WEST CORP
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (THOMAS BARKER)
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>EX-10.06
<SEQUENCE>2
<FILENAME>0002.txt
<DESCRIPTION>EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (THOMAS BARKER)
<TEXT>

<PAGE>

                                                                   Exhibit 10.06


                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

      THIS AGREEMENT is entered into effective the 1st day of January, 1999,
between West TeleServices Corporation a Delaware corporation ("Employer") and
TOM BARKER ("Employee").

                                    RECITALS

      A. WHEREAS, Employer and Employee have agreed to certain terms and
conditions of employment between the parties; and

      B. WHEREAS, the parties desire to enter into this Agreement to memorialize
the terms and conditions of the employment relationship and any prior and
existing employment agreement(s) between the parties.

      NOW THEREFORE, the parties agree as follows;

      1. Employment. Employer agrees to employ Employee in his capacity as
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of Employer. Employer may also direct
Employee to perform such duties for other entities which now are, or in the
future may be, affiliated with Employer (the "Affiliates"), subject to the
limitation that Employee's total time commitment shall be consistent with that
normally expected of similarly situated executive level employees. Employee
shall serve Employer and the Affiliates faithfully, diligently and to the best
of his ability. Employee agrees during the term of this Agreement to devote his
best efforts, attention, energy and skill to the performance of his employment
and/or consulting duties and to furthering the interest of Employer and the
Affiliates.

      2. Term of Employment. Employee's employment under this Agreement shall
commence effective the 1st day of January, 1999, and shall continue for a period
of two years unless terminated or renewed under the provisions of Paragraph 6
below.

      (a)   Unless terminated pursuant to paragraph 6(a), the term of employment
            shall be extended by one year at the end of each successive year so
            that at the beginning of each successive year the term of this
            Agreement will be two years.

      3. Compensation. Employer shall pay Employee as set forth in Exhibit A
attached hereto and incorporated herein as is fully set forth in this paragraph.
Employee may receive additional discretionary bonuses as determined by the Board
of Directors of Employer in its sole discretion provided nothing contained
herein shall be construed as a commitment by the corporation to declare or pay
any such bonuses.

      4. Benefits. In addition to the compensation provided for in Paragraph 3
above, Employer will provide Employee with employment benefits commensurate to
those received by other executive level employees of Employer during the term of
this Agreement.

      5. Other Activities. Employee shall devote substantially all of his
working time and efforts during the Company's normal business hours to the
business and affairs of the Company and to the duties and responsibilities
assigned to him pursuant to this Agreement. Employee may devote a reasonable
amount of his time to civic, community or charitable activities. Employee in all
events shall be free to invest his assets in such manner as will not require any
substantial services by Employee in the conduct of the businesses or affairs of
the entities or in the management of the assets in which such investments are
made.


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      6. Term and Termination. The termination of this Agreement shall be
governed by the following:

      (a)   The term of this Agreement shall be for the period set out in
            paragraph 2 unless earlier terminated in one of the following ways:

            (1)   Death. This Agreement shall immediately terminate upon the
                  death of Employee.

            (2)   For Cause. The Employer, upon written notice to Employee, may
                  terminate the employment of Employee at any time for "cause."
                  For purposes of this paragraph, "cause" shall be deemed to
                  exist if, and only if, two (2) members of the Board of
                  Directors Employer, in good faith, determine that Employee has
                  engaged, during the performance of his duties hereunder, in
                  significant objective acts or omissions constituting
                  dishonesty, willful misconduct or gross negligence relating to
                  the business of Employer.

            (3)   Without Cause. The Employer, upon written notice to Employee,
                  may terminate the employment of Employee at any time without
                  cause.

            (4)   Resignation. Employee, upon written notice to Employee, may
                  resign from the employment of Employer at any time.

      (b)   Accrued Compensation on Termination. In the event of termination of
            the Agreement, Employee shall be entitled to receive:

            (1)   salary earned prior to and including the date of termination;

            (2)   any bonus earned as of the end of the month immediately
                  preceding the date of termination; and

            (3)   all benefits, if any, which have vested as of the date of
                  termination.

