy of Brite for any breach of this
Agreement, and Brite shall be entitled to seek such other relief or remedy at
law or in equity to which it may be entitled as a consequence of any breach of
this Agreement.

     7.   CONSENT AND WAIVER BY THIRD PARTIES.  Employee hereby represents and
warrants that he has obtained all necessary waivers and/or consents from third
parties so as to enable him to accept employment with Brite on the terms and
conditions set forth herein and to execute and perform this Agreement without
being in conflict with any other agreement, obligation or understanding with any
such third party.

     8.   BRITE SUBSIDIARIES.  For purposes of this Agreement, "Brite" means
Brite Voice Systems, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

     9.   ENTIRE AGREEMENT.  This Agreement contains the entire understanding of
the parties in respect of its subject matter and supersedes all prior agreements
and understandings between the parties with respect to such subject matter.
This Agreement supersedes all employment agreements of any type between Employee
and the TSL Companies.

     10.  AMENDMENT; WAIVER.  This Agreement may not be amended, supplemented,
canceled or discharged except by written instrument executed by the party
affected thereby.  No failure to exercise, and no delay in exercising, any
right, power or privilege hereunder shall operate as a waiver thereof.  No
waiver of any breach of any


                                      - 9 -
<PAGE>

provision of this Agreement shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or
succeeding breach of the same or any other provision.

     11.  BINDING EFFECT; ASSIGNMENT.  The rights and obligations of this
Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of any successor of Brite by
reorganization, merger or consolidation, or any assignee of all or substantially
all of Brite's business and properties.  Employee's rights or obligations under
this Agreement may not be assigned by Employee, except that Employee's right to
any payments to be received hereunder shall pass to Employee's executor,
administrator or personal representative.

     12.  HEADINGS.  The headings contained in this Agreement are for reference
purposes only and shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of this
Agreement.

     13.  GOVERNING LAW; INTERPRETATION.  This Agreement shall be construed in
accordance with, and governed for all purposes by, the laws and public policy of
the State of Kansas applicable to contracts executed and to be wholly performed
within such State.

     14.  ATTORNEY'S FEES.  Should Brite or Employee bring an action in any
Court of competent jurisdiction to enforce any of the provisions hereof, and
prevail on any aspect of such action, then such prevailing party shall be
awarded the reasonable attorney's fees incurred by reason of such action.

     15.  FURTHER ASSURANCES.  Each of the parties agrees to execute,
acknowledge, deliver and perform, and/or cause to be executed, acknowledged,
delivered and performed, at any time and/or from time to time, as the case may
be, all such further acts, documents, transfers, conveyances, and/or assurances
as may be necessary and/or proper to carry out the provisions and/or intent of
this Agreement.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Employment Agreement has been entered into as of
the date first set forth above.

                         BRITE VOICE SYSTEMS, INC.



                         By DONALD R. WALSH
                            -------------------------------------
                            Donald R. Walsh,
                            Executive Vice President



                         Alan C. Maltz
                         ----------------------------------------
                                   ALAN C. MALTZ


                                     - 10 -