      7. Consulting.

      (a)   In the event of termination of employment pursuant to paragraph
            6(a)(3) or 6(a)(4) above, Employer and Employee agree that Employee
            shall, for a minimum period of twenty-four (24) months from the date
            of termination serve as a consultant to Employer.

      (b)   In the event of termination pursuant to paragraph 6(a)(2), Employer
            and Employee agree that Employer may, at its sole option, elect to
            retain the services of Employee as a consultant for a period of
            twenty-four (24) months from the date of termination and that
            Employee will serve as a consultant to Employer if Employer so
            elects.

      c)    During any period of consulting, Employee shall be acting as an
            independent contractor. As part of the consulting services, Employee
            agrees to provide certain services to Employer, including, but not
            limited to, the following:

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            (1)   oral and written information with reference to continuing
                  programs and new programs which were developed or under
                  development under the supervision of Employee;

            (2)   meeting with officers and managers of Employer to discuss and
                  review programs and to make recommendations;

            (3)   analysis, opinion and information regarding the effectiveness
                  and public acceptance of their programs.

      d)    During the consulting period, Employee shall continue to receive, as
            compensation for his consulting, the annualized salary set forth in
            Exhibit A. No bonus of any kind will be paid during any period of
            consulting.

      e)    Employee hereby agrees that during any period of consulting, he will
            devote his full attention, energy and skill to the performance of
            his duties and to furthering the interest of Employer and the
            affiliates, which shall include, and Employee acknowledges a
            fiduciary duty and obligation to Employer. Employee acknowledges
            that this prohibition includes, but is not necessarily limited to, a
            preclusion from any other employment or consulting by Employee
            during the consulting period except pursuant to paragraph 7(f)
            hereafter.

      f)    During the term of this Agreement, including any period of
            consulting, Employee shall not, singly, jointly, or as a member,
            employer or agent of any partnership, or as an officer, agent,
            employee, director, stockholder or investor of any other corporation
            or entity, or in any other capacity, engage in any business
            endeavors of any kind or nature whatsoever, other than those of
            Employer or its Affiliates without the express written consent of
            Employer, provided, however, that Employee may own stock in a
            publicly traded corporation. Employee agrees that Employer may in
            its sole discretion give or withhold its consent and understands
            that Employer's consent will not be unreasonably withheld if the
            following conditions are met:

            (1)   Employee's intended employment will not interfere in
                  Employer's opinion with Employee's duties and obligations as a
                  consultant, including The fiduciary duty assumed hereunder;
                  and

            (2)   Employee's intended employment or activity would not, in the
                  opinion of Employer, place Employee in a situation where
                  confidential information of Employer or its Affiliates known
                  to Employee may benefit Employee's new employer; and

            (3)   Employee's new employment will not, in Employer's opinion,
                  result, directly or indirectly, in competition with Employer
                  or its Affiliates, then or in the future.

      g)    Notwithstanding any provisions in this Agreement to the contrary,
            the provisions of paragraph 7 shall survive the termination of this
            Agreement.

      h)    Employer shall reimburse Employee for all reasonable expenses
            incurred by Employee in furtherance of his consulting duties

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<PAGE>

            pursuant to this Agreement provided the expenses are pre-approved by
            Employer.

      i)    Benefits During Consulting Period. Employee and his dependents shall
            be entitled to continue their participation in all benefit plans in
            effect on the date of Employee's termination from employment during
            the period of consulting, under the same terms and conditions and at
            the same net cost to Employee as when employed by Employer unless
            Employee accepts new employment during the consulting term in
            accordance with paragraph 7 above, in which event all benefits will
            cease, at Employer's option, when the new employment is accepted by
            Employee.

      8. Confidential Information. In the course of Employee's employment,
Employee will be provided with certain information, technical data and know-how
regarding the business of Employer and its Affiliates and their products, all of
which is confidential (hereinafter referred to as "Confidential Information").
Employee agrees to receive, hold and treat all confidential information received
from Employer and its Affiliates as confidential and secret and agrees to
protect the secrecy of said Confidential Information. Employee agrees that the
Confidential Information will be disclosed only to those persons who are
required to have such knowledge in connection with their work for Employer and
that such Confidential Information will not be disclosed to others without the
prior written consent of the Employer. The provisions hereof shall not be
applicable to: (a) information which at the time of disclosure to Employee is a
matter of public knowledge; or (b) information which, after disclosure to
Employee, becomes public knowledge other than through a breach of this
Agreement. Unless the Confidential Information shall be of the type herein
before set forth, Employee shall not use such Confidential Information for his
own benefit or for a third party's or parties' benefit at any time. Upon
termination of employment, Employee will return all books, records and other
materials provided to or acquired by Employee during the course of employment
which relate in any way to Employer or its business. The obligations imposed
upon Employee by this paragraph shall survive the expiration or termination of
this Agreement.

      9. Covenant Not to Compete. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Agreement to the contrary, Employee covenants and agrees that for the period of
two (2) years following termination of his employment with Employer for any
reason he will not:

      a)    directly or indirectly, for himself, or as agent of, or on behalf
            of, or in connection with, any person, firm, association or
            corporation, engage in any business competing directly for the
            customers, prospective customers or accounts of the Employer or any
            of its Affiliates with whom Employee had contact or about whom
            Employee learned during the course of his employment with Employer
            and during the one (1) year immediately preceding the end of his
            employment.

      b)    induce or attempt to induce any person employed by Employer or any
            of its Affiliates, in any capacity, at the time of the termination
            of Employee's service with Employer, to leave his employment, agency
            directorship or office with Employer or the Affiliate.

      c)    induce or attempt to induce any customer of Employer or any of its
            Affiliates to terminate or change in any way its business
            relationship with Employer or the Affiliate.

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      Employee agrees the knowledge and information gained by him in the
performance of his duties would be valuable to those who are now, or might
become, competitors of the Employer or its Affiliates and that the business of
Employer and its Affiliates by its nature, covers at least the entire United
States of America and Canada. In the event these covenants not to compete are
held, in any respect, to be an unreasonable restriction upon the Employee, the
Court so holding may reduce the territory, or time, to which it pertains or
otherwise reasonably modify the covenant to the extent necessary to render this
covenant enforceable by said Court for the reasonable protection of Employer and
its Affiliates. The obligations imposed upon Employee by this paragraph are
severable from, and shall survive the expiration or termination of, this
Agreement.

      10. Developments.

      a)    Employee will make full and prompt disclosure to Employer of all
            inventions, improvements, discoveries, methods, developments,
            software and works of authorship, whether patentable or not, which
            are created, made, conceived, reduced to practice by Employee or
            under his direction or jointly with others during his employment by
            Employer, whether or not during normal working hours or on the
            premises of Employer which relate to the business of Employer as
            conducted from time to time (all of which are collectively referred
            to in this Agreement as "Developments").

      b)    Employee agrees to assign, and does hereby assign, to Employer (or
            any person or entity designated by Employer) all of his right, title
            and interest in and to all Developments and all related patents,
            patent applications, copyrights and copyright applications.

      c)    Employee agrees to cooperate fully with Employer, both during and
            after his employment with Employer, with respect to the procurement,
            maintenance and enforcement of copyrights and patents (both in the
            United States and foreign countries) relating to Developments.
            Employee shall sign all papers, including, without limitation,
            copyright applications, patent applications, declarations, oaths,
            formal assignments, assignment or priority rights, and powers of
            attorney, which Employer may deem necessary or desirable in order to
            protect its rights and interest in any Developments.

      11. Injunction and Other Relief. Both parties hereto recognize that the
services to be rendered under this Agreement by Employee are special, unique and
of extraordinary character, and that in the event of the breach of Employee of
the terms and conditions of this Agreement to be performed by him, or in the
event Employee performs services for any person, firm or corporation engaged in
the competing line of business with Employer as provided in Paragraph 9, or if
Employee shall breach the provisions of this Agreement with respect to
Confidential Information or consulting services, then Employer shall be
entitled, if it so elects, in addition to all other remedies available to it
under this Agreement or at law or in equity to affirmative injunctive relief.

      12. Severability. In the event that any of the provisions of this
Agreement shall be held invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent
jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the remainder
of this Agreement and same shall be construed as if such invalid or
unenforceable provisions had never been a part hereof. In the event any court
would invalidate or fail to enforce any provision of Paragraph 7 and or
Paragraph 9 of this Agreement, Employee shall return any sums paid to Employee

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<PAGE>

by Employer pursuant to the consulting provision in paragraph 7 hereof.

      13. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the
State of Nebraska.

      14. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement
between the parties respecting the employment of Employee by Employer and
supersedes all prior understandings, arrangements and agreements, whether oral
or written, including without limitation, any existing employment agreement, and
may not be amended except by a writing signed by the parties hereto.

      15. Notice. Notices to Employer under this Agreement shall be in writing
and sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, at the following address:

                  General Counsel
                  West TeleServices Corporation
                  11808 Miracle Hills Drive
                  Omaha, Nebraska 68154

      16. Miscellaneous. Employee acknowledges that:

      a)    He has consulted with or had an opportunity to consult with an
            attorney of Employee's choosing regarding this Agreement.

      b)    He will receive substantial and adequate consideration for his
            obligations under this Agreement.

      c)    He believes the obligations, terms and conditions hereof are
            reasonable and necessary for the protectable interests of Employer
            and are enforceable.

      d)    This Agreement contains restrictions on his post-employment
            activities.

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Employer has, by its appropriate officers, executed
this Agreement and Employee has executed this Agreement as of the day and year
first above written.


                                   WEST TELESERVICES CORPORATION,
                                   Employer

                                   By: /s/ Troy L. Eaden
                                      ------------------------------------------
                                   Its: Co-Chairman
                                       -----------------------------------------


                                   /s/ Tom Barker
                                   ---------------------------------------------
                                                                      , Employee
                                   -----------------------------------


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<PAGE>

                          WEST TELESERVICES CORPORATION

                                   MEMORANDUM
                                   ----------

To:      Tom Barker

From:    WTSC Comp. Committee

Date:    December 11, 2000

Re:      2001 Compensation Plan - Exhibit A

The compensation plan for 2001 while you are employed as President and Chief
Executive Officer for West TeleServices Corporation is outlined below:

1.   Your base salary will be $475,000.00.  Should you elect to voluntarily
     terminate your employment, you will be compensated for your services
     through the date of your actual termination per your Employment Agreement.
     This will be reviewed on an annual basis and revised, if necessary in
     accordance with the consumer price index.

2.   Effective January 1, 2001, you will be eligible to receive a performance
     bonus based on year-to-date growth of profits over the same period of the
     prior year.  This bonus will be calculated by multiplying the year-to-date
     growth in profits for each quarter by the corresponding profit growth
     participation factor from the table below, minus bonus paid year-to-date
     for the respective calendar year.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
      Profit Growth             Profit Growth Participation Factor
      ------------------------  ----------------------------------
      <S>                       <C>
                0% - 14.99%                                      0
               15% - 19.99%                                  .0155
               20% - 24.99%                                  .0165
               25% - 29.99%                                  .0175
                  30%+                                       .0185
</TABLE>

     Please note that a negative year-to-date profit calculations at the end of
     any given quarter will result in "loss carry forward" to be applied to the
     next quarterly year-to-date calculation.  All bonuses will be paid within
     thirty (30) days of the end of the quarter.

3.   You will be eligible for a bonus of $50,000.00 for every net new analyst
     that initiates coverage with a report on West TeleServices in the year
     2001.  The maximum bonus to be earned as a result of new analysts' coverage
     in the year 2001 is $250,000.00.

4.   For the purposes of this Exhibit A, profit shall be defined as pre-tax
     profit growth of the Company on a consolidated basis.

5.   At the discretion of management, you may receive an additional bonus based
     on the Companies' and your individual performance.

6.   Your Compensation Plan for the year 2002 will be presented no later than
     December 1, 2001.

7.   The benefit plans, as referenced in Section 7(i), shall include insurance
     plans based upon eligibility pursuant to the plans. If the insurance plans
     do not provide for continued participation, the continuation of benefits
     shall be pursuant to COBRA. In the event Employee's benefits continue
     pursuant to COBRA and Employee accepts new employment during the consulting
     term, Employee may continue benefits thereafter to the extent allowed under
     COBRA. In no event shall benefits plans include the 401K Plan or the 1996
     Stock Incentive Plan.



                                /s/ Tom Barker
                             ---------------------
                             Employee - Tom Barker


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</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
